Police rack up insane bill for wrongful arrests in South Africa
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has had to pay approximately R1.67 billion to claimants for wrongful arrests and/or assaults in police custody over the past four financial years.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu revealed this in response to written questions posed to him in Parliament by RISE Mzansi MP Makashule Gana.
According to the information provided by the Minister, over the past four financial years, there were 17,216 payouts for claims relating wrongful arrests and detention, and 346 payouts for assaults while in police custody.
The value of these payouts increased by over 128% between 2020/21 and 2022/23, before coming down slightly in 2023/24.
Payouts for each financial year totalled:
- 2020/21: R244,187,600.13
- 2021/22: R357,518,328.28
- 2022/23: R558,058,762.14
- 2023/24: R506,947,589.46
This brings the total payouts to R1,666,712,280.01 over four financial years.
It is made up of:
| Year | Wrongful arrest and detention payouts | Amount paid, irrespective of the date of receipt of claim | Assault payouts | Amount paid, irrespective of the date of receipt of claim |
| FY 2020/21 | 3,303 | R239,299,759.27 | 74 | R4,887,840.86 |
| FY 2021/22 | 3,830 | R346,220,870.81 | 65 | R11,297,457.47 |
| FY 2022/23 | 4,550 | R541,751,164.30 | 82 | R16,307,597.84 |
| FY 2023/24 | 5,533 | R491,316,050.48 | 125 | R15,631,538.98 |
| Total | 17,216 | R1,618,587,844.86 | 346 | R48,124,435.15 |
Looking at the total number of claims that were received and settled, these are:
| Year | Total number of claims received | Number of claims settled |
| FY 2020/21 | 10,689 | 2,899 |
| FY 2021/22 | 13,262 | 3,432 |
| FY 2022/23 | 12,842 | 5,366 |
| FY 2023/24 | 15,239 | 6,381 |
| Total | 52,032 | 18,078 |
When discussing this matter in Parliament in September, Gana said that “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.”
“Building a safe South Africa means that the SAPS can 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 Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) was launched in 2011, designed to operate autonomously to investigate allegations of police misconduct and criminality.
Its mandate encompasses a range of activities, including the investigations of death, rape, firearm-related cases, assault, torture, and corruption, among others.
Speaking on his 100 days in office at the tail-end of November, Mchunu said that IPID “continues to keep police officers in check and we will monitor their progress.”
Issues of heavy-handedness
Safer Spaces highlights that a rising but endemic issue in South Africa is that of police brutality.
“South Africa did not only inherit the culture of police brutality as the legacy of the past but has inherited the acceptance of such criminal behaviour by failure to hold the police accountable for their criminal acts of police brutality,” said Safer Spaces.
Researchers from the SAPS Dr. John Motsamai Modise and Dr. Philly Masogo recently echoed this, highlighting that “SAPS continues to grapple with issues” like:
- Police Brutality: Allegations of excessive force and brutality erode public trust.
- Corruption: Corruption within the SAPS weakens its effectiveness and undermines public confidence.
- Ineffectiveness: Crime rates remain high, leading to a perception that the SAPS is not adequately addressing community needs.
They say that these recklessness, negligence and misconduct cases run rampant because “the South African Police Service faces a critical challenge due to a lack of widespread accountability leadership.”
Modise and Masogo call for the prioritisation of accountability leadership to tackle some of these woes, as it “promotes a culture of transparency and demonstrates a commitment to ethical conduct.”
“This can help rebuild public trust in the SAPS, which has been eroded by allegations of brutality and corruption.”
“Leading with a strong moral compass and encouraging others to follow suit is crucial [as a] clear system of accountability deters misconduct and corruption within the SAPS,” which often results in these cases against SAPS, said the researchers.
By adopting accountability leadership, the researchers say that SAPS can achieve four key objectives and bring these misconduct cases down, which include:
- Regain Public Trust by being transparent and upholding ethical standards, showing the public that officers are held accountable for their actions.
- Combat Corruption through clear accountability mechanisms that ensure fair investigations and appropriate consequences for misconduct, thus promoting ethical behaviour.
- Improve Performance by fostering a culture of continuous improvement and accountability, which helps in learning from mistakes and enhancing officer effectiveness.
Safer Spaces also provided some suggestions for preventing such recklessness, negligence and misconduct cases, including:
- Improve Police Training: SAPS training must address real-world challenges, focusing on handling public protests, raids, and stop-and-search operations effectively. Training should also include interviewing skills and the ability to explain police actions to the public.
- Disregard Evidence from Excessive Force: Information obtained through torture or excessive force should be inadmissible in court. This could discourage such practices, encouraging police to use legitimate methods for gathering evidence.
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