At least 21 police officers killed in three months —  Masemola

National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola has announced that the country lost 21 more police officers between October 2024 and December 2024.

On Sunday, Masemola updated the country on police operations during the festive season.

Police management has bemoaned the loss of skilled police officers to other working opportunities, with about 5 300 of them said to leave the South African Police Service (Saps) annually.

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Major-General Leon Rabie updated the Portfolio Committee on Police on the Intervention Plan to capacitate the Detective Services Division in November last year and said as of the end of September last year; the country had 185 196 police officers.

Saps requires 310 132 officers to meet its operational needs.

Police officers killed

While some of the police officers leave the force for other opportunities, some are lost to killings.

According to a police report, 111 police officers were killed in the 2023/24 financial year, with 39 killed while on duty, while 72 were off duty.

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Between October and December 2024 alone, 21 police officers were murdered, with nine killed while on duty and 12 off duty.

“The ongoing attacks and killing of our men and women in blue cannot continue. This is a crime that requires all of us to stand against and prevent it from happening,” said Masemola on Sunday.

“What is encouraging to note is that we have categorised the killing of police officers as a national priority offence, which is investigated by the DPCI [Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation], also known as the Hawks.”

During the same period, 30 police killers were arrested, with seven convicted to 22 life and an additional 725 years imprisonment sentences.

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The police’s safer festive season operations started on 11 October 2024 and ended on Friday, 31 January 2025, with 244 951 arrests recorded.

Arrests across SA

Masemola further announced more arrests that were made by police across the country, including:

• 4 501 murder and attempted murder suspects were arrested.
• 3 983 rape and attempted rape suspects were arrested.
• 27 640 suspects were arrested for Assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, while 17 311 suspects were arrested for common assault.
• 4 675 suspects were arrested for dealing in drugs, while 27 376 suspects were arrested for being in possession of drugs.
• 10 042 suspects were arrested for dealing illegally in liquor.
• 1 952 suspects were arrested for illegal possession of firearms, while 1 380 were arrested for being in illegal possession of ammunition.
• 9 540 suspects were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
• 25 950 illegal immigrants were arrested for being in the country illegally

“On our side, we continue to ensure members are always operationally ready by taking them through relevant training and acquiring the necessary resources needed for them to fight crime and also the necessary protective gear to shield themselves from these criminals. We would ultimately like to see a situation where we don’t lose any member in the hands of criminals,” said Masemola.

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“We therefore request South Africans to work with us and not against us in this fight to rid our country of callous criminals.”