Increase danger pay for police, prison and traffic officials, Popcru urges
The union says the R250,000 death benefit for police officers who die in the line of duty has been discretionary and has failed to sustain the families of the deceased
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has called on the government to increase danger-pay allowances to address the life-threatening situations officials in the criminal justice cluster are exposed to. Spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said the current danger allowance per month for police officers was R400, correctional services R477 and R439 for traffic officials. “These amounts are taxed and do not complement the nature and environment of their work and the extent to which they daily risk their lives,” he said on Wednesday. Mamabolo said they regularly witnessed correctional services officials being stabbed to death in the line of duty, and police and traffic officials being killed. According to the SA Police Service, 79 police officers died, 40 of them in the line of duty, during the 2015/2016 financial year. The number went down to 57 during 2016/2017, and declined further to 29 between April 1 2017 and March 31 2018. Mamabolo said that over and above an increase to t...
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