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The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned by a reply to a DA parliamentary question received from Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, regarding the massive increase in the number of cases of violent crimes filed against members of the SAPS. In his reply, the Minister revealed that since 1 January 2009 there have been 516 assault charges laid against SAPS members, 80 cases of murder, 94 of rape, 7 of attempted rape and 71 cases of sexual assault. The worrying trend in these numbers is that violent crimes by police officers are increasing in frequency. Assault charges against SAPS officers jumped from 199 in 2009/10 to 317 in 2010/2011 and the total number of the above crimes filed against police increased by 136 cases from 2009/10 to 2010/11. The DA believes this increase in violent crimes needs to be urgently addressed. I will be requesting that the Minister appear before the Police Portfolio Committee to explain why these numbers are increasing so drastically, and what action SAPS will be taking in this regard.
A copy of the question and reply can be found here.
While these numbers represent violent crimes committed by police members, one needs to look at the broader picture of general criminality and corruption within SAPS. While the Minister often speaks of combating these issues and cleaning up our police service, these figures tell a very different story. Violent and criminal behaviour by SAPS members is completely unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue. Urgent and tangible efforts to stamp out criminality are needed before a further breakdown in trust between the police and communities occurs. Any less will only be counterproductive in the fight against crime, resulting in greater levels of vigilante justice and the breakdown of the rule of law.
The DA believes it is time for the Minister to stop talking about stamping out corruption and criminality within the SAPS and act urgently to send out a clear message to all SAPS members that police officers involved in corrupt and criminal activities will face the harshest penalties.