Unlawful policing could cost taxpayers R56 billion

The South African Police Service (SAPS) may face civil claims worth up to R56.7 billion linked to unlawful arrests, detentions, and assaults, according to figures disclosed in Parliament.

Since April 2022, SAPS has paid out nearly R2.8 billion, with close to 50,000 cases still pending nationwide.

Ricardo Teixeira, a defence analyst with the Institute of Race Relations, says the scale of the potential liability points to a policing system in serious trouble.

He notes that the amount is almost equal to the country's entire defence budget and reflects a deep loss of public trust in the police, alongside widespread concerns about accountability.

"Public trust in the police is at one of its lowest points. I think it's ever decreasing. South Africans just don't trust SAPS. We don't feel safe walking at night. We don't feel like SAPS is going to answer our calls, and we don't feel that SAPS is going to deal with our cases appropriately."

Teixeira argues that unlawful policing continues because of weak consequence management and a failing policing model.

"We have a systemic issue with our policing model and our police service in South Africa. We do have very good police officers, but they are few and far between, and they are overworked."

He says South Africa needs a complete overhaul of its police system, warning that small reforms will not be enough to restore trust or prevent further financial and social damage.

"SAPS currently uses a community-focused tool, a community-based policing model, and in my opinion, it's not enough. It is part of a strategy, but it isn't a whole strategy on its own - it focuses on trying to build relationships with communities so that communities are more likely to work with the police and report crimes and so forth. But that's clearly not working. I think it shouldn't be completely abandoned, but it is not the solution on its own.

"We need to expand our policing model, and we need to look at other solutions, bringing in technology, reassessing requirements to be a police officer, where we base our police stations, and how officers are trained; there are so many things we need to be doing differently. I think it's time to accept that just the current way of doing things is not working.

"We need to go as far as changing the name, because the phrase SAPS has almost become synonymous with corruption and crime."

To listen to Teixeira in conversation with 702's Bongani Bingwa, use the audio player below: