Capacitating the criminal justice system

With South Africa having one of the highest violent crime rates in the world, the government needs to focus more on the security and peace of South Africans.

According to the latest crime statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS), there are over 86 murders reported a day, with only an eight percent conviction rate for reported murders. This is a situation that should be at the forefront of all conversations about the nature of the state.

According to the latest figures from the minister of Finance, a total of R244 billion of the revenue of the state for the upcoming financial year will be spent on the peace and security of citizens. Peace and security include police services, courts and prisons, Home Affairs, as well as national defence in the form of the South African National Defence Force.

For context, the government is spending R255,4 billion on economic development, R271,9 billion on health, R480,6 billion on learning and culture, and R382,2 billion on debt-servicing costs. The R54,4 billion earmarked for courts and prisons this year is less than the amount spent on child support grants alone, which sits at R85,8 billion.

These are areas of expenditure that received more money than peace and security, and yet one could argue that the primary role of the state, before even healthcare and education, is securing the security of its citizens. Why isn’t more spent on expanding the capacity of the security services when there clearly is a problem?

The state is bogged down by a large public sector wage bill. It is the largest employer and the problem is that due to high wages, we have a public sector that costs South Africans a lot of money, yet has a low headcount, according to Treasury.

This means that a good percentage of the money allocated to peace and security, for instance the R125 billion allocated to policing services, will go towards salaries, instead of maybe increasing the number of police officers to come close to the theoretical human resource requirement.

According to the revelations of the Khayelitsha Commission, policing services are perpetually understaffed. One of the ways this can be resolved is by increasing the amount of money the police receive.

The Khayelitsha Commission also revealed that there is a serious skills shortage or disconnect regarding detectives or investigation officers in criminal matters and the requirements of conviction for criminal prosecution. This means that many detectives are ill-informed about the nature and quantity of evidence to collect and how it should be treated.

As part of increasing the capacity of a service like policing, increased spending would have to be accompanied by far-reaching changes like the improved training of prospective police officers, and tenured ones as well.

The problems of high wages and a low headcount which affect policing also affect the judiciary and the prison system. SA has overcrowded prisons. There needs to be more prisons built to house all the violent criminals. How much of the R54,4 billion earmarked for courts and prisons will go towards building new prisons or expanding existing ones?

The courts are notorious for having large caseloads and generally being subject to delays in the administration of justice. This was recently confirmed by research done by UCT.

We need more courts and more judges as a way of dealing with the heavy caseload and general delays that characterise the judiciary. This will also necessitate that the R54,4 billion earmarked for courts and prisons is increased, while the overall government problem of a high wage bill and low headcount is addressed.

Policing, courts and prisons are essential to the functionality of any state. They are a source of peace and security. What use will education, health and community development be if the people to receive those are dead because they were murdered during a robbery or hijacking?

The government and broader society need to focus on increasing the capacity of the services that ensure the peace and security of South Africans, lest we continue normalising violence levels akin to a war zone.