The conduct of Western Cape cops is in the spotlight after the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) revealed that the province registered the second highest number of cases.
According to the IPID report, between July 2023 and September 2023, 196 cases were registered with the entity for investigation. Of the 1 276 cases countrywide, the Western Cape had the second highest, behind Gauteng’s 210.
The report states that of the 196 cases registered against cops there are 146 assaults, 22 discharging of an official firearm, 15 deaths in police custody, 15 deaths as a result of police action and five rape cases where a police officer is the suspect.
Community Safety MEC, Reagen Allen, says the numbers are deeply worrying.
Allen says: “It suggests that there is an unacceptable level of ill-discipline within the ranks of SAPS that requires urgent attention.
“It’s a complete travesty that the very service that should be protecting all of us, while upholding the law, has allegedly made themselves guilty of committing crime.
“Deaths, rapes and any other crime committed by a SAPS officer will never be condoned.
“It is further alarming as the report at a national level also shows that IPID has a backlog of 12 489 cases, of which 2 217 are in this province. Ipid should urgently address this.”
Allen says nationally, Ipid referred 458 cases to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for criminal prosecution. Of these, 87, the most in South Africa, are from the Western Cape.
To date, the NPA has not determined whether any of the 87 cases will be prosecuted.
“We have already stated in our Policing Needs and Priorities Plan that we will monitor the accuracy of reporting into disciplinary matters from the PC.
“We cannot have men and women in blue dragging the name of the service down and further eroding the public’s trust in the SAPS,” Allen said.
“It’s enough that many residents have to deal with actual criminals and do not need so-called officers of the law to conduct themselves in this manner. The guilty ones do not deserve the uniform.”
Meanwhile, the Select Committee on Security and Justice has extended the deadline for written submissions on the IPID Amendment Bill to February 2, 2024.
The bill seeks to amend the IPID Act, 2011, in order to provide for IPID’s institutional and operational independence.
Committee Chairperson Ms Shahidabibi Shaikh said “The Bill also aims to provide for IPID to investigate any deaths caused by the actions of South African Police Service (SAPS) members or members of a municipal police service, whether the member was on or off duty; to provide for IPID to investigate a rape committed by a SAPS member or a member of a municipal police service, whether the member was on or off duty; to strengthen the provisions relating to the implementation of disciplinary recommendations; to provide for a savings provision regarding the conditions of service of existing investigators and provincial heads; and to amend other provisions so as to ensure that IPID executes its mandate effectively and efficiently.”