Note to editors: The Minister’s reply can be accessed here.
Build One South Africa (BOSA) has received a disturbing parliamentary reply from the Minister of Police revealing that the South African Police Service (SAPS) is operating with a national shortage of 2 344 detectives.
This means thousands of criminal cases are going cold, with no follow-up investigations, no arrests, and no justice for victims. As more and more files pile up on the desks of detectives, criminals are not being brought to book and justice is not being served for victims.
Detectives are responsible for investigating serious crimes, gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, and building cases that lead to arrests and successful prosecutions. Without them, crimes remain unsolved, gangsters operate with impunity, and public trust collapses.
These vacancies are fueling South Africa’s skyrocketing crime rates and the collapse of law and order in communities across the country.
The worst affected provinces are:
- Western Cape: 902 vacancies
- KwaZulu-Natal: 639 vacancies
- Northern Cape: 231 vacancies
- Gauteng: 179 vacancies
- Free State: 180 vacancies
- Limpopo: 155 vacancies
BOSA demands an urgent national audit of policing capacity and immediate action to fill all vacant detective posts. We further call for:
- A national recruitment drive with specialised training for new detectives
- The allocation of adequate resources, equipment, and vehicles to investigators
- A transparent public tracking mechanism for case backlogs and progress
South Africa cannot win the war on crime if it continues to starve the police service of its most vital personnel. Every detective post left vacant is a criminal given a free pass.