Abstract
M.A.
Although all forms of apartheid control legislation have been repealed and the Constitution and Bill of Rights adopted, it is questionable in what way these principles of equality and non-discrimination are effectively implemented and whether changes have occurred in practice. Chapter one therefore provides an overview of the study. The discussion of legislation viz. the Constitution, the Equality Clause and Employment Equity Act urges the elimination of discrimination and the implementation of equality. The
legacy of policing also provides the challenge to change. Several SAPS policies and directives such as the SAPS Policy Document on Affirmative Action and Fundamental Equality Directives in theory indicate the movement towards change and initiatives to implement equality and eliminate discrimination.
It is therefore impressive to have legislation, policies and directives, but the question is in what way these are effectively being implemented and whether one can notice a change in the actual behaviour of police officials. Equality and non-discrimination, which are at the heart of effective policing, underpin good community and human relations. It is important to assess in what way the SA police culture and working climate have changed from a traditional partisan and discriminatory approach to a service provider that celebrates diversity and human rights. The research therefore investigates in what way the rhetoric of
equality and non-discrimination have been implemented and its effect on individuals in a policing environment. The perceived gap between policy legislation and reality in practice was a further motivational aspect of the study, as policy alone will not ensure the implementation of equality principles.
The goal and objectives of the study narrow the focus and the presentation of definitions provides further clarity. The research nature for this study was primarily explorative, and also descriptive. The goal of the study was to explore and describe police officials' experience and behaviour in the implementation of equality and the elimination of discriminatory practices in the working environment at police station level during the period
1996-7. This research was primarily of a qualitative nature and a single embedded case study design strategy was used. The unit /item of analysis or sampling element was police officials working under the jurisdiction of one specific police station in Gauteng. The demographic profile and characteristics of the police officials in the study sample was presented and analysed quantitatively (SSPS descriptive statistics according to frequency counts and cross tabulations) and achieved the first secondary objective of exploring and
describing the level of representivity at the police station being studied. A non-probability sampling method - based on convenience and reliance on available subjects - was the primary sampling strategy used. Other secondary types of sampling used in this study were snowball or chain, confirming and disconfirming cases, opportunistic, and a combination or mixed strategies.