‘The concern is that it’s too many’: More than 30 000 domestic violence cases withdrawn in court

At least 37% of domestic violence cases across South Africa were withdrawn in court by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

This was revealed on Wednesday during a briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Police by officials from the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS).

Domestic violence cases

In the meeting, CSPS director of policy and programme evaluation, Neo Mahlangu, presented a census report on police stations, addressing issues related to domestic violence.

The report contained data collected by the CSPS on the implementation and compliance with the Domestic Violence Act, designed to protect victims of domestic violence from physical, sexual, and verbal abuse.

Mahlangu reported that the CSPS conducted oversight visits at 1 156 police stations nationwide from 1 July to 31 December 2022.

ALSO READ: Doubt looms over GBV legislation efficacy

According to the census report, these stations recorded 160 166 incidents of domestic violence across all provinces.

The Western Cape reported the highest number of incidents at 42,441, followed by Gauteng with 31,640, the Eastern Cape with 19,535, Free State with 16,199, and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with 13,774.

Other provinces reported lower figures. Limpopo reported 11 873 cases, North West reported 11 499, Mpumalanga reported 7 448, and Northern Cape reported 5 757 cases.

Watch the meeting below:

Despite the high incident rate, only 81,386 cases of domestic violence were formally opened.

The majority were in the Western Cape with 23,375 cases and in Gauteng with 21,246.

Out of the 81,386 reported cases, 30,486 were later withdrawn in court, though the reasons for these withdrawals remain unclear.

“The withdrawal of cases is quite a challenge [but] we are no longer seeing domestic violence cases that are withdrawn by police officers at the police station level.

“We are seeing compliance in regard to this element where cases are withdrawn at court through senior public prosecutor[s]. However, the concern is that these cases are many,” Mahlangu said.

Domestic violence arrests, convictions

Additionally, a total of 45,784 arrests were made out of the 81,386 reported cases.

However, only 5 322 of these cases resulted in convictions in court.

“The convictions secured are not necessarily from the cases that were opened during this particular period,” Mahlangu added.

READ MORE: GBV victims still draw the short straw

Earlier, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu highlighted the need for social workers to be stationed at police facilities.

“I do see that other departments are not coming on board. We have had a meeting with the Department of Social Development to say we need social workers in all police stations in the country in order to tackle this scourge.

“Police [officers] are not trained [to assist] victims of rape rather they are trying to react in the form of criminality that would have happened,” Mchunu said.

Disciplinary proceedings initiated against police officers

Mahlangu also presented the CSPS’s non-compliance report covering the period from 1 October 2023 to 30 March 2024.

The report revealed that 59 police officers across four provinces — Free State, Gauteng, North West, and Western Cape — were reported for non-compliance with the Domestic Violence Act.

She noted that the majority of non-compliance cases (49) stemmed from police officers’ administrative issues such as failing to complete the South African Police Service (Saps) 508 forms.

According to the National Instruction on Domestic Violence, every incident report received by a police station must be logged in the domestic violence register.

READ MORE: Legal battle to free woman jailed for killing abuser in self-defence

Form 508(a), also known as the report of domestic violence incident form, is completed by the victim, while Form 508(b) serves as the official domestic violence register.

“We can also see that there were nine cases of failure to serve a protection order as well as an incident where there was failure to report an incident of domestic violence,” Mahlangu explained.

In one case, a police officer failed to report a domestic violence incident involving a fellow officer.

The report also indicated that disciplinary proceedings were initiated against all 59 police officers, including two who faced departmental investigations for serious misconduct.

Among the remaining 57 officers, some received final written warnings, while others were given verbal warnings due to the lesser severity of their cases.

Police officers identified as offenders

Mahlangu also informed the committee that 232 officers from 129 police stations were identified as domestic violence offenders.

The CSPS official noted that 118 firearms were seized from these police officers.

“Nine of those firearms were private firearms that are owned by the members. There were 123 members that were not issued with official firearms hence there are less number of firearms that were seized from the members,” she continued.

There was no evidence of disciplinary proceedings being initiated against the 232 police officers, according to Saps records.

The CSPS has recommended that such proceedings be initiated.

Meanwhile, a total of 115 police officers from 66 police stations across the country were reported as victims of domestic violence.

“We are emphasising the need for psychosocial services to be provided to all police officers involved,” Mahlangu said.

NOW READ: Police arrest Mpumalanga man for allegedly raping his two daughters