The KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Lt General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, has expressed concern that the number of police officers in the volatile province is declining, while the population is growing and crime remains a challenge.
Mkhwanazi said at some point they had around 25 000 police officers. The number has now been reduced to 19 600.
The officers are responsible for policing 12.4 million residents and an unspecified number of both documented and undocumented migrants residing in the province.
Media briefing
He made these revelations on Tuesday in Durban. Mkhwanazi was briefing the media after he met with senior management of the police to account for their work.
He said the decline is a result of several factors beyond their control. These include officers who were killed on duty by criminals.
“In the previous financial year, we lost 893 personnel, and 805 of them were functional police officers. The other 88 being our support staff. Two hundred and twenty police officers left the service through retirement with pension. And 240 police officers resigned, 140 took an early retirement. A total of 116 passed on, with six of them meeting their untimely death in the line of duty.
Losing police to crime
“Out of the six, four were shot and killed by criminals, and two died in road accidents. One hundred and six police officers were dismissed for various acts of misconduct. These were ranging from corruption to violation of the disciplinary code and bringing the organisation into disrepute,” he revealed.
Mkhwanazi also said they have discovered that the SAPS has become a gold field to some law firms. These perpetually litigate against them for various reasons. As a result, commanders have been instructed to drastically reduce the number of civil claims against the police.
“We understood that if command and control were to be applied as they should, civil claims against the police for unlawful arrest and detention, as well as reckless and negligent driving, could be kept to a minimum.
Civil claims reducing, but still high
“As a result, in the previous financial year, we have seen a reduction in civil claims against the police from 3 754 to 3 057. This is a difference of 697 claims. Commanders have been instructed to further reduce these claims by applying basic principles of policing,” he said.
After the instruction was given out, the amount of money paid out for civil claims was reduced. But it is not at a satisfactory level.
“There are people who see the police as a cash cow or an easy road to riches. And as such, they register baseless civil claims against the police. In the 2024/2025 financial year, just over R3.3-billion worth of civil claims were registered against police in the province.
“Our legal officers managed to fend off the majority of such claims. And where we were found to have been on the wrong side, we paid just over R154-million. This is still a huge amount of money. And proper command and control will help us to further reduce unwarranted civil claims against the police.”
