Cape cops fare badly in corruption report

Corruption Watch national count puts province in second place

POLICE in the Western Cape have been ranked second among provincial forces in terms of the number of acts of corruption taking place in their ranks . Yesterday Corruption Watch released its 2017 corruption report and said although more South Africans were reporting corruption it remained a serious problem in the country.

The report said there was a 25% increase in the number of reports of corruption last year.

Executive director of Corruption Watch, David Lewis said last year was a landmark year for the organisation. “It was only reached with great effort on the part of civil society and the media and an independent judiciary. Above all, it was achieved by an active and vigilant public.”

Lewis said the increase in the number of people reporting corruption was a positive development, as corruption could not be overcome without whistleblowers.

“They are the true heroes. We call on the public to continue reporting corruption to us. We owe our democracy to the vigilance and tenacity of our people. Increased vigilance is the duty we continue to owe to our democracy.”

Calling on the public to blow the whistle on corruption was the centrepiece of Corruption Watch’s operational model, Lewis said.The report said 5 334 corruption complaints were lodged last year, with 12% of the complaints coming from the Western Cape. The province came in with the second-highest number of complaints

. Gauteng was first with 49% and KwaZulu-Natal third at 11%.

Of the complaints on police corruption, 35% concerned abuse of power, 21% bribery and 21% failure to act.

In the report the organisation explained how poor police leadership and corruption impacted on public safety.

“In the last five years murders increased by 22% and aggravated robbery went up by 6.4%. In the case of the Hawks, in the 2010/2011 financial year arrests were over 14 000 with 7 000 convictions; in the 2014/2015 financial year arrests were down to 5 047 and convictions stood at 1 176.” Head of justice and violence-prevention at the Institute for Security Studies, Gareth Newham, said if corruption in the police was dealt with, incidences of murder and aggravated robbery would be reduced in number.“Corruption in the police is a serious crime and can only be fixed by renewing top management.

“If you want to fix it you have to start with the commissioners and everyone that holds a rank in the agency. Each one must be subjected to an independent lifestyle audit, and how they were appointed and what they have done must be looked into. Once that has happened you will be able to identify those that need to be removed from the police.”

Such an audit was part of the government’s National Development Plan. It needed to be implemented.