Mchunu needs R71.3bn to boost detective services

Police minister Senzo Mchunu wants to see 4,000 fewer people murdered and 6,200 less rapes of women and children in the next three years. 

However, to achieve this goal, the SA Police Service Detective Services programme will need at least R71.3bn over the next three years .  

Mchunu outlined his department’s plans yesterday when he tabled his R113.5bn budget vote in the National Assembly for the financial year 2024/2025. 

In trying to achieve his goal, Mchunu will have the odds against him, as recent crime trends show both murders and rapes have been on a steady rise in the past two years. At least 27,494 people were killed in SA in the 2022/23 financial year, and 42,780 rape cases were reported to the police in the same period. Before then, 78,069 rape cases had been opened between 2020 and 2022 while 45,153 people were murdered.

Mchunu said he wanted his detectives to drastically reduce these offences, which fall under contact crime category. He said the police will place a strong emphasis on community mobilisation to increase police visibility through strategic partnerships. “Through the implementation of the increased crime prevention and combating action plan, we aim to reduce the percentage of contact crimes reported by 14.5% over the medium term.

“Additionally, we expect the detection rate for contact crimes against women to improve to over 71%, and the detection rate for contact crimes against children to exceed 65%. These efforts will be primarily implemented through the Detective Services programme, which has been allocated R71.3bn over the medium term,” he said.

The Detective Services programme has been hit with several challenges, including reduced personnel.

Responding to a question from the DA in the police portfolio committee in October last year, national police commissioner Gen Fanie Masemola said the SAPS lost 8,400 detectives between 2016 and October 2023, where the number stood at 17,600. 

Gareth Newman , a crime expert from the Institute for Security Studies, said it was highly possible to reduce murders by analyising data from crime statistics. "The top 20 police stations with high murder rates will indicate which areas are the murder hotspots in the country. Places like Delft and Khayelitsha in Cape Town and a few others in KZN and Gauteng are hotspots. The minister can allocate resources there to gather intelligence and make arrests which over time can reduce the murder rate. 

"Reducing rape rate is a bit tricky because some rape incidents aren't being reported and the rapists simply goes after another victim," said Newman.  

Mchunu’s include police visibility, the improvement of community responsiveness, detection rate and crime intelligence. And he hopes to increase the workforce by 10,000 new recruits. “This strategic expansion is crucial for addressing the growing demands of our communities and ensuring that we can effectively combat crime across the country,” he said.

He said the circulation of unlicensed firearms stolen from police officers was a big concern that exacerbated crime in SA. “Evidence shows that most murders are committed using illegal firearms, most of which were previously legal. There are just so many firearm-linked crimes in society and the SAPS needs to improve its own management of firearms in its possession,” Mchunu said. 

In January this year, his predecessor Bheki Cele conceded that 1,725 official police firearms were stolen between April 2021 and July 2023, which translates to 62 guns stolen every single month over the last two-and-a-half years. At least 357 of the firearms were stolen from police stations around the country.

In one of the incidents in March last year, unknown amount of weapons was stolen from Somerset East police station in the Eastern Cape after a group of men pretending to be reporting a crime overpowered an officer at the reception area. 

Using a similar modus operandi, three men pounced at the Devon police station in Ekurhuleni and stole three rifles and seven pistols from a safe.

Mchunu said he would also prioritise identifying and neutralising criminal groups involved in drug-related crimes, especially in areas like Gqeberha, Johannesburg and Cape Town. He said the so-called construction mafia and illegal miners were paralysing the economy.

“Targeting these criminal networks will disrupt the supply chains and operations that fuel violence and instability. Enhanced intelligence gathering, dedicated task forces and collaborative operations with other law enforcement agencies will strengthen the police’s ability to combat organised crime effectively,” said Mchunu.