South Africa does not need another diagnosis of what has gone wrong in policing. Public confidence has eroded. What it needs is a credible route from exposure to reform. The Reset Agenda, announced by the acting minister of police, Prof. Firoz Cachalia, offers an opportunity to begin that work.
This could be done with five focus areas, five accountable leaders and five years to rebuild respect and legitimacy.
The first focus area is professional and operational competence. Public trust rests on one question: When officers arrive, can they do the job? A uniform confers authority; competence gives it credibility. The second focus area is physical readiness. Officers must pursue suspects, restrain dangerous individuals and handle firearms precisely. Their bodies are essential tools; firearms should not substitute for mobility or fitness.
The third focus area is emotional regulation. Officials work under sustained pressure and exercise discretion where one poor decision can destroy a life, end a career or create enormous state liability. Yet they must show calmness, courage and impartiality without tools to regulate fear, anger, frustration or entitlement.
Fourth is constitutionally driven policing. Human rights, due process, accountability and the rule of law must guide conduct rather than political expediency or personal loyalty. The police should develop peer-auditing systems to identify questionable conduct early.
The fifth focus area is a high-trust police culture. It rests on willingness to serve, skills to perform, reliability and responsiveness to public safety needs.
These five priorities require five named leaders. One police official should own and audit each area, report against targets and answer for progress. The National Commissioner should remain the overall custodian, supported by designated leaders responsible for professional competence, physical readiness, emotional-regulation training, constitutional compliance and organisational culture.
Responsibility cannot be dispersed so widely that nobody is accountable.
■ Steenkamp is a lecturer and researcher in Policing Practice at the North-West University (NWU).
