Why SA needs specialised detective units
19 October 2015
When Jackie Selebi, during his term as national commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), closed down a number of specialised investigative units and distributed their members to police stations across the country, he convinced many that he was on the right track.
In a public statement on 27 September 2006, Selebi argued that 'the restructuring of the police will lead to a decrease in crime’. With hindsight, we now know that this did not happen.
Overall, crime levels in South Africa peaked during 2002/03, thereafter dropping by about 25% until it stabilised in 2007/08. The total crime rate remained mostly consistent before starting to increase from 2011/12. In fact, some of the most serious violent crimes increased quite dramatically following Selebi’s statement in 2006. For example, between 2005/06 and 2014/15, house robbery increased by 99% and business robbery by 337%. Murder increased for a record third year in a row since democracy, rising by more than 14% from 15 554 in 2011/12 to 17 805 in 2014/15.
Not everybody was convinced that closing and restructuring specialised units was the right approach to combating of South Africa’s serious crime problem. As early as July 2009 – only 18 months after Selebi was placed on extended leave, facing corruption charges – then minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa, acknowledged that the restructuring of the specialised units had to be ‘reviewed’ and that there was a need to consider ‘reintroducing’ some of them.