The Auditor-General of South Africa’s report on the South African Police Service (SAPS), presented to the Portfolio Committee on Police today, reveals a vicious cycle that renders the police service largely ineffective and a country that can no longer rely on them. A shortage of police officers in general and a lacklustre and haemorrhaging detective and intelligence service means many criminal cases go unsolved. This, coupled with a DNA backlog, leaves thousands of victims without justice and many more waiting endlessly in limbo for their cases to even begin.
“This report, shocking and disappointing as it is, comes as no surprise. It confirms what Action Society has been saying since its inception – the police are failing South Africans. The Department of Police, Minister Mchunu, SAPS management and all law enforcement officials should not only take note of the report’s findings but implement practical and effective measures to overhaul the whole police service,” said Juanita du Preez, Action Society spokesperson.
Of most serious concern are personnel capacity and performance, forensic services, including the criminal buccal sample database and the DNA backlog, critical services such as the 10111 call centre, and discipline within the SAPS.
Personnel capacity and performance
Action Society sees the direct results of inexperienced, overworked, and unmotivated police officers daily. The concerning decrease in the Detective Service Division from 26 000 in 2016/17 to 17 000 in October 2023 is a major red flag and the primary reason for the delay of justice that victims of crime face. The AG’s report shows that detectives who are still operating are not meeting their targets, especially when it comes to contact crimes and crimes against children. The report revealed that the detective branch only solved 45,89% of cases brought to them. This trend continues with crimes against children under 18 years, with only 63,07% of these being solved, a total of 38 998 cases out of 61 828.
“The crime statistics for the fourth quarter of 2023/24 proved that South Africa is a veritable bloodbath, especially for women and children,” said Du Preez. “Without sufficient detective capacity, these victims’ crimes will remain unsolved, and the perpetrators will go on to re-offend.”
Forensic services
Even when an investigation goes well, the ever-increasing forensic and DNA backlog presents another major hurdle for justice, which is, in our view, a violation of fundamental human rights. In the many cases in which Action Society has been involved, victims have to wait months, if not years, for their court cases to even begin due to outstanding DNA results. We have requested numerous times that the police reveal the extent of these backlogs, and these requests have been met either with silence or half-truths only depicting ringfenced results.
“We requested these results repeatedly to see the extent of the challenge and, with the assistance of many roleplayers, come up with practical and effective solutions. We can finally see that the lies about the police clearing the backlog did not reflect the whole picture. The number of entries that exceeded the prescribed timelines increased by 25% from 2022/23 to the current year. We urge the SAPS to use the offers of valid private institutions to share the load as the Auditor-General suggests and as we have suggested for years,” said Du Preez.
Criminal buccal sample database
Buccal samples from offenders are a very effective way to link a suspect to a crime scene and, in turn, stop reoffenders. However, the forensic backlog hampers this operation as well. Even though the 83% achievement in capturing buccal samples of Schedule 8 offenders is positive, it will probably only worsen as the bottleneck effect of the forensic backlog worsens monthly. Additionally, if this database had been implemented timely many cases could have been solved by linking repeat offenders and prohibiting further crimes.
10111 Call centres
Action Society’s surveys have shown that South Africans would rather call private security firms, CPFs, or neighbourhood watches in an emergency than the police’s 10111 call centres. The AG’s finding that the national average rate of abandoned calls stood at 26,44% at some centres, recording an average response time ranging from 8 to 35 minutes, explains why citizens do not trust the police to protect them.
Discipline within the SAPS ranks
The ongoing Blue Light Mafia case revealed that police brutality is carried out with impunity in South Africa. The disciplinary hearing of the eight officers who assaulted motorists in July last year continues to move at a snail’s pace, with the defence employing numerous delay tactics to protect these officers from jail time. It serves as one example of the lack of discipline in the police.
In 2023/24, a total of 1 639 disciplinary hearings were held, and 2 862 SAPS employees were found guilty on various charges, including, amongst others, misconduct bringing the Service into disrepute, murder, rape, defeating the course of justice, corruption and assault GBH.
“Although much of the shocking revelations of this year’s annual report can be attributed to the legacy of former minister of police, Bheki Cele as well as the senior management of the police, it is time to move on. Minister Mchunu has a mountainous challenge ahead of him if he wants to undo the damage done to the police by his predecessor. Action Society believes in coming up with solutions, and we hope to build a working relationship with the new minister and the rest of his cabinet that will allow for cooperation that is conducive to combating crime in South Africa before it spirals out of control into complete anarchy,” concluded du Preez.
