Parliament's police committee has raised concerns after Saps achieved only 49 of its 94 annual performance targets.
The South African Police Service (Saps) has recorded a murder detection rate of 9.5% against a 60% target, Picture: Saps
South African Police Service (Saps) members are struggling to do their jobs, compromising public safety, according to information revealed by parliament’s portfolio committee on police.
The committee recorded a murder detection rate of just 9.5% against a target of 60%, raising concerns about the country’s ability to solve violent crimes.
‘A consequence of institutional weaknesses’
Committee chair Ian Cameron was concerned over, what he described as, major weaknesses in criminal investigations, forensic services, police accountability and financial management, after Saps achieved only 49 of its 94 annual performance targets.
The Saps detective crisis exposes deep-rooted failures in the fight against crime.
Criminologist and criminal justice analyst Kholofelo Rakubu said South Africa’s criminal justice crisis is not simply a consequence of increasing violent crime.
“It is also a consequence of institutional weaknesses that prevent the state from investigating crime effectively, identifying perpetrators, securing reliable evidence and delivering justice to victims,” she said.
The concerns raised by Cameron were particularly significant because they expose the disconnect between public expenditure on policing and the actual delivery of justice, Rakubu said.
From a criminological perspective, the failure to detect and successfully investigate crime has consequences beyond individual cases as it weakens the certainty of punishment, diminishes public confidence in law enforcement and creates conditions in which offenders may perceive the criminal justice system as ineffective, she added.
“The reported murder detection rate of 9.5%, against a target of 60%, is particularly concerning.”
Criminologists raise concerns over police investigations
Witness Maluleke, senior criminologist at the university of Limpopo, said Saps was facing serious questions about its ability to investigate crime effectively, as concerns over corruption, poor investigative practices and delays in processing forensic evidence continue to affect the criminal justice system.
Maluleke warned the state of Saps investigation units was concerning, arguing that institutional weaknesses were undermining the service’s ability to fulfil its mandate.
Willem Els, an expert from the Institute for Security Studies, said the police’s ability to fulfil their constitutional mandate in crime detection and investigation has been severely compromised by inadequate intelligence, poor leadership and a lack of resources.
