Analysis of challenges facing police retirees in the Eastern Cape of South Africa: development of adjustment programme for police retirees to the community

The purpose of the study was to investigate the challenges faced by police retirees of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and to contribute towards the establishment of a post-retirement programme that would assist retirees to experience satisfaction in retirement. Upon retirement, police officers leave a job of personified authority and responsibility and become civilians. Throughout their career, police officers work under strenuous shifts, exposure to violence and witness gruesome incidents. In some cases, they facilitate the arrest of their neighbours and even family members in conflict with the law. How they adjust in the communities when they retire has never been investigated in the Eastern Cape, a research gap this study intended to address. A qualitative research methodology and a case study design was adopted. The data were collected from 21 participants. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used as methods of data collection. The interpretivism paradigm informed data analysis process. The life course theory was used as a theoretical framework for this study. The findings of this study revealed that police retirees experience challenges that are different from other public servants and the South African Police Service (SAPS) does not have programmes to prepare employees for retirement. The study established that most of the retirees had not yet adjusted to retirement because of the challenges they faced. Among the unique challenges that they experience are psychological challenges such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) emanating from their daily exposure to gruesome incidents, violence and working under strenuous shifts. The study also revealed that the retirees experienced broken social support system (family), social rejection by their previous employer (SAPS), and the communities they are retiring in. Therefore, as a result of rejection they relocate and start a new life somewhere else, where they suffer loneliness. Neglect by the employer (SAPS) made them feel useless and unappreciated. It was also established that the handing back of police equipment and uniforms makes them feel a sense of loss of power and authority, which makes them feel unsafe. The feeling of insecurity become more intense when the people they arrested threaten revenge on them when they are on retirement. The study recommends commitment from different stakeholders to assist employees in SAPS to experience a smooth and rewarding transition towards retirement. These include a pre-retirement planning programme that will engage employees ten years before retirement and require the employer’s commitment, a transition programme, that will engage retirees during retirement and require commitment from the police medical aid (POLMED) and community policing forum involvement. Finally, the establishment of social support system in the post-retirement programme is required for the extension of employee health and wellness (EHW) services.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 202