Trade unions have strongly rejected remarks by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who suggested that union interference, including wage increase demands, contributes to declining government workforce numbers.

During a stakeholder engagement on crime prevention with Premier Thami Ntuli in uMlazi this week, Mkhwanazi criticised unions for making it difficult to hire additional staff, claiming that salary demands for officers limited government’s ability to expand the workforce.

He linked these wage pressures to rising unemployment and fewer police officers being appointed, arguing that labour laws and salary increases had unintended consequences on staffing levels.

Cosatu KZN provincial secretary Edwin Mkhize described the comments as “misplaced, out of context, and (at risk of) creating unnecessary tension between the labour movement and law enforcement leadership.” While Cosatu acknowledged the “important work” done by Mkhwanazi and KZN police officers to combat violent crime, Mkhize said the staffing crisis was not the fault of unions.

“The reality is that the crisis of inadequate staffing and poor resourcing in the police and other sectors of the state is not the making of workers or their unions. Instead, it is the result of neoliberal austerity measures imposed on government, often influenced by credit rating agencies and capitalist interests, which have forced the state to cut back on hiring while the population and service demands continue to grow.”

Mkhize added that it was “simply false to suggest that workers are ‘too expensive.’ Studies consistently show that the labour share of national income has been declining for decades, while profit margins of big business have risen sharply. Workers are not the problem; the problem is structural inequality, wasteful expenditure at the top, and misplaced priorities.”

The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) also criticised Mkhwanazi’s remarks. “South Africa’s unemployment crisis is not caused by workers demanding fair wages. It is the direct outcome of poor governance, collapsing infrastructure, load shedding, corruption, and years of austerity that have undermined the economy and stripped critical public services of resources,” FEDUSA said.

“To blame unions is to mislead the public and shift attention away from government’s failures.”

FEDUSA highlighted that “in the police service, as in other parts of the public sector, the real problem is frozen posts, chronic underfunding, and the hollowing out of capacity. Workers cannot be scapegoated for the state’s refusal to invest in safety, security, and job creation.”

The Independent Policing Union of South Africa (IPUSA) echoed these concerns. IPUSA said it “respectfully but firmly rejects this assertion” that union activity contributes to unemployment.

“Workers’ rights to fair wages, safe working conditions, and dignified treatment are not obstacles; they are essential pillars of a just and functional labour system. To imply that these rights are responsible for unemployment is both misleading and dismissive of the deeper structural challenges facing the South African Police Service (SAPS),” IPUSA said.

The union pointed to “chronic budgetary constraints, underinvestment in essential services, and unfilled funded posts across the organisation” as the real barriers to effective service delivery.

IPUSA further noted that Mkhwanazi’s remarks “fail to acknowledge the persistent issues of corruption, abuse of power, and maladministration, often perpetuated by senior leadership and political interference.”

IPUSA concluded that “our members are not the problem; they are part of the solution,” urging SAPS leadership and stakeholders to “focus on root causes and work together to restore integrity, accountability, and trust within the policing system.”

THE MERCURY

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