Cape Town - The report of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service has flagged failure by the SAPS to institute disciplinary proceedings against 239 members who committed acts of domestic violence.
The report, tabled in Parliament this week, also noted with concern that commanders within the police stations are not fully conversant with the contents of the Domestic Violence Act.
This comes after the visit to 460 police stations between April and September 2021 found 239 officers were reported to be offenders of domestic violence.
The highest number of reported members was in the Western Cape with 117, followed by Free State 45 and Gauteng 43.
“The records do not indicate whether disciplinary proceedings were initiated in line with SAPS disciplinary regulation,” reads the report.
The report was in compliance with the Domestic Violence Act that places an obligation on SAPS and other departments with implementation and specific services to be rendered to the victims of the crime.
In its latest report, the police secretariat said the law required that a Firearm Control Act inquiry be held to determine the fitness of officers to carry firearms when found to be domestic violence offenders.
“It is not clear whether the Section 102 enquiry has been conducted in the 239 cases of SAPS members that carry firearms while carrying out their duties.”
It noted that a total of 75 official firearms were seized from the 239 members who were offenders.
“Out of the 167 forearms that were not seized, 72 members were not issued with official firearms.”
The report said reasons for not conducting Section 102 enquiry on seized firearms ranged from members who brought the firearms for safekeeping prior to the reporting of the incident.
In two incidents, firearms were not used, while three members did not have personal firearms or firearms issued to them.
“Considering that these members might either have access to firearms, it would still be important to conduct an inquiry into the fitness to hold a firearm.”
The Civilian Secretariat noted with concern that in one case where a firearm was not seized nor Section 102 enquiry was conducted, a police officer reportedly disappeared.
The report said SAPS recorded that there were 122 members reported to be victims of domestic violence nationally, with most members identified in the Western Cape with 52, followed by Free State with 34.
“This is an indication that there is a need to increase the provision of psychological support within SAPS as the police are not immune to social problems and their reaction might be more detrimental as compared to civilians.”
However, during the police station visits, there were 25 members who were reported to have been victims of domestic violence and eight were male, and 17 were females
“The most incidents were recorded in Gauteng with 11 incidents.”
The report noted with concern that there were 45 police stations where inspections were not regularly conducted in police station registers and that there were no consistent records in 34 others.
“Despite consistent inspections, it still appears that it is a matter of compliance rather than using compliance as a corrective and management tool.
“This is based on the fact that registers are signed by commanders, but mistakes are not identified,” reads the report, adding that mistakes were repeated by the same members throughout the registers.
“There is an observation of poor guidance and supervision in most police stations, which defeats the purpose of regular inspections and also leaves junior members exposed to administrative non-compliance.”
The Civilian Secretariat for Police Service said refresher courses on the Domestic Violence Act should be provided to station commanders in order to strengthen compliance and supervision.
Political Bureau