NPA has returned 1.8 million case dockets to Saps for further investigation since 2018

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has referred more than 1.8 million case dockets back to the South African Police Service (Saps) for further investigations since 2018.

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

This was revealed by Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola, in a parliamentary answer to Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) leader Dr Pieter Groenewald.

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This comes amid concerns about the shortage of detectives in South Africa.

In September last year, the senior management of the Saps told the Portfolio Committee on Police that there were about 17 000 detectives responsible for the entire South African population.

This was one of the contributing factors to the underperformance of Saps on programme 3, which is detective services.

“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.

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He said the Saps was putting in place measures to mitigate the loss of human resource by, among others, reenlisting some of the members that went into other environments within the Saps and prioritisation of the detective services with new members that were in training.

The shortage of detectives is now back in the spotlight after the FF Plus’ question on the number of case dockets that have been returned to the Saps.

According to Lamola, while the request for further investigation may be required to make a final decision on prosecution, it may also relate to completing the chain of evidence for evidentiary purposes in court and in getting the case ready for enrolment.

“Depending on the nature of the charges, some investigation could require financial audit reports or additional forensic or ballistic evidence which a prosecutor from previous experience deem necessary in preparation for the enrolment and subsequent trial,” said Lamola.

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“Especially, in instances where additional reports are required, these often entail additional costing, which the SA Police will only undertake if so guided by the prosecutor.”

While the minister highlighted the importance of the investigation to be completed before enrolment, especially in decision dockets where no accused is appearing in court as yet, saying it will “prevent unnecessary delays in court and also curb the cost of court appearances”, the FF Plus argued that currently, this was not happening.

“With more than 1.8 million dossiers returned for further investigation since 2018, there is no possibility of a ‘speedy trial’,” said Groenewald.

“Under the current circumstances, quite the opposite is happening, though.”

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Groenewald further bemoaned the high crime rate in the country, calling for the urgent appointment of more qualified detectives.

“The deep-rooted problems in the South African Police Service’s detective division are paralysing the criminal justice system.”