South African Police Service

History

The South African Police Service traces its origin to the Dutch Watch, a paramilitary organisation formed by settlers in the Cape in 1655, initially to protect civilians against attack and later to maintain law and order. In 1795 British officials assumed control over the Dutch Watch and in 1825 they organised the Cape Constabulary, which became the Cape Town Police Force in 1840. In 1854 a police force was established in Durban which would become the Durban Borough Police and in 1935 the Durban City Police (DCP). Act 3 of 1855 established the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police Force in the Eastern Cape, restyled as the Cape Mounted Riflemen in 1878.

The South African Police was eventually created after the Union of South Africa in 1913. Four years later, the Mounted Riflemen's Association relinquished its civilian responsibilities to the SAP as most of its riflemen left to serve in World War I. The SAP and the military maintained their close relationship even after the SAP assumed permanent responsibility for domestic law and order in 1926. Police officials often called on the army for support in emergencies. In World War II, one SAP brigade served with the 2nd Infantry Division of the South African Army in North Africa.

When the National Party (NP) edged out its more liberal opponents in nationwide elections in 1948, the new government enacted legislation strengthening the relationship between the police and the military. The police were heavily armed after that, especially when facing unruly or hostile crowds. The Police Act (No. 7) of 1958 broadened the mission of the SAP beyond conventional police functions, such as maintaining law and order and investigating and preventing crime, and gave the police extraordinary powers to quell unrest and to conduct counterinsurgency activities. The Police Amendment Act (No. 70) of 1965 empowered the police to search without warrant any person, receptacle, vehicle, aircraft, or premise within one mile of any national border and to seize anything found during such a search. This search-and-seize zone was extended to within eight miles of any border in 1979 and to the entire country in 1983.

After the end of apartheid, the SAP was renamed the South African Police Service (SAPS), and the Ministry of Law and Order was renamed the Ministry of Safety and Security, in keeping with these symbolic reforms. The new minister of safety and security, Sydney Mufamadi, obtained police training assistance from Zimbabwe, Britain and Canada and proclaimed that racial tolerance and human rights would be central to police training programs in the future. By the end of 1995, the SAPS had incorporated the ten police agencies from the former homelands and had reorganised at both the national level and at the level of South Africa's nine new provinces.

Equipment

South African Police officers on duty generally carry a Vektor Z88 9mm pistol (although a more compact pistol, the RAP 401, is available if officers request it) and pepper spray while officers in Cape Town along with some other services of the force are equipped with Glock 17. Each police patrol usually also equipped a R5 rifle in the car.

To quell disturbances, the SAP used a variety of arms, including R1 semi-automatic rifles, BXP sub-machine gun, Musler 12 gauge shotgun which is capable of firing the new generation of anti-riot rubber bullets which are contained in a standard 12 bore shotgun cartridge as well as tear gas grenades using a so-called ballistic cartridge and pencil flares.

The R1 rifle has been withdrawn from all front-line police armories since the mid-1990s, but is still used by elements of the Special Task Force.

Vehicles

Through the early 1990s, the police were also equipped with smoke and tear-gas dispensing vehicles, tank trucks with water cannons, vehicles that dispensed barbed wire or razor wire to cordon off areas rapidly, and a number of rotor and fixed wing aircraft for surveillance, ground force management, crime prevention, rapid deployment of Task Force and specialist teams to crime scenes and VIP personnel movements.

Eurocopter MBB BO105 and Kawasaki BK117 Helicopters equipped with 30Million candle power nightsun spotlights and LEO/FLIR equipment enabled their 24x7 day/night operational capability. Riot-control forces deployed in specially designed buses or Casspir armoured personnel carriers.

Organisation and composition

The SAPS includes a large reserve division named the South African Reserve Police Service. These members help part-time to combat crime in South Africa.

Three police unions were active in bargaining on behalf of police personnel and in protecting the interests of the work force, as of 1996. These are the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, which has about 150 000 members; the South African Policing Union (SAPU), which has about 35,000 members; and the Public Service Association (PSA), which has about 4,000 members.

The commissioned officers in the force are 57% black, 28% white, 10% coloured, 2% Indian; 70% male, 30% female. Non-commissioned officers are 78% black, 10% coloured, 10% white, 2% Indian; 78% male, 22% female.

Divisions

The SAPS headquarters in Pretoria is organized into six divisions. These are the Crime Combating and Investigation Division, the Visible Policing Division, the Internal Stability Division, the Community Relations Division, the Supporting Services Division, and the Human Resource Management Division.

The Crime Combating and Investigation Division holds overall responsibility for coordinating information about crime and investigative procedures. It administers the SAPS Criminal Record Centre, the SAPS Commercial Crime Unit, the SAPS Diamond and Gold Branch, the South African Narcotics Bureau, the Stock Theft Unit, the Inspectorate for Explosives, murder and robbery units located in each major city, and vehicle theft units throughout the country. In addition, the division manages the National Bureau of Missing Persons, which was established in late 1994.

The Visible Policing Division manages highly public police operations, such as guarding senior government officials and dignitaries. Most government residences are guarded by members of the division's Special Guard Unit. The division's all-volunteer Special Task Force handles hostage situations and other high-risk activities. The Internal Stability Division is responsible for preventing and quelling internal unrest, and for assisting other divisions in combating crime. The Community Relations Division consults with all police divisions concerning accountability and respect for human rights. The Supporting Services Division manages financial, legal, and administrative aspects of the SAPS. The Human Resource Management Division helps to hire, to train, and to maintain a competent work force for the SAPS.

