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A reply to a Democratic Alliance parliamentary question reveals that a staggering 538 South African Police Service officials have been found guilty of crimes ranging from murder to drug dealing, out of a total of 669 charged with offences, during the 2008/2009 financial year. The Ministry also revealed yesterday in a separate parliamentary reply that 426 SAPS members have been criminally charged with murder, rape, armed robbery and corruption - of those charged, only 82 were dismissed.

This effectively means that about 80% of officials charged with crimes are being found guilty in the courts, while at the same time about 80% of officials charged with crimes continue to serve in the Police Service!

This suggests that a large proportion of those officials found guilty of crimes remain in the Police Service, and the DA will submit follow up questions to ascertain that exact information.

The reply detailed that:
• Of 60 SAPS members criminally charged with murder, only 17 were dismissed
• Of 39 SAPS members criminally charged with rape only 7 were dismissed
• Of 306 SAPS members criminally charged with corruption only 51 were dismissed
• Of 21 SAPS members criminally charged with armed robbery only 7 were dismissed
Copies of each parliamentary reply are available upon request.

That so many law enforcers have become law breakers is a severe indictment of the ANC's inability to manage the Police Service. Indeed, it is simply unconscionable that those that are responsible for protecting the vulnerable, are themselves the perpetrators of rape and murder.

The DA will now submit a follow up question, requesting a breakdown of the number of officials from the Service charged against the number convicted for each category of crime in each province. Though this was part of the question that we submitted, the Department of Police failed to provide the necessary breakdown of figures on a per crime category basis, as was requested. This is important information that, together with data on the number of officials still serving in the Police Service, will show once and for all the extent to which the SAPS is still accommodating convicted criminals.