Corruption-related complaints about the South African Police Service (SAPS) surged dramatically after its Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) was shut down in 2002. What does this mean for the internal oversight capacity of our young democracy and where does it leave you as a citizen? 

Let me give you some background. An average of 43 cases were lodged with the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) each year between 1997 and 2002. This shot up to an average of 125 cases each year between 2002 and 2006. And these are only the reported cases. Social research uniformly concludes that corruption in the SAPS remains widespread, widely acknowledged, but seldom acted upon. 

In response to the ACU being shut down, the ICD created the notoriously understaffed and under-resourced Anti-Corruption Command (ACC) in 2004.

Currently the unit  has a dedicated staff of only three investigators for the whole country, compared to the 250 previously employed by the ACU. Yet the total number of complaints lodged with the ICD between 1997 and 2006 increased steadily in that period from 1999 to 5119. 

By implication, the ANC has always been sympathetic to the view that it is the corrupting public that perpetuates corrupt practices in the SAPS. We in the IFP are aware that the police personnel are not remunerated adequately but, to be fair, on average, police officers earn more than fire fighters, nurses or teachers. We contend that suggesting that members of the public make the police corrupt is dangerous and only valid in as much as members of the wider public are not seen as criminals. 

Of course, the root of corruption in the SAPS lies elsewhere. Both the ACC's under-resourcing and the SAPS's scant engagement with the unit suggest a lack of political will around the issue. The bottom line is that the SAPS has, at least since 2002, lacked a straightforward and effective corruption fighting strategy.

Dr Lionel Mtshali MPP
Leader of the Official Opposition

Contact: Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902