The South African Police Service (Saps) is drowning in litigation, with billions of rands lost to civil claims rooted in unlawful arrests, detentions and assaults.
Experts argue that incompetence, corruption and a disregard for constitutional limits have turned Saps from protector into liability, eroding public trust, while draining the state’s coffers.
This is the views of some criminologists after Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia recently told parliament that Saps was facing pending civil claims amounting to R56.7 billion, while in 2022, it had paid a whopping R2.8 billion in cases related to unlawful arrest, detention and assault.
Cachalia was replying to questions when he said nationally, there were 48 569 pending cases of unlawful arrest and detention.
Mike Bolhuis, an investigator specialising in serious violent and economic crimes, and cybercrime, said incompetence and poor understanding of the law are central contributors to Saps’ civil claims crisis, corruption alongside accountability and leadership failures.
“If there’s a non-corrupt authority available protecting and serving the public, then we won’t have these issues,” said Bolhuis.
“In my opinion, up to 80% of police officers are corrupt. Many police officers were failing to follow the rules and stipulations.
“Many arrests are made without reasonable suspicion, often to investigate later. Officers frequently misunderstand or ignore Section 40 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which limits police officers’ chances of making arrests without a warrant.
“Detainees are held longer than legally allowed, denied bail consideration or not brought before a court within 48 hours.”
He said the bad thing was that the civil claims were paid by the state, not by the responsible officers. He added repeated offenders within Saps remain on active duty.
He said Saps must offer an annual compulsory refresher training on lawful arrest, detention time limits and also offer the use of force training, which is scenario-based, not theoretical.
“Other things that need to be done to address this include introducing personal cost recovery or disciplinary sanctions for repeat offenders and to fast-track internal discipline when courts rule arrests unlawful. Where Saps is clearly at fault, settle early to reduce legal costs,” he said.
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Experts call for reform
University of Limpopo criminology expert Prof Witness Maluleke said some police officers “act as if they were above the law”.
On prevention, he said, relations between the citizens and the police should be restored and constitutional foundations should be applied accordingly.
“It is without doubt that we have incompetent cops with a limited understanding of the law, which fuels civil claims against them,” he said.
“However, it should be noted that those who are incompetent are often lumped with the competent officers, making their working environment and organisational make-up a rotten apple.”
Maluleke said police culture and subcultures are currently in disarray.
He said the police occupational and organisational subculture notions fail relationships between the cops and members of the public.
He added it was essential for the police to fully understand the power and authority that they have so that they can enforce laws and follow proper procedural rules and regulations, while respecting the citizens’ rights.
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