Tackling police corruption in South Africa

By David Bruce and Gareth Newham

Key findings There is strong evidence of ongoing widespread corruption in the South African Police Service (SAPS), including among its senior leaders. Corruption levels in the metro and traffic police are also high, although they receive less scrutiny than the SAPS. Perceptions of high levels of police corruption contribute to low levels of public trust in the police. TrA range of agencies and mechanisms are tasked with investigating police corruption, but no agency has overall responsibility. Coordination between agencies is limited. SAPS has introduced multiple anti-corruption strategies, but has not implemented intelligencedriven measures to ensure that corruption is tackled effectively. The SAPS Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit (ACIU) is substantially under-resourced. Despite evidence of misconduct, a majority (77%) of SAPS disciplinary hearings result in no meaningful accountability.ust is vital for the police to effectively address crime. SAPS members are often unwilling to report crime or corruption by colleagues because they fear negative consequences for themselves. The willingness of many members of the public to pay bribes is an important contributor to high levels of police corruption.