This is set out on the latest SAPS Annual Report, and the AG’s findings for the 2014/25 year.

For example, the SAPS claimed to have recovered 244 firearms that had been stolen from it, but the audit suggested that this number was higher than what had been achieved.

The AG also questioned claims that contact crimes in the 30 most seriously affected police jurisdiction had been reduced by 4.7%, against a target of 12.3%. It said that this claim could not be verified and the true outcome might be lower or higher.

It could also not verify the true number of cases of crime involving economic infrastructure and recovery of vehicles (although on both cases, the AG said that the numbers were likely higher than the SAPS’ claims).

Some numbers cited by the SAPS were found to be understatements of its performance. The target of arrests in cases of attacks by organised crime on construction sites was 50%; the police had claimed 54%, but the AG found that the real number was 65%.

The AG said that the problems were likely a result of deficient controls than of deliberate manipulation.

The Annual Report noted that there were ongoing weaknesses in the SAPS data management systems. “Management did not implement adequate controls to improve audit outcomes on performance information”, it said this could have an adverse effect on SAPS work more broadly.

Written by The Daily Friend and republished with permission. The original article can be found here.

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In terms of Section 5 of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act No 9 of 2009, the National Assembly, through its committees, must annually compile BRRRs that assess departments’ service delivery performance given the resources available. Committees are also expected to provide an assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of each departments’ use of available resources and may include recommendations on the forward use of resources. It is in this context that the FSL’s underperformance concerns the committee.

In a country struggling with rampant gender-based violence (GBV), the committee characterised the inability to meet targets as undermining the fight against GBV. The Human Sciences Research Council revealed that one-third (33.1%) of South African women over the age of 18 have experienced physical violence in their lifetime, and 9.8% have experienced sexual violence.

“In a country struggling with the scourge of gender-based violence, the non-performance of forensic laboratories is an indictment on the SAPS and undermines efforts to secure justice for victims,” Police Portfolio Committee Chair Ian Cameron emphasised.

SAPS’s own report highlighted that crimes against women increased by 0.52% (from 202,633 in 2023/24 to 203,692 in 2024/25) while crimes against children rose by 2.15% (from 46,052 to 47,044). The increase in these categories of crime, according to the committee, called for increased focus on using forensic evidence to prosecute offenders. The committee emphasised that delays in processing forensic analysis, including DNA testing, stall investigations, delay justice and erode confidence in the criminal justice system.

The committee also highlighted that in its last oversight to the FSL offices in Durban, the refurbishing of the laboratory had taken too long, putting a further strain on other laboratories across the country. While the National Commissioner, Fanie Masemola, sought to assure the committee that they are putting measures in place to resolve challenges within the FSL environment, the committee argued that these measures have been promised for a while now, yet tangible results are not visible. The committee also questioned SAPS’s inability to renew contracts timeously for essential functions within the FSL environment .

The committee re-emphasised its commitment to enhance oversight over this function to ensure optimal benefit from the FSL environment.

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“The report confirms beyond doubt that the ANC government has turned the police service into a lawless and dysfunctional bureaucracy,” the EFF said in a statement on 5 November.

“The Auditor-General’s findings expose a pattern of systematic dishonesty. SAPS leadership has resorted to manipulating and inflating performance data to create the false appearance of progress while communities are being terrorised by criminals every day. The report shows that in some cases, the police invented success rates that do not exist,” the party said.

For example, in one investigative programme, SAPS claimed that it had solved more than half of crimes at construction sites, when the real achievement was less than seven percent. In other instances, figures on recovered vehicles, firearms and crime reductions were found to be unreliable or exaggerated. “This is beyond an administrative mistake but it is the institutionalisation of lies, a betrayal of Parliament and the South African people.”

The rot is most visible in the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), which has completely failed in its constitutional duty to support justice, the EFF said. The backlogs in processing DNA and forensic exhibits have grown by more than half in one year, leaving thousands of criminal cases unresolved. For three consecutive years, this division has not met a single one of its targets, meaning victims of murder, rape and assault are being denied justice because evidence sits unprocessed on laboratory shelves. The police leadership hides behind excuses of staff shortages while spending almost eighty percent of its R113 billion budget on salaries, most of which go to administration, not to forensic or investigative work.

The report also reveals that SAPS spent every cent of its budget, yet the streets of South Africa remain a war zone, the EFF continued. “This full expenditure is not a sign of efficiency, but of a desperate effort to drain public money before the end of the financial year without delivering anything of value. Billions are wasted on salaries and internal overheads while police stations crumble, forensic systems collapse, and communities wait hours for help that never comes. This is the ANC’s definition of service delivery: spending without substance, paperwork without protection, and budgets without outcomes.”

Corruption has become normalised as irregular expenditure increased to nearly R3 Billion with no real disciplinary consequences or financial recovery, including those tenders given out to criminal kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, the EFF noted. Out of over R900 million in identified cases, most remain under investigation, meaning the same officials responsible for financial mismanagement continue to hold office. Civil claims against SAPS have also exploded, with over R25 billion in new claims and more than R800 million paid out in the last year alone, mostly for unlawful arrests and detentions.

“The culture of impunity runs deep. Out of almost 4 000 disciplinary cases, nearly half ended with no punishment and either withdrawn or resulting in ‘not guilty’ outcomes. Additionally, only 10% of guilty officers were dismissed, the rest merely received written warnings, proving that corruption, misconduct and brutality are tolerated within SAPS.

“This is the same organisation that lost 8 452 of its own firearms in one year, almost 23 every day, many of which end up in the hands of the same criminals police claim to be fighting. The leadership continues to treat such staggering failures as success because targets are set so low that mediocrity passes as achievement.

“The report also reveals a disturbing failure to protect women and children. Crimes against women and children have increased, yet the SAPS failed to include measurable targets for gender-based violence in its annual plan. This indifference shows contempt for the suffering of the most vulnerable in our society. The so-called action plans and steering committees are meaningless while women continue to be raped and murdered, and children are brutalised daily with no justice.

“The picture painted by this report is a picture of a criminal syndicate dressed in uniform. The ANC government has destroyed what little integrity remained in the SAPS and the SAPS 2024/25 Annual Report is a mirror reflecting a state that has decayed beyond recognition under ANC rule. It exposes a leadership incapable of protecting its people or upholding the Constitution, which has been illuminated by the current inquiries taking place through the Madlanga Commission and the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee into the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team,” the EFF statement read.

“This is why the EFF championed the establishment of the Ad Hoc Committee on the infiltration of the SAPS, a critical intervention in Parliament we are leading with determination and clarity. Through this committee, we will resolve on final recommendations that will lay the foundation for a reformed, accountable, and corruption free police service that truly serves and protects the people of South Africa,” the party concluded.

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