Auditor-General (A-G) Tsakani Maluleke has flagged civil claims against the SAPS and the failure of the police to provide evidence to support the achievements recorded in the 2023-24 financial year.
In her report, Maluleke said SAPS was a defendant in a number of lawsuits.
“The ultimate outcome of the matters could not be determined and no provision for any liability that may result was made in the financial statement,” she said.
The SAPS’ annual report stated that 15 139 new civil claims valued at R21 541 152 857 were registered during the period under review.
Briefing the police portfolio committee, Auditor-General South Africa official Thabelo Musisinyani said they found a number of targets set for the medium-term strategic framework were not met.
Another auditor, Nelisiwe Mhlongo, said they found that instruments and machines had been out of order since 2020 and require servicing and maintenance at the forensic science laboratories.
“Some instruments and machines are not being used in the environment due to new technology requiring updated software operation.
“The rights of victims of crime are not protected and their safety is compromised as they continue to live in the same surroundings with the perpetrator.”
The Investigative Case Docket Management System that was designed to address challenges with the management of case dockets was also not fully implemented.
In her report, Maluleke said SAPS failed to establish capacity to operate the 10111 emergency call centres.
“This is evident from the high number of abandoned calls on the system. The national average rate of abandoned calls was calculated to be 26.44%, with some centres recording an average response time ranging from 8 to 35 minutes.”
The A-G also said they found people were arrested with or without warrants and were not brought to court no later than 48 hours after their arrest as required by the Criminal Procedure Act.
Although National Commissioner Fannie Masemola approved a plan to address the problems at the call centres and civil claims, Maluleke said: “I will follow up on the progress of these actions during my next audit.”
Parliamentarians expressed their unhappiness with the audit performance of the SAPS.
DA MP Diana Kohler-Barnard noted with concern that the reported achievement did not add up.
ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe took a swipe at SAPS for not using the case docket management system.
Responding to the audit findings, he acknowledged there were areas of concern that were identified during the audit.
“The problem lies within the station management,” he said.
On the investigative case docket management system, Masemola said police used the manual system when there were problems with downtime.
Major-general Leonn Rabie said much of the performance information remained a critical source of insight into SAPS operations and trends.
Cape Times