Genevieve Serra|Published
Eight months after Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia revealed that 510 South African Police Service (SAPS) employees had been criminally convicted since November 1, 2016 with 284 still on duty, the National Portfolio Committee on Police said it was concerned that SAPS had not properly addressed the matter.
The figure includes 284 serving employees against whom disciplinary processes in terms of Regulation 5(3)(dd) had been instituted or were in the process of being instituted. These cases arose from 322 criminal cases.
A further 226 cases involved employees who were no longer employed by Saps. In addition, 253 members appointed in terms of the SAPS Act remained operationally deployed following their convictions.
The figures were revealed during an a written parliamentary question and reply in the National Council of Provinces in March between Gotsell and Cachalia's office.
Cachalia further revealed that 284 employees remained employed by SAPS. This included 265 appointed under the SAPS Act and 19 appointed under the Public Service Act.
He said 226 employees were no longer employed by SAPS. Their employment status was listed as follows: dismissed, 84; resigned, 45; dishonourably discharged, 41; deceased, 19; retired, 10; early retirement, 15; ill-health retirement, 10; contract expired, one; and interdepartmental transfer, one.
Cachalia said that, at the time, line managers either dealt with the misconduct through an alternative disciplinary charge, were not aware of the criminal conviction, or did not take action.
Nicholas Gotsell MP, of the Democratic Alliance, is a member of the National Portfolio Committee on Police, the Select Committee on Security and Justice and the Joint Standing Committee on Defence. He is also constituency head for Atlantis, Blaauwberg, Table View and Du Noon.
Gotsell said he had since asked what action had been taken following the disclosure.
“The disturbing reality is that, since the March parliamentary reply, Saps has still not demonstrated that it has properly dealt with the criminally convicted members who remain in its ranks,” he said.
“Perhaps a question to pose to them is how many of these 5(3)(dd) hearings have been finalised since and how many those who were criminally convicted have left the employ of the SAPS.”
Gotsell said it was even more disturbing that more police officers had found themselves on the wrong side of the law in the Western Cape.
In Delft, a police officer faced police action after allegedly selling police dockets. Another officer has been charged with attempted murder and murder in Blue Downs, while a third is believed to have assaulted his wife.
“What makes this particularly alarming is the growing number of cases involving police officers accused of serious criminal conduct at stations across the Cape Flats. We have seen the Diko matter at Delft, where an officer accused of selling a police docket returned to work in the charge office, and other cases raising serious questions about police integrity and discipline such as criminally charged Col Manuel who was promoted to station commander despite serious charges against him,” he said.
“Meanwhile, at Delft, there are also two other members - one who crashed a Saps vehicle, fled the scene of the crime and defeated the ends of justice and then a sergeant who assaulted his wife this week. In all these cases we saw that they got special treatment; they were brought before court quickly to apply for bail, they were not arrested and held like others,”
“These officers are, of course, entitled to the presumption of innocence. But the 5(3)(dd) revelations expose an even more disturbing question: what happens when police officers are actually convicted?
“We now know that 510 SAPS employees in the Western Cape have been criminally convicted since 2016, that 284 remain employed and that 253 SAPS Act members remained operationally deployed following conviction.”
He said the offences identified in the broader investigation included serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and other criminal offences.
“My concern is that we are seeing police management struggle to deal decisively with officers accused of criminal conduct, while the parliamentary reply reveals that even a criminal conviction has not consistently triggered the disciplinary accountability that the law requires,” he said.
Queries to the the Acting Minister’s office went unanswered by the time of publication.