COPS DEPRESSED, DEMOTIVATED, STRESSED - REPOSA

MBABANE – “Police officers are going through depression.”

The Royal Eswatini Police Service Staff Association (REPOSA) Secretary General (SG), Dumisile Khumalo, said police officers are not only depressed, but also demotivated and stressed.  Khumalo was reacting to comments made by the Prime Minister, Russell Mmiso Dlamini, when addressing members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) at the Police Headquarters.  Dlamini decried the manner in which some police officers treated members of the public.

Change

He said the manner in which some of the officers address the public is uncalled for and something should be done to sharpen them, so that they could change for the better. This was after he toured some institutions including Matsapha Police Academy, Malkerns Police Station, Mbabane Police New Camp, Police Photography and Printing and Police Stores and Tailoring Services departments, among others. The SG described money as a form of therapy and challenged government to offer police officers money and realise the impact it would have on their performance.  “You can actually take someone through a course, but if their mind is not aligned, there will be no positive results.”

Khumalo wondered that if someone had failed at university, were they taken back to high school, adding that it did not work like that. The SG noted that only when the mind was stable, the results would be positive. She said the police are stressed and require motivation. Khumalo likened the situation of the police reaction to the public to that of a doctor and patient.  She said if a patient visits the hospital and finds the doctor also sick, there is no way their health could be restored.  “People individually visit the police stations with their problems, only to find the person who needs to offer a solutions is also undergoing challenges.”The REPOSA SG stated that most police officers are sinking in debt, hungry and in need of counselling due to the fact that a lot has been happening within the institution. She said they do not understand why the PM feels that they need to go back to college.

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