Only 22% of South Africans trust SAPS - report
Public trust in the South African Police Service is incredibly low, says Sean Tait of the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum.
South African Police Service (SAPS) officers in formation. Picture: X/SAPoliceService
CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit speaks with Sean Tait, founder and Director of the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum.
Listen below:
According to the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), trust in the police has been declining over the last 20 years.
In 2022, only 22% of South African citizens expressed trust in SAPS, and that number has remained almost unchanged.
“This is a very difficult space to dig ourselves out of.”
- Sean Tait, African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum
Tait says the behaviour of police towards people in the communities they serve has led to these low levels of trust.
Many have reported feeling their dignity is undermined when speaking to the police and that they are being discriminated against.
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In addition to this, he says the language barrier between many South Africans and the police in their community makes it difficult for them to communicate.
“If we made the commitment to recognise our 11 official languages, then as a police service we are obliged to be able to serve our communities in those languages.”
- Sean Tait, African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum
Scroll up to the audio player for more.