DA wants police minister to explain millions of closed dockets

The DA says it will ask police top brass, led by minister Senzo Mchunu, to appear before the parliamentary police portfolio committee after revelations that more than 5-million dockets have been closed “due to insufficient evidence or leads” since 2018.

DA MP Lisa Schickerling in a statement said that former police minister Bheki Cele had revealed in a parliamentary reply in May that 5.4-million case dockets had been closed since the 2018/19 financial year. 

“Following these revelations, the DA immediately submitted a request for information under the Promotion of Access to Information Act to obtain further details on these dockets.

“On August 7 the current minister furnished the DA with a detailed breakdown of these dockets. The information paints a disturbing picture, particularly in light of our country’s Women’s Month celebrations, and highlights key areas of concern in both docket management and the capacity and staffing shortages in the SAPS’ detective services.”

Schickerling revealed between 2018 and 2023, the number of dockets closed without result were: 

• Murder: 76,655
• Attempted murder: 40,089
• Assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm: 141,026 
• Aggravated robbery: 256,162
• Rape: 61,740
• Sexual assault: 5,523
• Kidnapping: 9,114 

Schickerling said according to the information the highest number of dockets stolen from police stations were for murder, assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and aggravated robbery cases.

“According to the minister, 68.75% of dockets stolen from SAPS stations were open cases of rape and sexual assault (all of them in Limpopo), raising serious questions about the effectiveness of docket management within the SAPS and the maintenance of docket safety.

“The DA will write to the chairperson of the portfolio committee on police to request the minister, national commissioner, and the Limpopo provincial commissioner be brought before the committee to discuss these matters and present to the committee their plans to remedy these critical failures within the SAPS,” she said.

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