About 5 300 police officers leave the Saps annually, parliament told

The number of police officers in the South African Police Service (Saps) remains significantly below the projected capacity required to ensure public safety.

Major-General Leon Rabie updated the Portfolio Committee on Police on the Intervention Plan to capacitate the Detective Services Division on Wednesday.

In the 2022/23 financial year, the Saps had 179 624 officers. By the end of September 2024, this number had risen to 185 196 – an increase of 5 572.

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However, the Saps requires 310 132 officers to meet its operational needs.

“We’re well below that figure,” said Rabie.

Police officers in numbers

Although the Saps recruits more police officers, it also has to deal with the thousands who leave the force annually.

“We lose approximately 5 300 officials per annum,” said Rabie.

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“In the previous financial year, we lost 6 430, and the year after that, 6 677. At the end of September this year, we were already on 3 572. If this trend continues, this year’s numbers will be slightly higher than the five-year average that has been calculated.”

According to Rabie, 20% of the police force is expected to be dedicated to detective services. However, the figure now stands at 15.1%.

Over the last two years, the Saps has recruited 20 376 entry-level officers and out of that, 3 142 were allocated to the detective department.

In the current financial year, the Saps is recruiting 10 017 police officers. The first batch of 4 517 is currently in college and they were recruited in April. The second batch of 5 520 will be roped in in February. 35% of these will be dedicated to the detective department.

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“Beyond the 2024/25 allocations, there are other processes we will embark on as the department, including the internal advertisement of posts. We will be focusing on moving people internally to the detective department,” said Rabie.

“As well as the enlistment of 200 former trained and experienced police officers. 4 669 more officials will be added to the detective environment.”

detective Provinces

With regards to provinces, Limpopo and Northern Cape had the highest shortages of detectives, with a reported 38% shortage. This is followed by the Western Cape and Free State at 35.5% and 33%, respectively.

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“There is a significant lack of skilled police officers, including trained detectives. High caseloads overwhelm existing investigators, leading to backlogs and delays in solving cases. Delays in processing evidence such as DNA samples and ballistic analysis hinder investigations and case resolutions,” said committee chair Ian Cameron.