The SAPS has failed to meet more than half of its annual performance targets, prompting the Portfolio Committee on Police to call for urgent corrective action to address serious weaknesses in policing and public safety.
During a Parliamentary sitting on Wednesday, when the Budgetary Review and Recommendation Reports were adopted, an annual SAPS report revealed that the SAPS only met 49 of its 94 annual targets. The SAPS’s detective services programme met just nine of its 22 targets, while the reported murder detection rate stood at 9.5%, against a target of 60%.
The committee noted that these figures are seriously concerning.
“The reports identify critical shortcomings that, if left unaddressed, will continue to compromise investigations, delay justice and weaken public confidence in policing institutions,” read the committee’s statement.
The committee noted this comes amid ongoing murders, especially after the recent murder of four people in Katlehong and the discovery of the bodies of 12 women, also in the Ekhuruleni region.
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“While these are separate investigations, both developments underscore the devastating human cost of violent crime and the need for effective, accountable policing.”
Committee chairperson Ian Cameron raises concern over whether the reported achievements and expenditure are translating into measurable improvements, including properly investigated cases, safer communities and meaningful consequences for wrongdoing.
“Behind every murder statistic is a family waiting for justice. Similarly, behind every delayed forensic result is a victim or survivor waiting for answers, sometimes for months or years. It stressed that when investigations stall and evidence is delayed, communities fear perpetrators may never be held accountable.”
The committee called on SAPS to account for the full course of criminal cases, including stalled investigations, matters that fail to reach prosecution and unresolved cases.
“The response must include properly supported detectives, functioning vehicles and forensic capacity and coordination with prosecutors,” said Cameron.
The committee also stressed that accountability and transparency must be strengthened across the policing portfolio to improve investigations, restore public confidence and ensure that public funds deliver tangible improvements in public safety.
