Abstract
An investigation was conducted into the level and quality of service delivered by the South African Police Service in the Client Service Centres. The problem identification was based on the fact that the Police are the first representatives of the Criminal Justice System with which victims of crime come into contact. It is therefore important that they are not treated bad or victimised by the officials. Quality was measured in terms of the principles of batho pele. The concept of ubuntu was introduced to see how it could be used to enhance these principles.
A customer service model was developed and used to evaluate the quality of service rendered by the SAPS. Interviews were conducted with staff, customers and managers. The results of the study showed that employees of the SAPS do not experience internal quality. It was also found that customers were satisfied with the administrative services they received from the police officials. However, the quality of the service rendered is very poor as principles of batho pele are not applied.
Police management must apply the principles of batho pele to the employees and empower them to be able to render quality service to the community.
Dr. N.R. Barnes