The relationship of criminal justice system component and society

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CHAPTER 3 History, status, tasks, appointments and chaplaincy

Introduction

This chapter will provide a background to the historical development of chaplaincy and the South African Police Service from the time of its inception in 1952 up to the democratic era in 1994 – 2002. The discussion of this background is meant to provide us with information regarding the pioneers of chaplaincy and how they managed to form the solid Chaplain Corps in the SAPS. This chapter will further introduce the status of chaplaincy as well as its key functions in the SAPS. With regard to the status, the researcher aims to look at the position or the professional status of chaplaincy in the SAPS, as well as how chaplaincy fits into the SAPS context. With the functions of chaplaincy, the aim is to unpack the functions and ascertain how the chaplaincy executes its functions in both the SAPS and in the church. Lastly, the characteristics and ethics needed for qualifying as a chaplain will also be discussed. With regard to the characteristics, the aim is to highlight the qualities of a chaplain as the man of God operating in the context of the SAPS, whereas in the ethics part of it, the morals and behaviour of the chaplain should be beyond reproach when rendering the service.

Historical development of the Chaplain Service in the South African Police Service (SAPS)

There was a need for chaplains to minister to the spiritual needs of policemen. This is confirmed by the letter of the South African Police to the Public Service Commission (cf. Chapter 1.5).
From this letter it became clear that a full-time chaplain was needed. The Commissioner’s concern was that the Police Force was spread all over the country and his desire was to have spiritual contact with his members wherever they were. It was therefore on this basis that a spiritual worker became a necessity (Rothman, 1980:3).
The State and the police unilaterally took a decision about the appointment of a chaplain. The correspondence indicates that the church was not consulted. The Police Force and State wrote a letter to the church concerning the appointment of a chaplain. The Police Commissioner together with the Minis ter of Justice decided on who the chaplain should be and the name of the person was forwarded with recommendation to the Public Service Commission for approval (Rothman, 1980:4).
The choice fell on the Reverend Harper Martins, who was born on 24 July 1896 from Jacobus and Cecelia Martins. He studied at Stellenbosch University and was legitimised on November 1926. He served various congregations of the Dutch Reformed Church, including the Pretoria West congregation where he was ultimately chosen as a police chaplain. One of the reasons for the choice of the Rev Martins was that the Police College was situated in the surroundings of the Pretoria West congregation. Rev Martins was used to service the police officials in the college and was acquainted with the police culture. After all arrangements were made, the South African Cabinet announced the official appointment of Martins on 25 February 1952. He started with the rank of Chief Inspector (Major). ands became the first chaplain for the South African Police Force in 1952.
The wonderful service rendered by Reverend Martins laid a strong foundation for the church and put the church in the rightful place in the SAP. This opportunity given to the church to proclaim the prophet, priestly as well as kingly, message was grabbed by the church (Rothman, 1980:31).
Martins’ commitment and dedication also laid the foundation for the Chaplain Corps. He retired from the force in 1958.

Reasons for the establishment of the Chaplain Corps

There are various reasons that for the formation of the Chaplain Corps. During the 1960s police members became involved in difficult and dangerous situations. Political violence was the order of the day in South Africa. There was serious violence in Pondoland (Transkei), Sharpeville (former Transvaal) and Nyanga (Cape Town). The police members had no one at that time to give moral or spiritual support. Although Rev Martins was there, he could not travel from one place to another taking into consideration his age. In the Transkei (Pondoland) there was not even local members who could be asked to render support on behalf of the chaplain to the police members. The Minister of Justice felt that the police members had no spiritual support during the violence in Sharpville , Pondoland and Nyanga.
The Defence Force had at that stage a good Chaplain Corps but this was not the case with the SAPS. It was therefore these unfriendly circumstances that propelled the Minister and the Commissioner to take the decision of forming the Chaplain Corps in the SAPS so that in times of violence and distress, the spiritual needs of the members should be looked after.
The results of Rev Martins’ work were so appreciated that it was possible to form a well-organised Chaplain Corps so that the members could be spiritually supported. The Police Force grew substantially all over the country and the Department therefore felt that one person could not properly service the whole of South Africa.

Formation of the Chaplain Corps

The Minister of Justice and the Commissioner of Police reached an agreement to recruit a chaplain from the army so as to assist in the formation of the Chaplain Corps. This happened on 11 October 1960 when chaplain Johan Cloete was transferred from the Defence Force to the South African Police. The idea behind the transfer was to initiate the formation of a Chaplain Corps just like in the army. The soil was already made fertile by the works of Rev. Martins.
It was during Rev Cloete’s time that the well-organised Chaplain Corps came into existence.
This corps became successful because he had vast knowledge, experience and insight.
This Chaplain Corp was not supposed to exist alongside the Police Force but should be an integral part of the whole force. To strengthen this, Rev Cloete even suggested that the chaplains should be incorporated into the police ranking structure, otherwise they would not form part of the entire force. This was contrary to the Defense Force where chaplaincy was a self -standing, independent section, with another rank insignia.
Since 1960 the Chaplain Corps has spread to such an extent that all big cities in South Africa has a chaplain (Rothman, 1980:42).
The task originally given to Rev Cloete of organizing the Chaplain Corps had with great dignity been accomplished by him. He organised it, formed and spread it all over the country. The organisation of the Chaplain Corps organised by Reverend. Johan Cloete is still the basis on which today’s Chaplain Corps is organised. He retired from the chaplaincy in 1975.
This Chaplain Corps was given the following duties:

• To look after the spiritual welfare and the interests of all members of the force despite race, colour or religion; and
• to carry out the instructions of the Minister or the Police Commissioner through the chief chaplain.

