The torture, assault, killing and rape at the hands of those meant to uphold the law, has sparked concern about the "disturbing" rise in police misconduct, with a high number of cases being reported in KwaZulu-Natal(KZN) and Gauteng(GP).
According to the 2023/2024 Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Annual Performance Report, there were 5 136 cases of police-related incidents recorded across the country.
Among the top three provinces with the highest intake of cases were GP with 897, followed by the Western Cape with 888 and KZN with 663.
According to the report, there were 212 deaths in police custody, 33 of which were reported in KZN.
Of the 460 deaths as a result of police action, 133 were reported to have occurred in the KZN.
In addition, IPID received reports of 110 rapes committed by police officers, of which 26 were reported in KZN and 20 in GP. A decrease in cases was noted in most of the provinces except the Western Cape, KZN and Eastern Cape.
The report further revealed that there were 273 reports of torture, of which 53 cases were reported in KZN. With a 20% increase compared to the previous period (2022/2023), the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KZN emerged as the hotspots.
Furthermore, of the 3 176 cases of assault, 303 were reported in KZN.
In addition, there were 621 cases reported of the discharge of an official firearm per province. Most of the incidents were reported in GP with 169 cases, followed by Western Cape with 80 cases, and KZN with 78.
These statistics prompted the Democratic Alliance (DA) to launch a parliamentary probe into IPID.
Lisa Schickerling, the DA’s deputy spokesperson on police and member of parliament, said the report was "appalling" and exposed a "disturbing" rise in police misconduct across the country.
“The report paints a grim picture of law enforcement officers violating the very laws they are meant to uphold. We will launch an immediate probe of IPID to establish how these abuses were left to occur, actions taken in response, and whether implicated officers are facing criminal charges."
Schickerling added the rise in misconduct and brutality within the SAPS reflected a failure in training, recruitment and accountability mechanisms.
“While there are exceptional men and women serving, we cannot allow a further rise of this abhorrent behaviour. We must restore public trust and ensure a professional, ethical, and accountable police service.”
Gareth Newham, head of the Justice and Violence Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies, said while one may not want to believe that most police members committed crime and corruption, there were too many wearing the uniform that did.
“Unfortunately, as is the case everywhere in the world, the number of reported incidents of crimes committed by police officers is usually a small fraction of the real number. Most victims of police abuses do not report as they fear that they would be targeted and that the mechanisms in place to promote police accountability would not do much about their cases. Given that the number reported to the IPID was going up, the real figure of police misconduct is likely to be much higher and in terms of trends, possibly growing.”
Newham said there are a range of factors that was driving police to commit such crimes.
“It stems from weaknesses in the police recruiting system that cannot properly vet the large numbers that apply. This enables criminals to buy their way into the police training colleges. There are also weaknesses in the command and control system which means that commanders are not able or adequately supported enough to address problematic behaviour.
“But the most important factor is the sense of impunity. A very small proportion of police officers who commit serious crimes are ever arrested or fired. Around 95% of the cases opened with the IPID are closed with no action being taken against the police member against whom a case has been opened. This means that most of those that commit brutality or corruption remain in the police service and can rise through the ranks. This contributes to an organisational culture of secrecy and a lack of willingness and capacity to address the issue,” he said.
Newham said police criminality, whether it was brutality, corruption or other crimes, severely damaged the image of the police in the eyes of the public.
“This is the primary reason for the low levels of trust in the police from the side of the public. When civilians see a person wearing a police uniform, they don’t know if that person is a trained professional or a crook. This means that many people do not report crime or believe that they can commit crimes and get away with it by bribing a police officer; therefore crooked police members contribute to our high crime levels.”
Newham said in order to ensure that police officers upheld the law, there needed to be a substantial investment in the internal structures and systems for promoting professional conduct.
“Mass recruitment of thousands of people over a few years should be stopped and undertaken over a longer period to ensure that no person who hasn't been thoroughly vetted could join the police service. Efforts should be undertaken to professionalise the overall culture of the police service so that there is less secrecy because everyone knows that they are honest well-trained professionals.
“In the short term, the internal accountability mechanisms should be substantially strengthened. For example, if only 10% of the police service employees are corrupt or unethical and 90% are hard working women and men, it still means that in an organisation of 184 000 people, there are at least 18 500 people who shouldn’t be there,” he said.
Newham said in addition, the internal SAPS Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit should be tripled in size, as well as the integrity management component that does lifestyle audits and promotes ethical behaviour.
“The SAPS Disciplinary System should also be substantially strengthened to ensure that those who undermine the SAPS are removed. For example, in the last financial year only 517 SAPS members were dismissed for misconduct, compared to the 2 300 that retired and the more than 1 700 that resigned.
“In the short term, we should see the numbers of dismissals for misconduct going into the thousands if the message is to send loud and clear that the SAPS is not an organisation for those who are corrupt, brutal or unethical. Within five years we should then see a notable improvement in police conduct, increases in public trust on the police, and better impact against crime,” he said.
Shenilla Mohamed, the executive director of Amnesty International South Africa, said they have expressed significant concerns regarding police conduct in South Africa, particularly emphasising issues such as excessive force, inadequate investigations, and lack of accountability.
Amnesty International is an international non-government organisation focused on human rights.
“The SAPS and its members, as an apparatus of the state, have a constitutional duty to protect everyone living in the country, irrespective of who they are, where they are from, or if they have been accused of a crime.
“It is therefore concerning that these numbers from the IPID are increasing, which shows that more needs to be done to ensure that police officers adhere to the law themselves and uphold the human rights of everyone living in the country,” she said.
Mohamed said law enforcement officers must be held to high human rights standards.
“This is so that when they commit crimes such as the use of excessive force, unlawful killings, torture, or any other crime, they must be investigated, prosecuted, and held accountable under the law.”
Mary de Haas, a veteran violence and police monitor, said: “ It is an absolute disgrace. The police have been torturing and killing people for years, and IPID is not dealing with it. There should be a public outcry. The major problem is that some police members are ‘trigger happy’ and lack the proper training. This is a problem that our new police minister (Senzo Mchunu) has inherited and will have to find some sort of solution to dealing with it.”