Through corruption, 658 police dockets went missing since 2013 whilst only eight people have been prosecuted

12 July 2018

In what clearly forms part of large-scale corruption, a total of 658 police dockets have disappeared from police detective units around the country since 2013, whilst only eight people, five of them members of the police, were charged and prosecuted.

This is a shocking indication of the police's inability to combat this kind of crime and roughly concludes that 650 dockets have disappeared without any consequences.

Answers given by police minister Bheki Cele on written questions on how many dockets have gone missing since 2013, how many people have been prosecuted in this regard and what is being done to combat this, shows that the Western Cape with 229 missing dockets has by far the biggest problem in this regard. (Questions and answers attached).

Second on the list is Gauteng with 128, then KwaZulu/Natal with 118, the Free State with 97 and the Northern Cape with 54. In Limpopo, not a single docket went missing since 2013, in North West only four, in Mpumalanga eight and in the Eastern Cape 20.

What raises serious questions, is the large number of dockets getting lost in some places in a single year.

In the first four months of this year, 44 dockets disappeared at the Mothibistad detective branch in the Northern Cape. In 2014, 57 disappeared at Nyanga (Western Cape), in 2016 55 at Newcastle (KwaZulu/Natal), in 2013 78 at Tembisa (Gauteng) and in 2016 41 at the Winburg detective unit in the Free State.

It is ironic that the huge loss of 658 dossiers happened under the nose of the country's detectives, and that only eight people were charged with it. This is unacceptable.

Dr Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus, says the minister's response to what is being done to combat the problem is extremely disappointing as it appears that only the old and normal procedures are still being used to protect dockets.

The time has come to take innovative steps to protect the dockets and through this the public of South Africa as a case dies when a dossier is lost and the criminal walks free.

What is seen here is widespread corruption and serves as evidence that the criminal justice system fails the people of South Africa and creates an environment in which crime is flourishing.

Dr Groenewald will take up the matter with the parliamentary portfolio committee for police to make sure that effective steps are taken to find solutions to the problem.

Summary:

Statement issued by Dr. Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 13 July 2018