Despite budgeting R5.7 billion annually to recruit an additional 30,000 officers by 2026, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has reduced its police reservists by 90% over the past decade.

This comes as news that police slept through an armed robbery of the firearms cache at their own police station in the Northern Cape, reflecting a broader pattern of incompetence of the national police service.

The number of reservists has been aggressively cut from 52,054 in 2011/12 to 3,502 as of October 31, a loss of 90%. While the police ministry argues that former reservists can now focus on community work full-time, critics, including DA MP Andrew Whitfield, assert that the drop is a "devastating blow to the fight against crime."

Whitfield emphasizes the urgent need for recruitment to address the ongoing crime crisis, with over 6,200 murders reported between April and June. Cele has called on South Africans to join the SAPS, pledging to add 12,000 new officers in the 2023/24 reporting period and achieve 30,000 by 2026.

The issue comes amid a public spat between Cele and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi over the recognition and firearm rights of crime wardens in the province.\

But this crisis is largely of Cele’s own making, given that the initial decline in reservists was from an order by him when in charge of the police department back in 2011.

Other systemic issues continue to plague the police force, including the longstanding deal with the Cape gangs for protection and political support, and now an emerging failure of outdated radio systems which are not secure, nor reliable during loadshedding hours.

Action Society’s Ian Cameron, formerly national coordinator for AfriForum’s neighbourhood watch program, was interviewed on this topic.

Action Society accused the police of using outdated radios from the 1980s, and of neglecting the crisis, leaving critical units exposed. The radios, some refurbished, are reportedly causing a collapse in the system.

In contrast, Gauteng received new radios in 2009, while the Western Cape's communication system remains stuck in the '80s. Load shedding worsens the situation, impacting areas with weak cellphone signals. Officers resort to personal phones, hindering communication during critical operations.

Management is accused of apathy, with the issue raised repeatedly by officers. City officials express awareness of the problem and offer assistance, highlighting the stark contrast between the Western Cape and other regions, plagued by hostile attitudes from national officials.

“Like the anti-gang units and the Flying Squad, exposed and isolated in their efforts to protect the vulnerable in the raging gang wars in the province. The main reason for the collapse, Action Society has learnt, is the fact that the radios that SAPS members are using were issued in the 1980s, and while some of them have been refurbished over the years, the system is collapsing completely,” said Cameron.

In 2009, he explains that Gauteng was issued new trunking radios for the Tetra system, giving them immense communication capabilities, but that “the same cannot be said for the Western Cape. Fourteen years have passed, and the police officers that have to go out in the most dangerous areas in South Africa are doing so without communication because their system is stuck in the ’80s.”

JP Smith, Mayco Member for Safety and Security, City of Cape Town, said they are aware of the issue, that they are willing to assist the police, and that they have offered to assist.

SAPS representatives offered perfunctory responses, promising attention to the problem at some other date.