On 1 March 1975 Rev Frank Colyn was appointed as chief chaplain of the SAP. A strong and well-organised Chaplain Corps come into existence and chaplaincy grew from strength to strength in South Africa as a whole. Rev Colyn continued with the good work amongst the police members until he retired in 1986. His main task was to recruit more chaplains and to monitor the task of the chaplains, that is, their proclamation of the priestly, the prophetic and the kingly message to police members across the racial line.

The drive towards black recruitment

The years 1988 – 2000 through the leadership of Rev Hendrick Botha was characterised by a black recruitment drive. From 1952 to 1990 the chaplaincy was exclusively white-dominated. These ministers were mainly from the Dutch Reformed Church. This suggests that there was no black chaplain appointed during the above-mentioned period. Rev Botha brought a drastic paradigm shift into chaplaincy through recruiting black chaplains into the SAPS.
In1994 another drastic change took place when the whole country underwent transformation as a result of the outcome of the 1994 general elections. Chaplaincy was challenged to be broadly representative of the South African rainbow nation and to address the diversity at their disposal.

The status of Ccaplaincy in the SAPS

The need for clarification about the status of chaplaincy within the SAPS is a matter of serious interest, more especially for this study. The question that needs to be asked and answered is whether the chaplain is an ordained minister or not in the SAPS.
It should be known that the SAPS has chosen to be a professional service delivery institution. For the purpose of this instruction it becomes necessary to determine what is understood under the concept professionalism. If the SAPS were serious about professional service delivery to its members, this concept then begs clarification. The starting point is from the hypothesis that the SAPS wants to deliver a professional chaplain service to its members.
Originally the word profession was only associated with doctors, ministers and lawyers or advocates (Van Heerden, 1979:22). Later the term was used for officers of the navy and defense force.
An occupation does not get a professional status overnight. It must undergo a professionalising process. In this manner members of the medical, legal and clerical profession must have certain distinctive qualities to which they must comply, for example specialised knowledge, dedication to the service ideal, ethical codes, autonomy, have high admission requirements, professional pride status, etc. Police professionalism is defined in terms of competency in management (Schdnick, 1968:82).

CHAPTER 1 Managing cultural diversity in Gauteng Province SAPS
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Problem statement
1.3 The importance and the actuality of the research
1.4 Demarcation of the research
1.5 The research methodology
CHAPTER 2 Profile of the South African Police Service
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Criminal justice system
2.3 Components of the criminal justice system
2.4 The relationship of criminal justice system component and society
2.5 The vision statement
2.6 SAPS structure
2.7 The term policing
2.8 Police Force and Police Service
2.9 Five policing styles adopted in South Africa
2.10 Police Code of Conduct
2.11 Human rights for both the Police and the community
2.12 Culture
2.13 Summary
CHAPTER 3 History, status, tasks, appointment and characteristics of chaplaincy
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Historical development of the Chaplain Service in the SAPS
3.3 Reasons for a Chaplain Corps
3.4 Formation of the Chaplain Corps
3.5 The drive towards black recruitment
3.6 The status of chaplaincy in the SAPS
3.7 Task of chaplains
3.8 Denominational functions of the chaplain
3.9 Appointment procedure
3.10 The chaplain as a man of integrity
3.11 The chaplain as a servant
3.12 The chaplain as a shepherd
3.13 The chaplain as a reputable person
3.14 Ethics
3.15 Justice
3.16 Humility
3.17 Love
3.18 Tolerance
3.19 Summary
CHAPTER 4 Culture, management, strategic management and chaplaincy
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Culture from different perspectives
4.3 Cultural universals
4.4 Cultural particulars
4.5 Management
4.6 Managing cultural diversity and implications for the chaplain
4.7 The process of strategy formulation
4.8 Historical overview
4.9 Definitions
4.10 The process of strategic planning
4.11 Organisational profile
4.12 Purpose/objective
4.13 The vision and mission statements
4.14 Managerial value of a mission statement
4.15 Environmental analysis
4.16 Internal organisational assessment
4.18 Potential action plans
CHAPTER 5 Stress, counselling and chaplaincy
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Definition
5.3 Stress-inducing factors
5.4 Personal stressors
5.5 Counselling
5.6 Building a relationship
5.7 Love
5.8 Planning
5.9 Interviews
5.10 Empathy
5.11 Analysis
5.12 Openness or truthfulness
CHAPTER 6 Bereavement and the chaplaincy
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Death and theology
6.3 The Spiegel stages
6.4 Summary
CHAPTER 7 Empirical study
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Administration of questionnaires
7.3 Analysis of participants’ responses
7.4 Responses of questionnaires
CHAPTER 8 Conclusion and recommendations
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Summary of Chapter 4
8.3 Summary of Chapter 5
8.4 Summary of Chapter 6
8.5 Summary of Chapter 7
8.6 Recommendations
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