Tangeni Amupadhi
Police are three times more likely to commit crime than ordinary members of the public, and that’s official.
In its forthcoming monthly report, the Human Rights Committee says statistics provided by Minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi show the shocking extent of police involvement in criminal activities.
Mufamadi told the National Assembly last month that 17 500 complaints were investigated against the police.
According to the statistics, the complaints and charges have resulted in 1 355 convictions and nearly 4 300 disciplinary procedures. Complaints include murder, rape, theft, assault, assisting a prisoner to escape, attempted murder, corruption, culpable homicide, drunk driving and malicious damage to property.
“However, the investigation and subsequent prosecution led to only 1 207 convictions which means that in 94% of the cases against police officials, the authorities failed to prove criminal actions,” said Venitia Govender, who compiled the report.