Part 13 - Saps

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is difficult to obtain. 7 However, crimes primarily motivated by greed and involving a
certain level of premeditation on the part of the offender, can be reduced through an
effective criminal justice system. Offenders who attack farms, rob banks, hijack motor
vehicles or commit fraud usually have to plan their nefarious deeds. This places them in a
position to consider the consequences of their actions and weigh up the expected gains of
their crimes with the likely punishment should they be arrested and convicted.
POLICING: PREVENTION AND DETECTION OF CRIME
South Africa has one centralised police service, the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The SAPS is responsible for preventing, combating and investigating crime, maintaining
public order, protecting the inhabitants of the country and their property, and upholding
and enforcing the law. 8
Detected cases
The majority of cases recorded by the police are not detected. There are two types of
undetected cases. The first consists of cases where the suspect is unknown, and where
there is insufficient evidence to enable the police to identify a suspect. In other words,
these are cases which are not solved. The second type of undetected case is where a
suspect has been identified and a warrant for his arrest has been issued, but the person’s
whereabouts are unknown.
In 2000, as a proportion of recorded cases, only 43% were detected. (See Figure ??)
During that year less than a quarter of recorded car theft, aggravated robbery, and
residential housebreaking cases were detected. (2000 is the last year for which case
detection rates were released at the time of writing.)
The detection rate is low for cases where the perpetrator is likely to be unknown to the
victim, and where there are no eyewitnesses to the crime. To solve such cases the police
have to rely primarily on either forensic evidence (such as fingerprint marks), or
circumstantial evidence (such as linking a suspect to a series of housebreakings that all
show a similar modus operandi). The fact that the detection rate for these kinds of crimes
is low, tends to indicate that the police’s forensic and criminal investigation capabilities are
weak. 9
From information supplied to the Committee by investigating officers who investigate
farm attacks, it appears that the detection rate in respect of farm attack cases – especially
cases involving a serious and violent offence or offences – is relatively high. 10 This is,
however, largely based on anecdotal evidence and the general perceptions of investigating
7 Ashworth A. ‘Sentencing’ in Maguire M. et al (ed.’s) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (Oxford
University Press, New York, 1997) p 1098.
8 Section 205(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act no108 of 1996.
9 During the 1980s the police’s criminal investigation capabilities were neglected. During the apartheid era,
only 1 in 10 members of the SAP were engaged in detecting and investigating crime. See Shaw M. and
Camerer L. Policing the transformation: New issues in South Africa’s crime debate (IDP Monograph
Series 3, April 1996) p13.
10 See p 172.