{"id":794496,"date":"2024-10-11T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=794496"},"modified":"2024-10-11T10:49:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T08:49:00","slug":"south-africas-policing-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/794496\/south-africas-policing-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa&#8217;s policing mess"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Portfolio Committee of Police has raised the alarm about the South African Police Service&#8217;s (SAPS&#8217;) failure to tackle rising crime rates in the country and hit its performance targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This follows Parliamentary briefings from the Office of the Auditor-General (AG), SAPS management, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), and the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS) on 9 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The committee welcomed the achievement of the AG&#8217;s unqualified audit opinion for the SAPS; however, it flagged a &#8220;serious underperformance in reducing critical crime trends that continue to besiege the country.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the CSPS, IPID and PSiRA reportedly met 100% of targets for audited programmes, the AG said that <strong>the SAPS met just 54% of its planned performance targets for 2023\/24<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As outlined by the report, key set targets not met include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Contact Crime<\/strong>: Reported contact crime increased by 2.43% rather than showing a reduction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Crimes Against Children<\/strong>: These crimes increased by 2.57%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Crimes Against Women<\/strong>: There was a 3.90% increase in crimes against women.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Neutralisation of Drug Syndicates<\/strong>: An average of 44.24% of drug syndicates and criminal groups were neutralised.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Neutralisation of Organised Criminal Groups<\/strong>: An average of 28.25% of identified organised criminal groups were neutralised through arrests.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>DNA Case Exhibit Backlog<\/strong>: The target was to keep the backlog below 10%, but it stands at 19.31%, with 74,142 out of 383,858 exhibits not finalised.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>General Case Exhibit Backlog<\/strong>: The target was also to keep this backlog below 10%, but the current rate is 25.31%, with 161,747 out of 638,969 exhibits not finalised.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The impact of this is that &#8220;contact crime is increasing as the department&#8217;s crime prevention<br>strategies are not successful to reduce contact crime [and] drugs continue to cause disorder in our communities and&#8230; an increase in violent crime,&#8221; said the AG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What drew notable attention during the meeting was the shortfall of over 3,200 arrests related to economic infrastructure crimes compared to its targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-businesstech wp-block-embed-businesstech\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ZxKeZ6BNtr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/789402\/all-hands-on-deck-to-take-out-criminal-mafias-in-south-africa\/\">&#8216;All hands on deck&#8217; to take out criminal mafias in South Africa<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;&#8216;All hands on deck&#8217; to take out criminal mafias in South Africa&#8221; &#8212; BusinessTech\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/789402\/all-hands-on-deck-to-take-out-criminal-mafias-in-south-africa\/embed\/#?secret=pBXvFkA4aD#?secret=ZxKeZ6BNtr\" data-secret=\"ZxKeZ6BNtr\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Committee chairperson, Ian Cameron, said that &#8220;in a country battling extortion, organised crime and rising violence, these failures directly undermine our ability to safeguard economic development and public safety.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The fact that the SAPS is failing to dismantle the extortion syndicates is confirmation of the committee\u2019s view that the lack of a clear and actionable plan will continue to hamper efforts to defeat the scourge of extortion in the country,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, although SAPS claimed that the&nbsp;Crime Intelligence Division achieved 100% of its targets, &#8220;the rising levels of extortion, cash-in-transit heists, cross-border crimes and kidnappings suggest otherwise,&#8221; said the committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The committee is believes there is a disconnect between the reported achievements and the reality on the ground, which raises serious questions about the integrity of the performance data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was echoed when the AG flagged other pressing issues at SAPS, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Inaccurate and incomplete recording of charges and victim information skews reported crime statistics, hindering the development of effective crime prevention strategies and appropriate resource allocation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inadequate record-keeping and maintenance of case dockets compromise court processes and prevent victims from receiving justice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Integrated Case Docket Management System (ICDMS) has not yielded a return on investment due to its limited use.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>According to AG, ineffective command and control at police station level were key causes of this situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The process of quality control has not been emphasised enough. As a result, officials at station level are not aware of how their daily operations affect the department&#8217;s overall audit outcomes,&#8221; said the office of the AG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Consequence management is not implemented at the right level of management, as a result the culture remains the same and no improvements or corrective action taken to address deficiencies on performance information,&#8221; they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AGSA also found data capturers are insufficiently trained on how to handle statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Errors in capturing are due to capturers not understanding the different types of crimes, which leads to incorrect capturing of information.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Issues with managing SAPS\u2019s 10111 command centres also came under the spotlight during the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was highlighted that <span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">the average<strong>&nbsp;call abandonment rate is 26%<\/strong>, and slow response times&nbsp;<strong>average<\/strong><\/span><strong> 8 to 35 minutes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/771561\/why-saps-10111-call-centres-leave-you-hanging\/\"><strong>BusinessTech reported<\/strong><\/a> that, on average, only 41.31% of SAPS emergency call center positions are filled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such staffing issues have contributed to the fact that 14.9 million calls to 10111 have been abandoned in 11 out of the country\u2019s 19 centres since 2018\/19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Despite years of discussions about this issue, there is little evidence of improvement [and] for a service that is supposed to be the public\u2019s first line of defence against crime, these statistics represent a gross dereliction of duty,&#8221; said the committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The committee also highlighted the critical underfunding of the Detective Services Division, which has seen its numbers decline from 26,000 to just 17,000 over seven years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This has ultimately impacted detection and turnover rates.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"758\" height=\"625\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-67.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-783353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-67.png 758w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/image-67-300x247.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 758px) 100vw, 758px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-43.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"249\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-43.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-794950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-43.png 680w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-43-300x110.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: AGSA<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The committee said that the reports present &#8220;a clear need for more decisive action and accountability across the entire police and security services sector.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola said they acknowledged there &#8220;are areas of concern&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We realise that our problem lies more on your implementation level, that is the station management.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added they had introduced an orientation course besides the station management course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Through improving that, we think we will rectify most of our problems because we have seen that level of management, that is where most things seem to be going wrong.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/banking\/794853\/capitec-fraud-warning\/\">Capitec warns about fraud and scams targeting customers in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Portfolio Committee of Police welcomed the SAPS&#8217;s unqualified audit but voiced concerns over persistent crime rates. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":713670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[26,20677,3888],"class_list":["post-794496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-headline","tag-portfolio-committee-of-police","tag-saps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794496"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":795076,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794496\/revisions\/795076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}