SowetanLive reports that the number of detectives at police stations across the country has declined by more than 1,400 in the past four years.

A written reply by Police Minister Bheki Cele to a parliamentary question showed that the number of general detectives at police station level declined from 21,002 in 2019 to 19,598 this year. This was a decline of 1,404. The number of specialised detectives also declined by 33 – from 4,898 in 2019 to 4,865 this year. However, the response showed that specialised detectives at provincial level increased from 538 in 2019 to 825 this year. Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Andrew Whitfield, who posed the question to Cele, said there was no planning to address the shortage of detectives. “Senior detectives are retiring but the systems within the police are so bad they are not planning for succession to make sure that there is a pipeline of detectives that are coming through, being mentored and developed. We also see people resigning because there is too much work pressure. There is one detective in Pietermaritzburg with 280 dockets. How can one detective carry such a caseload of 280 dockets? Eventually, something will give in, people resign,” Whitfield observed. He said there was a complete system failure in the SA Police Service caused by poor management and weak leadership that was unable to maximise the available budget. Stellenbosch University criminologist Dr Guy Lamb attributed the drop in the number of detectives to poor working conditions and better salaries in the private sector.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Penwell Dlamini & Mpho Koka at SowetanLive

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