The Annual Report of the South African Police Service (SAPS) for the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008, was published on 29 August 2008. In terms of this report, the structure of the SAPS looks quite different from in 1996.

The National Commissioner is assisted by five Deputy National Commissioners (DNC):

Ranks

The current ranking system of the SAPS was adopted on 1 April 2010. The change caused some controversy as the new ranks like "general" and "colonel" have a military connotation. Furthermore, the new rank system mirrors the system used by the South African Police during the apartheid era. In 2009, Deputy Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula spoke of making the police a paramilitary force by changing the SAPS ranking system so that it would closely mirror the military ranking system. This created a significant amount of controversy from people critical of what they called the "militarisation" of the police.

Reservists within the organization shall, in the future, be appointed without any ranks. Existing reservists will retain their current ranks.

Ranks:

Senior Management Commissioned Officers

General - Addressed as General

Lieutenant General - Addressed as General

Major General - Addressed as General

Brigadier - Addressed as Brigadier

Commissioned Officers

Colonel - Addressed as Colonel

Lieutenant Colonel - Addressed as Colonel

Captain - Addressed as Captain

Non-commissioned Officers

Warrant Officer - Addressed as Warrant

Sergeant - Addressed as Sergeant

Constable - Addressed as Constable

National Commissioners

Air Wing

The South African Police Service operate a fleet of 45 aeroplanes and helicopters.

Airplanes

Helicopters

Conviction of former National Police Commissioner

On 10 September 2007 a warrant of arrest was issued by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for National Police Commissioner (served as Interpol President from 2004 until 12 January 2008 when he resigned voluntarily) Jackie Selebi. On 23 September 2007 President Mbeki suspended NPA Head Vusi Pikoli, allegedly because of "an irretrievable breakdown" in the relationship between Pikoli and Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla. However, journalists at the Mail and Guardian claim to have solid information supporting the widespread suspicion that President Mbeki suspended Pikoli as part of a bid to shield Police Commissioner Selebi. According to the Mail and Guardian on 5 October 2007 the NPA was investigating Selebi for corruption, fraud, racketeering and defeating the ends of justice. Selebi was found guilty of corruption on 2 July 2010, but not guilty of further charges of perverting the course of justice.

Maladministration by National Commissioner Bheki Cele

In February 2011 Bheki Cele was implicated in unlawful conduct and maladministration with a R500m lease agreement for the new police headquarters in Pretoria. On 24 October 2011, President Jacob Zuma announced that Cele had been suspended pending an investigation into the agreement.

On 12 June 2012, after a recommendation from a board of inquiry, Zuma dismissed Cele and announced that Riah Phiyega, the first female commissioner, would replace him.

The Marikana Massacre

The Marikana Massacre, was a mass shooting that occurred when police broke up a gathering by striking Lonmin workers on a 'koppie' (hilltop) near the Nkaneng shack settlement in Marikana on Thursday, 16 August 2012. 34 miners died during the incident and an additional 78 miners were injured, causing anger and outcry against the police and South African government. Further controversy emerged after it was discovered that most of the victims were shot in the back and many victims were shot far from police lines.

The incident took place at the Lonmin platinum mines in Marikana, South Africa. It was the single most deadly incident between police and the civilian population in South Africa since the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre and has been referred to as a turning-point in post-1994 South African society.

It later emerged that the violence had actually started on 11 August when leaders from the National Union of Mineworkers opened fire on striking NUM members killing two. It is alleged that police did nothing in the aftermath thereby creating a situation in which workers felt that they would have to use other means to protect themselves. Between the 12 and 14 August, approximately 8 more people were killed including two policemen and two security guards.

Police brutality

Amnesty International has expressed concerns about police brutality, including torture and extrajudicial killings, in South Africa. There has also been concern about brutal training methods for the police. According to Peter Jordi from the Wits Law Clinic "[Police] Torture is spiralling out of control. It is happening everywhere." Brandon Edmonds argues that "The cops prey on the poor in this country." In April 2012 an editorial in The Times opined that "It seems torture and outright violation of human rights is becoming the order of the day for some of our police officers and experts warn that the line between criminals and our law enforcement officers is "blurred"."

In February 2013, police in Daveyton, Gauteng were caught on video brutalising Mido Macia, a Mozambican taxi driver accused of parking illegally. They handcuffed Macia to a police van, and dragged him through the streets. Macia later died of his injuries. Eight police officers were later arrested for his death.

According to Mamphela Ramphele one of the rallying cries of the freedom struggle was the protest against police brutality, against deaths in detention. More people are dying now in police custody than ever before. We have brutality no different from during the Apartheid era.

Corruption in Gauteng Province

630 police officers from Gauteng Province were arrested in 2011, most for fraud and corruption, but also for rape and murder.

Political repression

A number of community organisations and social movements have accused the SAPS of acting against them with illegality and brutality. Independent studies have confirmed that the SAPS has been used to repress peaceful marches and freedom of association.

On 27 April 2009, SAPS attempted to ban a well-known event among the social movements called unFreedom Day and was implicated in support for September 2009 ANC mob that attacked the elected leadership of the shack settlement at Kennedy Road, Durban.

SAPS has also been implicated in draconian policing measures. Numerous accusations come from the infamous Blikkiesdorp Temporary Relocation Area in Delft, Cape Town where police have been accused of suppression of freedoms and illegal curfews.

A number of unarmed protestors have been killed by the South African Police since 2000. The following list is not complete and does not include victims of the Marikana Massacre: