WOMEN LEADERSHIP IN METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorcas Khosa ◽  
Rika Snyman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
Women Leadership ◽  
Metropolitan Police

scholarly journals Gender and Police Leadership: An Analysis of Metropolitan Police Departments in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 1333-1341
Author(s):  
Dee Khosa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Women In Leadership ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
Metropolitan Police ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Active Population ◽  
Management Positions ◽  
The Law

Despite a number of initiatives aimed at improving the representation and progressive of women in the law enforcement. Studies continue to document the persistence of gender inequality within law enforcement agencies all over the world and South Africa is not an exception. This article bring to light gender inequalities in the law enforcement sector where women in leadership ranks remains low. Historically, the police career was male-dominated and females were not allowed to work in the police. Therefore, equal gender representation in the workplace should by now be at an advanced developmental stage in South Africa since the abolition of discrimination rules. The Commission on Employment Equity of South Africa reported that women comprised 44.8% of the economically active population, yet males were still in charge of senior management positions in South African industries including the law enforcement environment. The data was collected from female officers from Metropolitan Police departments in Gauteng province. The findings suggest that culture, stereotypes, economic and socio-political dynamics, and physical fitness were perceived as barriers that hindered the representation of women into senior leadership positions.

‘Burn it down!’: Materialising intersectional solidarities in the architecture of the South African Embassy during the London Poll Tax Riot, March 1990

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Brown
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Working Class ◽  
South African ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Metropolitan Police ◽  
Trafalgar Square ◽  
Poll Tax

This paper offers a new way of conceptualising how intersectional solidarities are actualised. It recounts and theorises an outbreak of radical internationalism, when working class struggles in Britain and South Africa were unexpectedly linked. It examines how intersectional solidarity was materialised through a process of coming together against the architectural fabric of the South African Embassy and considers the interwoven temporalities that enabled this action to occur. On 31 March 1990, nearly a quarter of a million people demonstrated in London against the Poll Tax that was due to take effect in England and Wales the following day. On the day, the Metropolitan Police lost control of an already enraged crowd and provoked a large scale riot that engulfed the West End of London for several hours. In the midst of the riot, during a short retreat by the police, protesters took the opportunity to attack the South African Embassy in Trafalgar Square – many windows were broken and an attempt was made to set the building alight. Drawing on interviews with former anti-apartheid protesters who were present on that day (and who had concluded a four-year long Non-Stop Picket of the embassy a month earlier), this paper explores and analyses their memories of that unexpected moment when their previously symbolic call to ‘burn it down’ was (almost) materialised. In doing so, it contributes new ways of conceptualising the spatiality and temporality of intersectional solidarity.

scholarly journals ‘You have to keep your head on your shoulders’: A systems psychodynamic perspective on women leaders

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude-Helene Mayer ◽  
Louise Tonelli ◽  
Rudolf M. Oosthuizen ◽  
Sabie Surtee
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Women Leadership ◽  
Tongue Position ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Education Resource ◽  
Role Confusion

Background:Women leaders within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa have increased in numbers over the past years and they have changed the dynamics in these institutions. Yet, it is a subject that has hardly been explored from the perspective of women leaders.Aim:The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of women leaders in HEIs from a systems psychodynamic perspective using the conflict, identity, boundaries, authority, roles, task (CIBART) model, a well-researched model to analyse systems psychodynamics and to gain a deeper understanding of (un)conscious dynamics within organisations.Methods:This qualitative study is based on Dilthey‘s modern hermeneutics. Interviews were conducted with 23 women leaders from the Higher Education Resource Services South Africa, network across 8 HEIs. Observations were conducted in one organisation to support the data analysis and interpretation. Data were analysed through content analysis.Findings:Findings show that women leaders re-evaluate and reconstruct themselves constantly within organisations. This continuous re-evaluation and reconstruction become visible through the constructs of the CIBART model. The findings reveal deeper insights into systems psychodynamics, which considers anxiety within the system where women leaders seem to contain such anxiety by mobilising specific defence mechanisms. Certain diversity markers, such as race, gender, mother tongue, position within the organisation and generational belonging play a role in creating the dynamics. Women leaders’ experience of de-authorisation and role confusion impacts significantly on women leadership and their action towards ownership.Practical implications: The study provides new, valuable and context-specific insights into women leadership seen through the lens of the CIBART model, highlighting unconscious dynamics that need practical attention in the HEIs to empower women leaders for gender-specific leadership training.Originality or value: Findings provide a foundation for future research on women leaders and applied solutions to empower women leaders, whilst reducing anxiety within the system. The study provides complex insights, which should create increasing awareness in women leaders towards being containers of anxiety and creating new ways of empowered women leadership.

