Cape Town - There are more than 2 million criminal cases lying idle, unable to be resolved by the country’s detectives.
This was revealed by National Police Minister, Bheki Cele, in response to a parliamentary question by the Freedom Front Plus (FF+). Cele said more than 2.5 million of the cases investigated by the detective services in the 2020/21- 23 financial years are not finalised or solved.
This week Cele’s office confirmed that more than 43% of the cases remained closed or undetected with a total of 923 500 for period of 2022/23 while figures for 2023/24 are not available yet. The situation is so dire that retired detectives are being roped in to alleviate the case load.
A retired police officer aged 65, said he had been contacted by high-ranking officers to start a position on contract this year.
“They said I would be on contract and should start immediately to help with investigations and I was given a set date to respond but I am retired and do not feel the stress that cases give you or the long hours of work.”
Last year Cele admitted there was a crisis with some provinces experiencing up to 32% shortage of detectives.
This week, Dr Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF+ revealed that Cele had answered parliamentary questions on the success of cases.
“It appears that more than 2,5 million of the cases investigated by the detective services in the 2020/21-23 financial years are still unfinalised and unsolved.
“That is more than 42% of all crimes reported to the police. Over the same period, only 34.25% of the investigations were successful enough for prosecution to be instituted.
“During this period, a total of 628 354 warrants for unsolved cases were issued which could not be executed.
“In his reply, the minister said that in the case of unsolved cases, there was insufficient evidence to bring the guilty party or parties to book.
“The minister’s reply makes it clear that the police force no longer has the ability to combat serious crime. More than 40% of all reported cases remain unsolved and the chances of successful prosecution by the courts are even slimmer.”
A copy of the internal questions brought before the National Assembly in March was shared with Weekend Argus by Cele’s spokesperson, Lizrandu Themba, who said it was important to note to what extent police resources were used to investigate crimes.
When asked what the number was and percentage of all serious crimes combined in respect of detection and closed as undetected in the 2023/24 financial year, the detection rate was 35.34% with 980 248, and 923 500 cases (43.46%) were closed.
The document further stated the number of warrants of arrest issued for undetected cases totalled 196277 for the 2022/23 period and he 2023/24 figures are not available as yet.
When asked why cases were deemed “undetected or closed” Cele answered: “When a case docket is closed as ‘undetected’ it means that the investigation has not yielded enough evidence to positively identify the suspect or suspects involved.
“All available information and leads were exhausted during their investigation in an attempt to gather evidence and to identify those responsible for a crime.
“Cases remain undetected until new information is received that may assist in identifying and tracing the suspect.
“Case dockets closed as undetected are reopened annually for further investigation.”
Zona Morton, a crime watchdog, said detectives worked under immense pressure and were expected to deliver under stressful working conditions.
“The South African Police Detectives are facing extreme challenges in delivering a just service,” she said.
“Extremely under-staffed detective branches are the main factor contributing towards the slow turn-around time in investigation.
“Members have huge workloads that result in them having to choose which cases to prioritise.
“Detectives are also affected by the lack of proper and continuous resources like decent and enough vehicles to operate with.
“You cannot have three or four detectives driving with one vehicle, each having their own investigation to do.
“Also, the matter that detectives are not being paid for weekends and public holidays, but should apply for rest days if their standby falls on a weekend or public holiday, contributes to the members not always wanting to go the extra mile.
“The general feeling among almost all of the detectives is that the detective services should be allowed to operate on its own, with its own supply chain, vehicle fleet, war room and all the necessary resources needed to properly and correctly investigate crime and to attract members to join the detective services.”
Ian Cameron, also a crime watchdog and newly-appointed parliamentary candidate for the DA, said experience affected cases.
“There is a backlog with a shortage of detectives. The police leadership do not understand detective work and are out of their depth,” he said.
“They say they will train 10 000 more, but that will not solve the problem. This has the danger of a police state (developing).
“If they are poorly trained, which is what we are seeing, criminals simply adjust their modus operandi.”