Committee challenges SAPS top brass on crime-fighting efforts

The South African Police Service (SAPS) top brass, including Deputy Minister of Police Cassel Mathale, have been challenged by members of Parliament’s Police Portfolio Committee on their views on winning the fight against crime.

They appeared before the Police Portfolio Committee to discuss the crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year.

This would cover the period of 1 April to the end of June this year.

Among others, SAPS has reported a reduction in contact crimes and murders in most provinces.

Mathale says while there are areas of concern, SAPS is making progress in fighting high levels of crime.

“We are making progress.

However, the work that we are to deal with, the load is heavy, but it’s a load that we are able to carry and we are not sinking.” Meanwhile, SAPS Crime Registrar, Major General Thulare Sekhukhune, says there have been reporting errors when it comes to the figures of attempted murder and rape of women and children.

He briefed Parliament’s Police Portfolio Committee on the crime statistics of the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year.

This would cover the period of the 1st of April to the end of June this year.

GBV Gender-based violence is again in the spotlight with the recent discovery of the bodies of ten women in Ekurhuleni and other areas in Gauteng.

Sekhunune explains that attempted murder figures were overstated, while rape figures were understated.

“The attempted murders of the unverified was 1 777.

The actual verified that we verified manually is 1 377.

Then the rape that unverified was 8 639.