scholarly journals GETTING INTO THE CITY BEAT: Challenges facing our metro police

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth Newham
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
The Past ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
The City

It has been a little over five years since metropolitan police departments were first established in South Africa. Despite relatively small numbers of operational personnel, they now form a familiar part of the policing landscape. With good reason, metro police officers do better at traffic control than crime prevention, and their relationship with the SAPS needs attention. This article reflects on their achievements over the past years and some of the key challenges confronting these local level police agencies.

scholarly journals Taking the test: Policing integrity and professionalism in the MPDs

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Faull
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Metropolitan Police ◽  
Integrity Tests

A lack of creativity and political will is placing the country’s Metropolitan Police Departments (MPDs) at risk of losing legitimacy, as management and councils pay lip service to evidence of dwindling organisational integrity. The introduction of targeted and random integrity tests within the departments is urgently needed to turn the tide on abuses of power, and can be implemented easily enough.

scholarly journals Personality, depressive symptoms and prior trauma exposure of new recruits at two Metropolitan Police Service academies in South Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
U Subramaney ◽  
E Libhaber ◽  
N Pitts ◽  
M Vorster
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Trauma Exposure ◽  
Personality Profiles ◽  
Metropolitan Police ◽  
Personality Variables ◽  
Police Service ◽  
New Recruits

<p><strong>Background.</strong> Police officers are predisposed to trauma exposure. The development of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be influenced by personality style, prior exposure to traumatic events and prior depression.</p><p><strong> Objectives.</strong> To describe the personality profiles of new Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers, and to determine the association between personality profiles, trauma exposure and depressive symptoms.</p><p><strong> Methods.</strong> We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 139 new recruits at two MPS academies in South Africa. A questionnaire elucidating traumatic life events and personality profiles was developed using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III). Depressive symptoms were measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD).</p><p><strong>Results.</strong> Almost all subjects (99.3%) had previous trauma exposure, most commonly the unexpected death of a loved one and motor vehicle accidents. Prevalence of clinical depression was low (mean HAMD 3.57; standard deviation ±3.37). Personality characteristics revealed a high prevalence of anxiety (64.7%; 95% CI 56.8 - 72.6), depressive clinical patterns (34.5%; 95% CI 26.6 - 42.2), paranoia (33.1 %; 95% CI 26.6 - 42.2) and major depression (10.3%; 95% CI 5.1 - 15.1). There were no significant associations between any of the traumatic events and depressive symptoms, nor were there any significant associations between any of the personality variables and HAMD score (p&gt;0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion.</strong> The presence of depressive symptoms among MPS officers was low, with no significant associations between traumatic events, personality variables and depressive symptoms.</p>

scholarly journals BRING THEM INTO LINE: Managing corruption in SAPS and metro police departments

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Faull
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Police Departments ◽  
Police Corruption ◽  
Police Services ◽  
The Past ◽  
Police Agencies ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Municipal Police ◽  
Perceptions Of Police ◽  
National Police

Police corruption has become increasingly topical following the corruption charges levelled against the SAPS National Commissioner early this year. South Africa has a national police service as well as one municipal and five metropolitan police services. Public debate around the ‘police’ generally fails to distinguish between these independent organisations, and perceptions of police corruption negatively undermine the entire policing fraternity. Because of this, the various police agencies should consider working together on corruption. This article examines approaches to corruption in the national, metropolitan and municipal police services. Among others, important issues that need to be addressed are the disciplinary code within the metro police departments, the lack of investigative powers granted MPD officers, and the SAPS’s failure over the past seven years to effectively implement any relevant strategies.

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