Cosatu says the South African Police Service has failed to accommodate black officers while whites continue to dominate the service.
This came out yesterday during the federation's post-national congress press briefing where Cosatu leaders said the police system remained littered with apartheid personnel and police force tendencies that were not in line with the post-1994 democratic principles of the police service.
"Our argument is that the senior or management layer of the police service was inherited from the apartheid regime. Our argument is that the apartheid system did not have a police service.
"They were not trained and never had a mandate to act in the interests of the public. They were there to serve the state," Cosatu's spokesman Sizwe Pamla said.
He said police management of strikes and protests showed that they were not trained well.
Police have often come under fire for not being able to manage protests when they turn violent, in the end assaulting or shooting at protestors.
The worst clashes during strikes with police were the Marikana massacre, the Ficksburg killing of Andries Tatane and clashes between police and university students during the #FeesMustFall campaign.
Pamla said police union Popcru was at the forefront of raising the issues, but that the instability within the leadership of the police was problematic.
"We have a very high turnover of police commissioners, and those people are responsible for the operational arm of the service."
Cosatu and the ANC also called for a stop to police murders. The labour federation wants the bail conditions and sentences of those who have attacked the police to be stiff.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the killing of police was part of a programme to undermine the state.
Although he did not reveal who was undermining the state, Mantashe said the ANC leadership was appealing to all citizens to support the police and "encourage them to act decisively in instances of anarchy and blatant undermining of the state and its institutions".
Popcru spokesman Richard Mamabolo said, during the apartheid era, police were used to defending the interests of the government.
He argued that police needed stability at the level of the commissioner, who can see to the implementation of skilling of all the officers. He said the post-1994 police came from different backgrounds.
"Some were rail police, some [served] in the state security while some came from the Bantustans. They were never skilled," he said.
Acting police spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi could not be reached for comment yesterday.
No place for apartheid police
Cosatu says the South African Police Service has failed to accommodate black officers while whites continue to dominate the service.
This came out yesterday during the federation's post-national congress press briefing where Cosatu leaders said the police system remained littered with apartheid personnel and police force tendencies that were not in line with the post-1994 democratic principles of the police service.
"Our argument is that the senior or management layer of the police service was inherited from the apartheid regime. Our argument is that the apartheid system did not have a police service.
"They were not trained and never had a mandate to act in the interests of the public. They were there to serve the state," Cosatu's spokesman Sizwe Pamla said.
He said police management of strikes and protests showed that they were not trained well.
Police have often come under fire for not being able to manage protests when they turn violent, in the end assaulting or shooting at protestors.
The worst clashes during strikes with police were the Marikana massacre, the Ficksburg killing of Andries Tatane and clashes between police and university students during the #FeesMustFall campaign.
Pamla said police union Popcru was at the forefront of raising the issues, but that the instability within the leadership of the police was problematic.
"We have a very high turnover of police commissioners, and those people are responsible for the operational arm of the service."
Cosatu and the ANC also called for a stop to police murders. The labour federation wants the bail conditions and sentences of those who have attacked the police to be stiff.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the killing of police was part of a programme to undermine the state.
Although he did not reveal who was undermining the state, Mantashe said the ANC leadership was appealing to all citizens to support the police and "encourage them to act decisively in instances of anarchy and blatant undermining of the state and its institutions".
Popcru spokesman Richard Mamabolo said, during the apartheid era, police were used to defending the interests of the government.
He argued that police needed stability at the level of the commissioner, who can see to the implementation of skilling of all the officers. He said the post-1994 police came from different backgrounds.
"Some were rail police, some [served] in the state security while some came from the Bantustans. They were never skilled," he said.
Acting police spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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