3981 police officers arrested for various crimes since 2019 still employed by SAPS

Dear Editor

In a written reply to a DA parliamentary question Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, revealed that of the 5 489 SAPS members arrested since 2019 for various crimes, 3 981 of these members are still currently employed by SAPS – despite their arrests.

In yet another indictment on both the Justice system and the lack of accountability within SAPS, it is unfathomable that 5 489 members of SAPS, who are meant to protect us from criminals, are in fact the very criminals themselves. What makes matters worse is that 3 981 of these officers are roaming the streets as SAPS officers despite possible criminal convictions still looming over their heads.

Despite the large number of arrests, only 430 convictions have been secured in the last 4 years. This lack of action sets a clear message to ordinary law-abiding citizens that the SAPS is above the law and free from consequence management – a trait very much left to run wild by Minister Bheki Cele.

Some of the criminal charges against these SAPS members include:

1. Murder and Rape
2. Attempted murder
3. Kidnapping
4. Perjury
5. Corruption and extortion
6. Defeating the course of justice
7. Discharging a firearm in a public place
8. Burglary at residential and business premises
9. Causing bodily injury through negligent use of a firearm
10. Abandonment/abuse/neglect of a child
11. Assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm

The reason these members are still on the streets is due to the SAPS Discipline Regulations. In terms of the Regulations, a SAPS member may only be suspended for a period of 60 days, thereafter, the suspension is automatically lifted, no matter how serious the alleged crime.

It is time that Bheki Cele ensure more accountability within SAPS and ensure that those accused of serious crimes remain on suspension until their disciplinary hearings are finalised and appropriate consequence management implemented.

Regulations are the purview of the Minister and he has failed to make any amendments to strengthen SAPS accountability. The DA will thus write to Bheki Cele to demand that these regulations be amended so that arrested members remain on suspension and that any serious offence be an automatic termination and appropriate criminal convictions follow, not just a light slap on the wrist. This way, South Africans won’t need to second guess whether a SAPS member in public may help them or hurt them.

Regards

Okkie Terblanche MP
DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Police