Just 0.14% of SA Police Service (SAPS) personnel have had their records checked against the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO), according to Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu.
The NRSO is an instrument designed to shield women and children from sexual predators.
This information was revealed in a written response to a parliamentary question from Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, the deputy leader of Build One South Africa (Bosa), who requested the total number of SAPS employees, including officers and administrative staff, who had undergone NRSO screening.
Mchunu confirmed that a total of 245 people, including officers and administrative staff, underwent screening.
The response omitted information about the screening results and the reasons why so few employees had been screened against NRSO.
According to Bosa acting spokesperson Roger Solomons, the number of screened individuals indicates that less than one out of every 700 SAPS employees has had their sexual crime history checked.
The statistics, according to him, came out at a time when South Africa is still grappling with a high rate of sexual violence.
2 108 officers dismissed
He pointed out that over 42 700 rapes were reported during the 2023–2024 fiscal year, with an average of over 117 per day.
“The total number of sexual offences reported last year was 54 885, including rape, sexual assault, and related crimes. In the last five years, over 250 000 sexual offences have been reported nationwide,” said Solomons.
“South Africans cannot be expected to trust law enforcement to protect them from sexual violence when SAPS has failed to even vet its officers.”
He also expressed concern about the discovery that, during the previous five fiscal years, 2 108 SAPS officers had been fired for misconduct.
According to Solomons, these cases involve serious offences, some of which may entail sexual misconduct, abuse, or violence.
He stated that Bosa’s demands are for all SAPS members to undergo NRSO screening, which is necessary for the SAPS’s hiring, promotion, and disciplinary procedures.
“We are calling on minister Mchunu to immediately table a clear and time-bound action plan to ensure that a full audit is conducted of all current personnel and past dismissals to identify potential sexual offenders who may have slipped through the cracks.”
