Behind every murder statistic, Parliament’s policing committee reminded the country this week, stands a family waiting for justice. Behind every delayed forensic result stands a victim or survivor waiting for answers, sometimes for months or years. It was this human arithmetic, the Portfolio Committee on Police argued, that makes the persistent weaknesses in criminal investigations, forensic services, police accountability and financial management more than administrative failures. Left unaddressed, they will continue to compromise investigations, delay justice and erode public confidence in the institutions meant to keep people safe.
The warning came as the committee adopted its Budgetary Review and Recommendation Reports on Wednesday, covering the South African Police Service, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, the National Forensic Oversight and Ethics Board, commonly known as the DNA Board, and the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority. The reports identify critical shortcomings across the policing portfolio, and the committee has called for urgent corrective action in response.
The timing of the committee’s interventions is not abstract. As it finalised its findings, four more people lost their lives to violence. A shooting in Katlehong, in Ekurhuleni, reportedly left three others in hospital. That incident came amid growing demands from families across Ekurhuleni for answers following the discovery of the bodies of 12 women in recent months. The committee noted that while these are separate investigations, both developments underscore the devastating human cost of violent crime and the need for effective, accountable policing. When investigations stall and evidence is delayed, the committee stressed, communities are left fearing that perpetrators may never be held accountable.
The committee’s concerns about detective services are backed by the numbers in the SAPS annual report. The service achieved 49 of its 94 annual targets, and its detective services programming met only nine of 22. The reported murder detection rate stood at 9.5% against a target of 60%. The committee has demanded clarity on how that rate was calculated and which underlying figures were used. It also cautioned that a high conviction rate among cases that reach a court outcome does not, on its own, show how effectively the police investigate reported murders, or how likely a bereaved family is to see a case brought to justice.
For the families waiting, those distinctions matter. A conviction rate says little about the cases that never get there. The committee has accordingly demanded that the SAPS account for the full course of a case, including where investigations stall, why matters do not reach prosecution and what happens to unresolved cases. Chairperson Ian Cameron said the response must include properly supported detectives, functioning vehicles and forensic capacity, and coordination with prosecutors.
Cameron’s broader concern is that the reports too often show activity without enough evidence of results. “The central question is whether spending and reported achievements are producing properly investigated cases, safer communities and meaningful consequences for wrongdoing,” he said. In other words, the measure of the policing portfolio is not what is spent or reported, but whether ordinary people see cases properly investigated, communities made safer and wrongdoing met with consequence.
Meanwhile, the committee has moved to guard against its own work being shelved. It stressed that its recommendations must not become a box-ticking exercise or reports that gather dust. They must translate into practical, measurable interventions that address systemic weaknesses and ensure that public funds deliver tangible improvements in policing and public safety. For that to happen, Cameron insisted, a culture of accountability and transparency must be firmly entrenched across the portfolio.
The message to the institutions concerned, and to the families who depend on them, is that the gap between reported performance and lived safety must now close. The reports are adopted. The next measure of success will be whether the answers arrive before more families are left waiting.
Media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson can be directed to the committee’s Media Officer, Malatswa Molepo, at the Parliamentary Communication Services, on 021 403 8438 or 081 512 7920, or by email at [email protected].