The South African Police Service has been hit with civil claims totalling R5,3-billion — which is equal to one-quarter of its annual salary bill, the Star newspaper reported on Wednesday.
It said the amount included R253-million in claims for shooting incidents, R1,67-million for alleged police assaults and R1,9-billion for undisclosed ”police actions”.
Another R2,9-billion was linked to ”other [unallocated]” claims.
The figures are given in the annexures to the annual financial statements of the Department of Safety and Security for the year ended on March 31 2006.
According to the police’s financial statements, vehicle accident claims amounted to R67-million, damage to property claims were R36-million and damage to state property were R4,5-million.
Moses Dlamini, spokesperson for the watchdog Independent Complaints Directorate, admitted that the organisation had been swamped with more than 5 000 cases of alleged misconduct against the police.
These included complaints involving 621 deaths in custody. So far, R38-million in settlement of claims lodged against the police service. – Sapa