Protector or predator? - Institute for Security Studies

Protector or predator?
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In a 2001 study into the police handling of sexual offences, three out of four
(76 per cent) of the respondents (from all police stations in the Johannesburg
metropolitan area) believed that there was room for corruption in the investigation
of rape cases. 79 Of these, 37 per cent revealed that they knew of rape
cases that had been mismanaged due to corruption.
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In a 2002 survey of police, 55 per cent of the respondents answered ‘yes’ to
the question ‘Police corruption is a problem at my station?’ 80 One in three respondents
(32 per cent) claimed that they personally knew of a police official
who was involved in corrupt activities. 81
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A survey conducted among 600 police members at 21 Johannesburg stations in
2004 found that 92 per cent of respondents believed corruption to be a serious
challenge facing the SAPS. 82
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A 2005 survey of 375 SAPS supervisors from seven provinces found that, ‘At
least one out of four supervisors (25%) would allow police bribery, theft from
a crime scene, and theft of money from a found wallet to continue without
reporting it and/or expected that others would not report it either.’ 83
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Similarly, research conducted at three police stations in 2009 showed that 85
per cent of respondents believed corruption to be a major problem in the organisation,
although not necessarily at their own stations. 84
In addition to the above studies, internal SAPS initiatives and high-profile corruption
scandals in the SAPS have provided insights into some of the dynamics of
the corruption challenge facing the organisation.
In 1996 the SAPS established the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) to address what
it saw as a priority challenge to the organisation. The unit recorded, and made
publicly available, data showing huge increases in corruption complaints, arrests
and convictions during the six years of the unit’s operation (this is presented
in detail in Chapter 4). Unfortunately the unit’s personnel were substantially
reduced in 2001, and it was closed in 2002 amid some controversy. The ACU’s anti-corruption
mandate was moved to the Organised Crime Unit where it remains
today, shared with the broader Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (or
Hawks) into which Organised Crime Units have been incorporated. Nevertheless,
a high-level SAPS Policy Advisory Council report in 2006/07 stated that the SAPS
had insufficient capacity to investigate corruption. 85 Since the closure of the ACU,
statistics on corruption complaints and members convicted of corruption have
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