Police issues not new

• Published date: 24 April 2024
• Author: Charlene Somduth charlene.somduth@inl.co.za
• Publication title: Post

Gareth Newham, a crime expert from the Institute for Security Studies, said the challenges within the SAPS were long standing

“These challenges have been around for 10 to 15 years and the main problem is they’re just getting worse. For some reason the current leadership and management structures of the SAPS are not able to quickly identify these emerging problems and then develop practical interventions and solutions.”

Newham said detective docket loads had been heavy for decades but not all detective work was equal.

“One has to make sure that the detectives working on serious violent crimes such as murders, rape and organised violent crime are properly resourced and can spend their time ensuring that those who commit these crimes are effectively targeted and thrown into jail.

“This is a critical priority that the police have never really managed. We also need crime intelligence.”

He said the intelligence capabilities in the police were largely decimated during the State Capture era because of Richard Mdluli, the former crime intelligence boss.

“There had been massive instability at the top of the organisation, until quite recently. In the last year or so, we saw a permanent head being appointed. However, they have not been very clear about what they have done to improve the capability of crime intelligence. There are hundreds of people in crime intelligence that should not be there. They were recruited and appointed by Mdluli who is now a convicted criminal.”

Newham said this meant the capabilities which guided the police to deal with criminals were not working optimally. He said the police were also not open and transparent about what exactly they had done to remove people that should not be there.

“These are not new issues. We are not seeing intervention to fix issues such as poor fleet management, lack of resources such as radios and computers. Proper planning and procurement and training for some reason has not improved either.”

He added that there was a need to overhaul the police structures.

“We need to see a complete...