High-ranking cop assures Cape Town residents that they are protected

JOHANNESBURG - Civil Secretariat of Police Service, Director General Thulani Sibuyi, said the South African Police Service (SAPS) is working tirelessly to restore community trust in the police.

Sibuyi met with community-based crime-fighting structures in the Nyanga and Khayelitsha sub-districts to strengthen relations between the police and communities.

Various Cape Town safety structures have told Sibuyi that Capetonians have lost faith in the police due to alleged corruption within the ranks of the police.

A 2025 report of the Human Sciences Research Council has revealed that trust in the South African Police Service has declined significantly over the past two decades.

The study shows that only 22% of citizens expressed trust in the SAPS in 2022, with the 2023 and 2024/25 confidence levels almost unchanged.

Sibuyi noted that the lack of community trust in the police is concerning.

"Communities believe that police are sometimes working with criminals in an organised crime space. That is why we decided in some of the engagements, let's bring people who are designed to bring back the integrity of the police in itself by rooting out certain things."

He added that the SAPS' recruitment process also needs to be tightened to root out corrupt elements.