SABC News reports that the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) has called on the South African Police Service (SAPS) management to establish proactive mental health wellness programmes. This appeal follows a recent murder-suicide incident involving two Gauteng Traffic Provincial Inspectors over the weekend.

POPCRU spokesperson Richard Mamabolo says the trauma policing officials experience while performing their duties contributes to deteriorating mental health among members. Mamabolo suggests that regular fact-finding missions by psycho-social support services could help identify members at risk of suicide or struggling with mental health issues.

He criticises the current mental health programs as being reactionary. “The problem that most members are communicating is that even though they might come to you after an incident. The time it takes to revisit you, to check whether you are making progress is too long. So members are using private facilities which they have to pay for directly and that puts the SAPS at a disadvantage.”

“The other thing is as unions we are at a disadvantage because we can only react to incidents that have already happened. That is why we are quite firm in speaking to the management of the SAPS to revisit and relook into how we can implement these programmes,” states Mamabolo. Mamabolo further notes that unions are limited to reacting to incidents after they occur, underscoring the need for SAPS management to reassess and improve the implementation of mental health programs.