Surging crime, pulled cases and wrongful arrests – SA police in crisis
There are increased calls for the new administration to place a heightened focus on the recapacitating of the South African Police Service (SAPS).
In a recent parliamentary response by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu to questions posed to him by Rise Mzansi’s Makashule Gana, it was outlined that during the 2023/24 financial, 1,416 cases of rape, 9 cases of murder and 18 cases of hijacking (car- and truck-jacking) were withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.
Gana said that this “reiterates the need for more detectives to ensure that all credible cases reach their natural conclusion, which is to see violent criminals in prison for rehabilitation.”
“With 8,594 vacant detective posts in the SAPS, it means that the women and men in blue are overstretched and will at times miss key pieces of evidence needed to deem a case successful.
“Crime stalks every community across the country, it is therefore vital that a full complement of detectives is recruited in order to ensure that there is a full detective service that is able to ensure that heinous crimes such as rape, murder and hijacking are investigated and prosecuted,” he added.
Also revealed in the response was that during the 2023/24 financial year, 4,135 incidents of wrongful arrest were registered with the SAPS.
This averages 11 cases of alleged wrongful arrest being registered with the police every day in the last financial year.
Moreover, these 4,135 cases carry claims worth more than R2 billion (R2,241,082,675.00). However, Mchunu emphasised that “this is not the amount that would potentially be paid to claimants.”
The SAPS have previously explained that this is because “depending on the nature of a claim, the average amount of compensation granted is only a small fraction of the amount claimed.”
As of May 2024, the SAPS paid out over R2.2 billion in civil claims for wrongful arrests and detentions since 2018.
Particularly, this was:
- 2018/2019: R356,205,508.36;
- 2019/2020: R329,657,948.87;
- 2020/2021: R239,299,759.27;
- 2021/2022: R346,220,870.81;
- 2022/2023: R541,751,164.30.
“Wrongful arrests erode the trust between the public and the police, it is therefore important to understand this phenomenon in full by putting the matter on the Portfolio Committee’s agenda and for it to intervene where necessary,” said Gana.
“Building a safe South Africa means that the SAPS are able to execute their duties without fear, favour or prejudice and where they do wrong, they are held accountable, so that we all have confidence in the women and men who work to keep us safe,” he added.
The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) recently wrote that “while great strides were made during the first half of the country’s democracy, police effectiveness has declined since 2012.”
“SAPS’ detection rate for murder dropped from 31% to 12%, and almost three out of four people surveyed in 2021 said they had little or no trust in the police.”
“Between 2011 and 2023, murders increased by 77% and armed robberies by over 41%,” they added.
According to Gareth Newham, Head of Justice and Violence Prevention at the ISS, ‘This decline is partly due to a shifting crime landscape as a result of growing social and economic challenges and new technology, while the SAPS – a large and cumbersome organisation – has changed very little over the past couple of decades.’
In the last financial year, SAPS lost 5,733 members, primarily due to retirements and resignations, with 77.5% being highly skilled or senior staff. This trend mirrors previous years, with similar high percentages of skilled losses.
Thus, they are hoping for the new minister’s experience “will stand him in good stead to provide evidence-based policy direction and rigorous oversight so that the SAPS can measurably improve its ability to provide public safety over the next five years.”
Police response
In his first budget speech vote as Police minister, 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 they are prioritising, among other things;
- Building the capacity of SAPS;
- Reduce surging violent crime, GBV and femicide:
- Modernisation initiatives;
- Combatting economic crimes.
This is seen as needed as in SAPS’ 2024/25 Annual Performance Plan, it outlined that despite large budgetary increases, the law enforcement body is still struggling to control the country’s surging crime rates.
One of the biggest problems the SAPS faces is an increasing population that new police recruitments cannot keep up with.
“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.
However, the minister acknowledged that when accounting for factors such as population growth, “of course these numbers are not enough”.
According to the SAPS report, some of its 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.”
Mchunu and SAPS leadership said that addressing this sits at the top of their agenda.
The ISS recently provided recommendations for a foundation to an effective and trusted police service, which (broadly) includes:
- Professionalising SAPS;
- Strengthening SAPS Leadership;
- Building a Professional Police Identity;
- Reducing Violent Crime;
- Strengthening Crime Investigation;
- Improving Public Trust;
- Updating SAPS Act;
- Enhancing IT and Cybersecurity;
- Establishing a Data Analysis Centre;
- Modernising Recruitment and Training;
- Coordinating Auxiliary Policing.
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