Saftu says austerity, not workers’ demands, are undermining policing in the country [SOUND]

# Saftu says it disagrees with the assertion by KwaZulu‑Natal Police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, that union demands for higher salaries are hampering efforts to fill policing vacancies. He blamed the country’s rising unemployment rate on trade unions, which he said continually demanded more money from their members. Saftu’s spokesperson, Asive Dyani, says Mkhwanazi’s perspective risked distorting public understanding of a far more serious issue: decades of neoliberal austerity and budget cuts that have hollowed out the police service: