Cops cap pay for informants at R3,000
But some experts say move will harm the fight against serious and organised crime
● Police top brass have capped payments for crime intelligence informants at R3,000 as part of a drive to limit the abuse of secret funds. And if operatives want to shell out more, they will have to apply for permission to do so.
The move has caused an uproar within crime intelligence (CI), which has in the past few years been mired in scandals involving senior officials and operatives abusing its secret service account for their own enrichment.
Former CI head Richard Mdluli faces fraud and corruption charges for allegedly abusing the secret account to buy cars for relatives and girlfriends, as well as go on overseas trips. Mdluli is alleged to have bought five luxury cars worth a combined R3.15m between 2009 and 2011.
Members of the intelligence division have also been implicated in the murder of Western Cape anti-gang unit detective Lt-Col Charl Kinnear. They are alleged to have passed on sensitive information to gangsters.
CI came under scrutiny after the July 2021 riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng; an expert panel found serious intelligence shortcomings in the failure to anticipate or prevent the rampage.
One senior officer close to the operation to clean up CI told the Sunday Times the division was barely functioning. Lots of money was being handed out to informants to little visible effect, as crimes such as cash-intransit heists mushroomed, the officer said.
“We don’t see any value for money there. So how can we justify paying informants hundreds of thousands, and even millions?
“We have found that in some cases CI operatives create nonexistent informants and claim, for example, R500,000. They would give the so-called informant R100,000 and pocket the rest.
“We now limit claims to R3,000 but, depending on the information received, any claims above that must be signed off and authorised right at the top.”
CI insiders say the unit has been a “playground” for political interference and smear campaigns. “There are some seniors who are allegedly deeply involved in crime and abuse of state resources. These are the things that need to be cleaned out,” the officer said.
But another senior officer said the R3,000 cap on rewards for informants was an insult to them and would harm the fight against serious and organised crime.
“There are different levels of informants. Some are right at the top of the food chain, [and] then [there are] middlemen and runners. You can’t say to informants [who] are risking their lives that you will only pay them R3,000. That is an insult. We were told that we can thank informants with R3,000, a Coke and a pie. What is that?”
Another high-ranking CI officer said informants were not getting paid, vehicles were not being issued, overtime was not being paid and travel had been curbed.
“The situation is very tense,” this officer said. “They have put incompetent people into strategic places who will do what they have been told. Yes, there are a lot of bad and rotten apples, but you can’t have blanket policies and target everybody. You should target the bad apples — they have created an environment where crime intelligence has been reduced to a police station mentality.”
Another CI officer with national and international experience said the division’s paralysis had created openings for private security companies to thrive.
“It’s so evident within the anti-kidnapping unit, which [relies] very much on a certain private security company for their capabilities, funding and resources,” he said.
The officer alleged that private security companies had bought influence at CI by sponsoring safe houses, hotel accommodation and office space. In return, they had been given access to police grabbers that could track cellphone locations and communications, and were allowed to install blue lights and sirens in their company vehicles. “Yet that is a serious crime — it’s literally impersonating a police officer.”
Police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said: “The SAPS does not comment on internal operational matters concerning the crime intelligence environment due to sensitivity and confidentiality.”
Another senior CI official said both sides were correct. The secret service account was being abused, but that could be resolved through monitoring claims and establishing what kind of information had been provided by informants.
“There are those taking money using socalled informants, but there are also genuine claims. There is one big gangster, who is at the top of the food chain in the underworld, who has provided valuable information to us. Whether he is using that information to take out his rivals is another story, but his information is highly valuable.
“You can’t give that person R3,000, because he is risking his life and needs to be protected. We can track and trace information and weigh it in terms of its value, and at the end of the day there is a paper trail,” he said.
Integrity tests
Some independent researchers have criticised the R3,000 cap, saying the police should rather invest in integrity tests.
Prof Rudoph Zinn, a criminologist at Unisa, said integrity tests would immediately improve CI operations.
Problems began 10 years ago, when senior officers exploited secret service accounts to buy vehicles and safe houses for family and friends. “The biggest problem we are facing is a lack of integrity. There are a lot of allegations of abuse.”
Zinn said the payment limit of R3,000 was “really absurd”.
“There is a lack of integrity among the generals and senior people. They can use integrity tests at CI which are used all over the world. If a person fails these tests, they can either be fired or moved somewhere else, away from CI.
“There are many cases where the losses to the state run into millions. You are dealing with informants who are really exposing themselves, and they are valuable in the sense of what they are helping you prevent — for example, drug smuggling. It has been proven that if informants don’t trust the system they will not co-operate.
“Changing generals around or trying to take over an operational issue like this is really not going to work. It means [that] right now they don’t trust the people who are working there. Through [integrity] tests, we can determine who in CI can work with sensitive information,” said Zinn.
Prof Jacob Mofokeng, head of Tshwane University of Technology’s department of safety and security management, also decried the cap on informant rewards.
“Intelligence-led policing using informants should not be tampered with. Cutting off allowances for informants is catastrophic and will subject the country to ... organised criminal networks.”
CI should improve its management systems, monitor the use of funds more stringently, and handle informants better. Abuse of secret accounts within CI was well documented, he said.
“Parliament needs to consider the recommendations of the Zondo commission. CI and the SAPS are highly exploited by politicians. Appointment of officers, especially within the higher echelons, should be based on merit and not … patronage.”