Public Order Police Johannesburg Unit 2.

The public order police units of the South African Police Service have
undergone many changes in the last 15 years. Under the apartheid
government, the units started off as the Riot Units, and in 1992 became the
Internal Stability Division. In 1996 the units were reorganised as Public
Order Police Units, and in 2002 they were transformed to become the Area
Crime Combating Units. In 2006 they underwent yet another restructuring,
and they now operate under the name of Crime Combating Units. Each of
these changes has meant different chains of command as well as different
training and deployment structures, which has affected the skills and
capacity of the units. Some of the changes, particularly the most recent one
in which the manpower of the units has been severely reduced at a time
when crowd control incidents are on the increase, have not been to the
benefit of the units or to public order policing. The task of this monograph is to assess the Crime Combating Units’ capacity
to manage protest marches and the impending 2010 FIFA World Cup. The
research was confined primarily to two Crime Combating Units in Gauteng:
Johannesburg and East Rand. In addition, interviews were conducted with
metro police in Ekurhuleni because the mandate of their newly established
Public Order Unit overlaps to some extent with that of the Crime Combating
Units. Interviews were also conducted with various other organisations
concerned with security for the 2010 FIFA World Cup: the South African
Football Association, the Premier Soccer League, the Private Security
Industry Regulating Authority and the management at Ellis Park Stadium.
The research shows that in its respect for human rights, public order policing
has improved since the advent of democracy in South Africa. However, the
size and distribution of the Crime Combating Units, and the maintenance of
their skills, have been severely eroded. A full consideration of the findings
leads to a strong recommendation that SAPS management reassess the
recent restructuring of the CCUs.