Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Earlier this month, he walked out of Bayview Police Station, where he was stationed, and shot himself. Friends and family were unsure what drove the 47-year-old policeman to take his own life, but believe work pressure may have driven him over the edge.

Venkatesan is just one of the many police officers who are under tremendous stress, and resolve to kill themselves.

IFP spokesman for safety and security, Velaphi Ndlovu, said South Africa had become one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a police officer.

The emotional damage it caused was clearly visible in the increased number of police suicides in the second half of 2006, he said.

“Between 2000 and 2005, 506 police officers took their own lives. Between January and June 2006, 23 policemen and women committed suicide,” Ndlovu said.

“Last year the IFP wrote to Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula requesting figures on how many police officers committed suicide between July 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006, to which he replied three for every 10 000.

“Statistics show we had 155 532 police officers in 2006, which means the number of suicides during that period was 46, double the number in the first half of 2006. Serious questions must be asked why this figure increased so sharply.”

Ndlovu said to make matters worse, police psychologists were leaving the force in high numbers. But the minister said in his written reply that only 19 had left in 2006, which Ndlovu said was “questionable”.

Forty-six police officers were killed in the line of duty between July 1 and December 31, 2006.

“The South African Survey for 2006/2007 concluded that more policemen were killed in the 11 years after 1994 than in the 11 years before 1994,” he said.

“The survey says that between 1983 and 1993, 1 152 police officers were murdered. Between 1995 and 2005, 1 894 police officers were murdered. The highest number of police killed in a single year peaked at 280 in 1993, a year before South Africa’s political transition.”

In his book, Suicidal Behaviour in South Africa, published by UKZN Press, international suicide expert Prof Lourens Schlebusch, of the Department of Behavioural Medicine at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, said the number of police suicides had been reported as being five times higher than in police services in some other countries.

“Compared to the statistics for the general population, there are some occupational groups in which suicide figures have been much higher, like in the case of the SAPS and the SANDF (South African National Defence Force),” Schlebusch said.

High risk

“Across the nine provinces, the Northern Cape (36 per 10 000) and the Free State (29 per 10 000) had the highest suicide rates in the country in 1997. More contemporary research reflects police suicides per 100 000 as ranging from 110 in 1999 to 130 in 2000.

“The high-risk provinces include the Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng.

“The suicide figure was as high as 10.58% in uniformed police members with the highest being among black police members. Research indicates that suicide internationally by members of the police force is frequently higher than in the general population,” Schlebusch said.

Most police who committed suicide used their service pistols, and many of the deaths were crimes of passion in which they killed their partners, according to Nqakula.

The Cape Times reported on March 27, 2006, that Nqakula said that in 79% of suicides by police from 2004 to 2006, the officers used their own service firearms.

He said other methods of suicide included hanging, medication overdoses, gassing and shooting with a private firearm.

Nqakula said a 2005 study into the causes of police suicides indicated a general combination of family problems like marital challenges, problems with teenage children, substance and alcohol abuse, financial problems, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, work-related factors, intra-personal problems and the aftermath of irresponsible actions, accidents and criminal offences.

Superhuman

Pretoria-based Supt Piletji Sebola of SAPS Communication and Liaison Services last month said police suicides and family killings would continue as long as society expected “ordinary cops to be superhuman”.

“Society must stop expecting police officers to be immune to the horrors they face. The notion that cowboys don’t cry is a falsehood,” Sebola said.

“It must be put on record that the South African Police Service is committed to improving police officers’ lives and mental health.

“However, police suicides can only be significantly reduced if the problem is accepted and treated by society at large.

“All police officers are part of the community and lead ordinary community lives just like anyone else.”

Like ordinary members of the community, police officers needed care, empathy, love and protection, Sebola said.

Police suicides received media attention simply because of their social status, he said. The media should report not just on the suicides, but highlight the remedial efforts put in place by the SAPS, such as the establishment of Employee Assistance Services.

“The services are intended to address social and emotional problems experienced by employees and their families.

“They are provided free of charge on a 24-hour basis by professionals within the SAPS.

“The Employee Assistance Programme call centre under the wing of the service is manned by social workers, psychologists and pastors who offer professional and confidential counselling to members and their immediate families,” Sebola said.

Insp Andre Swart, of Employee Assistance Services, said on the programme’s website that the centre acted as a national link.

“Referrals, telephone counselling and assistance are provided to all employees and their immediate family.

“The personnel who render assistance in the support centre are stationed at Psychological Services, Social Work Services and Spiritual Work Services in head office,” Swart said.

“When a member or an employee’s family member phones the centre, they are not obliged to mention their names or give their telephone numbers to the counsellor and the content of their conversation will remain confidential.

“Sometimes problems become so big that people lose perspective and it feels as if the problem is under control, but counsellors will always focus on possible solutions and options to solve those problems.

“Counselling enables you to make the decisions that are best for you, and in the process stress and uncertainty are reduced.”

About 2 332 members have telephoned the centre for assistance since October 2003.

The helpline can be reached at 0860 1030 55.