Saps’ public trust deficit hits crime fight – experts

If the South African Police Service (Saps) is serious about fighting crime it should start by mending its broken relationship with communities, according to the experts.

The experts were reacting to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s statement that there “was a lack of cooperation between the police and communities in fighting crime”.

Ramaphosa said this when addressing the 2025 Policing Summit in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.

Saps must restore relationship with communities

Chad Thomas, an organised crime investigator from IRS Forensic Investigations, said the only way the country can address crime is through effective civic, public and private sector collaboration.

“I concur with the comments made by the president that we need to ensure cooperation between communities and state law enforcement, and in my opinion, a bigger role played by the private security industry in expanding their footprint into townships, informal settlements and areas of cities experiencing urban decay.

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“Although I understand that security companies are for profit, both the security companies and their clients have a moral obligation to support crime-fighting initiatives in low-income areas by supporting Saps and community policing forums.

“We have seen success in such projects initiated by Business Against Crime South Africa and the Civilian Crime Intelligence Network,” said Thomas.

Thomas said members of communities wanting to take an active role in policing their areas must register and be part of formalised structures recognised by the local Community Police Forum (CPF) and respective provincial departments of community safety.

Community policing in disarray

Prof Witness Maluleke, head of the department of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Limpopo, said community policing in South Africa was in disarray, with the current relationship not functional.

“Their trust is broken. The local police and community members are working in isolation, giving potential criminals liberty to commit heinous crimes.”

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“So the president’s so-called cooperation between the two parties against crime is far-fetched and remains an impossible mandate to accomplish.”

Another criminologist, Willem Els, said Ramaphosa was right to call on the police and communities to rebuild their relationship because the trust levels of the public in the police currently stands at 27%, which is very low.

“If you look at other police services, for instance, the Bavarian police service in Germany is at 98%.”

Soshanguve shooting

National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said patrollers and Community Police Forums were important stakeholders in the fight against crime.

“These structures assist us to improve cooperation with the community.

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“Together we do joint problem identification and jointly solve crime-related issues in communities.”

Recently six CPF members and community patrollers were killed in Marry Me informal settlement in Soshanguve, Tshwane.