South Africa has a massive policing problem

South Africa’s population keeps rising, and the police can’t recruit enough to keep up. Yet despite this, more money is still going towards protecting the privileged few in government – at the expense of everyone else.

One of the most pressing issues plaguing South Africa is that of high levels of endemic crime, and as such, the government has placed a hefty price tag in attempts to fight it.

In his first budget speech vote as Police minister, Senzo Mchunu outlined that the South African Police Service’s (SAPS’) budget for 2024/25 is R113.597 Billion—up from the R72.5 billion seen 10 years ago.

Mchunu said that the budget is earmarked to “enhance the capacity and capabilities of the SAPS, modernise our operations, and work collaboratively with communities and stakeholders to combat crime and ensure the safety and security of all South Africans.”

During his speech, Mchunu said that the department is prioritising, among other things;

1. Building the capacity of SAPS;
2. Reduce surging violent crime, GBV and femicide:
3. Modernisation initiatives;
4. Combatting economic crimes.

One of the standout budget items is that the Protection and Security Services Programme received a main appropriation of R4.09 billion for 2024/25.

Of this, the VIP Protection Unit got a whopping R2.177 billion allocation.

According to SAPS, the VIP protection unit, which received one of the largest increases (7.5%), “provides for the protection of the President, Deputy President, former Presidents and other identified VIPs (ministers, deputies etc).”

“Looking at this budget, one programme that keeps growing is the protection of politicians,” said Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana during the police budget vote debate.

“The people of South Africa are now spending over R4-billion protecting national and provincial public representatives and other dignitaries [but] just outside this very room, there are more Protection and Security Services cars guarding politicians than the number of visible policing vehicles found in a police station,” said Gana.

“Would you say this is fair, or some people are more equal than others? Do we really need these billions to protect politicians?” he added.

According to reporting by News24, the VIP protection unit allocation is “R600 million more than what was allocated to fight gender-based violence (GBV) and protect the children of South Africa.”

This growth in VIP protection is seen amid South Africa sporting its largest-ever national executive amid a coalition government.

SAPS’ 2024/25 Annual Performance Plan shows that despite large budgetary increases, the law enforcement body is still struggling to get a grip on the country’s surging crime rates.

One of the biggest problems the SAPS faces is an increasing population that new police recruitments simply cannot keep up with.

According to the report, some of its other most pressing internal challenges include:

• Low morale of members;
• Increased workloads;
• SAPS members involved in crime;
• Ageing, inadequate infrastructure;
• Insufficient resources;
• Need for modernisation;
• and “reduced budget allocations.”

“Fiscal constraints remain serious, and this has made spending reductions to departments and entities unavoidable,” said National Treasury when discussing policing in February’s budget.

“For the 2024/25 financial year, this additional funding will enable us to appoint another 10,000 police trainees, covering personnel losses through natural attrition and facilitating workforce growth,” said Mchunu.

Mchunu acknowledged that when accounting for factors such as population growth, “of course these numbers are not enough”.

He said the detective services had been allocated R71.3-billion over the medium term, while R15.1-billion was earmarked for Crime Intelligence. 

Additionally, the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service was allocated a R155.9-million budget, while the Independent Police Investigative Directorate was allocated R370.5-million. 

“The Detective Service has not been immune to decreases in the workforce and increased workloads,” said the SAPS annual report.

The number of docket-carrying detectives has reduced from 18,963, at the start of 2022, to 17,614 (minus 1,349) at the start of 2023.

This has ultimately impacted detection rates.

“For the 2024/25 financial year, this additional funding will enable us to appoint another 10,000 police trainees, covering personnel losses through natural attrition and facilitating workforce growth,” he said.

Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, David Bruce, wrote in an article titled “Police could do far more to make South Africa safer” that “the approach to South Africa’s policing challenges consists largely of recycling an old and ineffective formula.”

This includes “further budgetary increases, more waves of large-scale recruitment, new task teams, or the claim that Community Police Forums will be reinvigorated.”

Bruce said that significant progress in enhancing the SAPS and overall public safety is unlikely without recognition from top government officials of the need for a continuous, deliberate effort, with political leaders and senior officials thoughtfully evaluating the policy recommendations presented in various reports.

“What South Africa lacks is a blueprint for a more effective policing system – the government needs stronger capacity to formulate a practical policy agenda that takes account of South Africa’s complex and changing crime and safety problems,” said Bruce.

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