Experts demand urgent, systemic reforms to restore SAPS integrity

Policing experts are calling for a wide-ranging overhaul of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to restore integrity and leadership amid concerns raised at the Madlanga Commission. The recommendations emerged during a webinar hosted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) that included parliamentary and academic figures.

Who spoke and where

The ISS webinar on Tuesday featured Parliament Portfolio Committee on Police Chairperson Ian Cameron, Associate Professor Irvin Kinnes from the University of Cape Town’s Centre of Criminology, and Gareth Newham, special adviser to the acting police minister. The discussion focused on what must be fixed first in the SAPS amid the Madlanga Commission.

Key reform proposals

Irvin Kinnes outlined eight steps he said are necessary to change the service. He called for legislative reform to the Police Act, immediate appointment of a national police board and a public appointment process for the national commissioner. As Kinnes put it:

“This practice of the president simply announcing the new national commissioner is nonsense. There must be a public process that goes through Parliament, similar to all other senior appointments.”

Kinnes also said the SAPS must be restructured, that senior national leadership posts should be re-advertised through a public process, and that organised business should work with police and government. He argued for new partnerships with community structures and for civil society to be involved in police training.

On Crime Intelligence, Kinnes said urgent action is required:

“You have to close down and rebuild Crime Intelligence. This is urgent. Crime Intelligence in the SAPS, senior echelon, senior leadership at least what we hear at Madlanga is showing us that they are involved in crime.”

Vetting, integrity and prosecutions

Ian Cameron emphasised problems with the vetting process and the need for a foundation of ethical principles among recruits. He said:

“There have been significant problems regarding vetting over the last few years. There have been a lot of questions regarding the conduct of people who have come into the South African Police Service, even on a training level.”

Cameron recommended stronger alignment across the criminal justice system, focused work on integrity and ethics, and fast-tracking corruption prosecutions for senior police members.

Sequencing the changes

Gareth Newham warned that transforming an organisation that has operated in a particular way for decades cannot be done overnight. He said:

“We can’t be completely rash. We’ve got to think carefully through what we want to do in what order and what the impact is going to be.”

Next steps signalled

Speakers urged a mix of legal, administrative and community-focused measures, including legislative change, public appointment processes, re-advertising senior posts, rebuilding Crime Intelligence, improved vetting and stepped-up prosecution of corruption at senior levels. The proposals were framed as urgent actions to reclaim the SAPS’s mandate amid the issues highlighted by the Madlanga Commission.