PROFILE: Ockert Terblanche – from policeman to parliamentarian

After the 2011 local government elections, a year after retiring from the police as a major-general with 40 years’ experience, Ockert “Okkie” Terblanche was elected as a ward chair for Hartenbos in the Mossel Bay municipality. He is now DA shadow deputy minister of police and will be retiring at the end of this term.

He joined parliament as a member of the National Council of Provinces in 2015 and since 2019 has served on parliament’s portfolio committee on police.

He tells the FM he is concerned about the state of policing, though he knows very dedicated people in the service.

“You need to have competent and professional management,” he says. Recruitment, he says, is key. “The training nowadays bothers me, especially with these huge intakes we have. The police don’t have enough trainers. I am concerned about the quality of police official you end up with.

 “I don’t think there is enough focus where it should be. Crime prevention is key, and you need to have proper investigators.”

Police officers are leaving in numbers, he says. “I don't think this is  necessarily because of the salary. People are getting offers they can’t resist. I think that a lot of police officials are frustrated.”

Terblanche says infrastructure and the police’s offices were already a problem in 2010, when he retired. Earlier this year Telkom Towers in Pretoria, the building that is meant to be the national headquarters of the police, was closed by department of employment & labour officials for repairs because it was unfit for occupation. It was bought by the department of public works & infrastructure for about R700m.

“It’s a disaster,” says Terblanche. “You can [be sure] that it will not be ready in the next five years. That is my prediction. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.”

Some of the issues involved in policing, he says, can be resolved through a devolution of powers, something the DA has been consistently calling for. “The policing model [the government is] using now is outdated. The whole structure must be flattened. You cannot manage a police service from Pretoria.”

Terblanche has fond memories of his time in parliament. “A portfolio committee member represents the people of South Africa. [The committee] built a good relationship. There was a sincere aim to do the best under the circumstances. Whatever is police related is referred to the committee, which has to deal with it and come to an agreement about it. The community would find it very interesting to follow the inner workings of a committee.”

Terblanche is also proud of his attendance record at meetings. “I was part of the top management of the police. To an extent ... this rubbed off on me. I always tried to be the best prepared.”

Terblanche, who turns 72 in July, will be working in a family real estate business when he leaves parliament. “I feel that I had my innings and I want to enjoy a bit of the rest of my life. I owe it to my wife.”

Irvin Kinnes of the University of Cape Town’s department of law worked on the portfolio committee on police as a content adviser. He says the committee is one of the busiest in parliament. “The committee section is the engine room of parliament because that is where most of the work of parliamentarians takes place. The committee is very important when it comes to oversight over the executive and the department of police.

“The budget oversight process is critical, and the committee has to make sure that the public get value for money when the budget of the police is almost R112bn over the medium term,” he says.

Kinnes says it usually takes a new committee member at least three years to get to grips with the internal processes of the police and parliament. “It is a demanding job, because you are required to process and understand complex data on crime statistics, budgets, medium-term income and expenditure frameworks, lawmaking processes and the constitution.”

Kinnes says that because of Terblanche’s previous employment in the police service he knew procurement processes well and could contribute effectively. “It did not take him long to ask the difficult questions,” he says.