The Department of Community Safety’s Court Watching Brief team says that between 1 April 2022 and 30 June 2022 – 198 cases serving before court were withdrawn as a result of police inefficiencies.
MEC Reagan Allen says: “That is 198 cases that will never be tested by law, 198 alleged crimes where the perpetrators will simply walk free, and a raft of victims who will never see justice served. This, in itself, is criminal.”
He added: “It is egregious that the SAPS has failed in such simple ways. Instead of helping victims of crime to achieve justice, they’ve dealt them a further blow, and as a society, we must stand up and say that we cannot allow this to continue.”
Categories of inefficiencies: Quarter 1 (April -June 2022) Count %
- Cases withdrawn due to the dockets not being at court 85 43%
- Cases were withdrawn due to the investigation being incomplete 80 40%
- Cases were withdrawn due to the accused not being brought to court 21 11%
- Cases were withdrawn due to the witnesses not being subpoenaed 8 4%
- Cases were withdrawn due to the forensic reports being outstanding 4 2%
Total 198 – 100%
The top 5 police stations that accounted for 48.2% (41) of the 85 cases withdrawn for dockets not at the court, are:
- Beaufort West: 16
- Oudtshoorn: 10
- Lingelethu West: 8
- Kuilsriver: 4
- Knysna: 3
The top 5 police stations with incomplete investigations, which accounted for 52.5% (42) of the total 80 cases, are:
- Oudtshoorn: 13
- Laingsburg: 12
- Citrusdal: 7
- Beaufort West: 6
- Manenberg: 4
Allen added: “I am also outraged that right in Women’s Month I receive a report which states that Gender based violence cases (GBV) accounted for 18.2% (36) of the overall 198 cases monitored. This is a dismal failure on the part of SAPS to turn around one of the biggest issues plaguing our society today. It is no wonder that women don’t want to report crimes of this nature – their cases are dead in the water in SAPS’ hands.”
All 36 GBV cases were withdrawn/ struck off the roll due to the systemic failures. More than two-thirds (25 counts) of the 36 GBV cases monitored were withdrawn because the dockets were not brought to court. Eight of the 36 GBV cases were withdrawn because the investigation was incomplete.
