Committee challenges SAPS top brass on crime-fighting efforts

Members of Parliament’s Police Portfolio Committee challenged South African Police Service (SAPS) top brass on their crime-fighting efforts. They appeared before the committee to discuss crime statistics for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, which covered April to June of this year. Deputy Minister Cassel Mathale, along with SAPS Crime Registrar Major General Thulare Sekhukhune, appeared before the committee.

SAPS reported a decrease in contact crimes and murders in most provinces, with Mathale stating, "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." However, Sekhukhune revealed reporting errors in the figures of attempted murder and rape, noting that the actual numbers were different from the initially reported figures.

Gender-based violence (GBV) was also brought to the forefront when the bodies of ten women were discovered in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. Committee member Lisa Schickerling from the Democratic Alliance expressed concern over recent reports of murder and GBV, stating, "At least 15 women get killed in South Africa every day, and 60 people are losing their lives.

I find it difficult that the police want to tell us that they're winning the fight and that they have it under control. It really does concern me, because I don't think that’s the truth."