Saps hires more detectives as it faces voluntary resignations

Although the South African Police Service (Saps) has made progress by adding more detectives to its ranks, some are voluntarily leaving the service.

Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu revealed in a parliamentary response that between 1 October 2023 and 19 July 2024, 527 detectives voluntarily left the Saps.

While the minister could not reveal the reasons for the resignations, as the Saps has not asked former employees, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi previously said that elite Special Task Force members often leave the Saps for private security companies.

Shortage of detectives

This adds to the challenge facing the Saps amid a shortage of detectives.

Currently, the number of detectives employed by the Saps stands at 22 413. This is about 5 000 more than in September last year when senior management told the Portfolio Committee on Police that there were approximately 17 000 detectives responsible for the entire South African population.

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“We are faced with the challenge in the environment that our members are being taken by the private sector and other government departments such as Ipid and the Hawks and the recruitment into the environment has not kept up with the rate of attrition,” deputy national commissioner responsible for detectives, Major General Shadrack Sibiya, told the committee at the time.

KZN has the highest number of vacancies at 1 629, followed by the Western Cape with 1 555 vacancies. The Eastern Cape has 1 465 vacancies.

Case dockets

Earlier this year, then-minister of justice and correctional services, Ronald Lamola, revealed that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had referred more than 1.8 million case dockets back to the Saps for further investigations since 2018.

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The 1.8 million case dockets do not include those already enrolled in the courts.

This situation has been criticised by parties such as the Freedom Front Plus, which argues that the shortage of detectives is “paralysing” the criminal justice system.

As of 30 June 2024, 11 974 inmates have been awaiting trial in South Africa’s correctional facilities for at least a year.

About 490 of these inmates have been waiting for more than five years, with more than half (266) held in Gauteng’s facilities.

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According to a parliamentary response from the Department of Correctional Services, these inmates are held on a range of serious charges, including armed robbery, assault, murder, sexual violence, kidnapping, and economic sabotage.