Share

Taxpayers cough up R1bn for payouts in cases against the police

Taxpayers have coughed up more than R860 million over the past six years for payouts following civil claims against members of the South African Police Service.

If settlement agreements entered into by the police since 2011 are also included, the amount increases to more than R1.04 billion.

The SAPS’ annual contingency for civil claims in the past financial year was more than R312 billion. It was recently referred to in Parliament as “a safety net for police officers who can make or break as they like”.

National police spokesperson, Brigadier Vish Naidoo, said: “Police officers are deployed in a violent society where they must fight crime. They also deserve to be protected.”

The police must be defended with money from the state treasury because the claims rose from actions while they were on duty, Naidoo said.

Naidoo, who did not want to elaborate on the legal costs, said an internal unit had been formed to handle internal disciplinary cases timeously.

He also referred to the nature of police work, saying that officers could not be expected to react with a soft approach when they were faced with AK-47s. “There are situations where fire must be answered with fire,” he said.

SAPS annual reports and parliamentary answers from Police Minister Nathi Nhleko showed that, in the 2009-2010 financial year, police forked out about R89 million in legal fees. By March this year, it had risen to more than R278 million.

The annual reports also showed that most of the claims made against the police were for general police action behaviour during arrests, shootings and car accidents.

In 2012, it was reported that an internal police audit showed more than 27 000 police officers – from nearly 157 000 who sat for tests to handle firearms – failed. The SAPS annual report for the financial year 2011-2012 showed the largest payout for claims (about R12.7 million) was for shootings.

Other big payouts were for car accidents.

In the 2010-2011 financial year, when the driving licence requirement for new recruits was suspended, the claim payouts were about R10 million. The requirement has since been reinstated.

Gareth Newham, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, said that the rising number in civil claims showed that the public would rather go the legal route than approach the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, because of the duration of investigations by the directorate.

Democratic Alliance member of Parliament Dianne Kohler Barnard said: “It can take years for a victim of police action to get compensation through the courts because the department has a virtually unlimited budget with which it can appeal.

“There are 1448 sentenced criminals in the police service. This creates the impression crime is okay as long as you wear a police badge.”

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 526 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 742 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.89
+0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.83
+0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.36
+0.3%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.31
+0.3%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE