THERE is a lack of political will to strengthen the criminal justice system because it will rid the country of corrupt politicians.

Gareth Newham, head of the crime and justice programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), is one of the delegates at the annual ISS crime conference which starts tomorrow in Sandton.

He said: "If competent, skilled and experienced people were appointed in the police, national prosecuting authority (NPA) and other organs like the special investigations unit (SIU), then the decision to charge and prosecute corrupt politicians is taken away from the politicians."

Newham is a former policy adviser and special projects manager for the Gauteng department of community safety under MEC Firoz Cachalia.

He said his point was illustrated by the fact that advocate Vusi Pikoli was effectively fired for refusing to allow political interference in the NPA.

"[President Jacob] Zuma then appointed someone who has now been proven to be incompetent for the job and showed lack of integrity," said Newham, referring to Menzi Simelane's appointment.

Newham said Simelane's attempts to interfere with Jackie Selebi's prosecution showed that he was politically vulnerable and was appointed to protect political figures.

The Constitutional Court found Simelane's appointment was invalid.

"The SIU is another example. Willie Hofmeyr was fired for having two jobs, despite doing good work."

Newham lamented that Hofmeyr was replaced by Willem Heath. Heath resigned within a month .

He said citizens should be concerned that two police commissioners vacated office shrouded in corruption controversy.

He also criticised the fact that the current national police commissioner and her two predecessors had no police background.

Newham said the criminal justice budget had grown substantially from about R64-billion in 2008 to about R95-billion this year.

He said about 70,000 posts were added to the police force since 2003, but only 56 people were arrested and 11 convicted under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act in the 2011/2012 year.

He said convictions were low given that Treasury figures showed the country was losing R25-billion to R30-billion to corruption.

He said a study conducted on the perception of corruption showed that in 2009 15% of South Africans thought corruption was a problem compared to 29% in 2012.

- moengk@sowetan.co.za