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Durban - At least 830 of KwaZulu-Natal’s law enforcement officers are under investigation for a host of crimes ranging from assault through to rape and murder, figures released by the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) on Wednesday revealed.

Of the 830 law enforcement officers - which include members of the SAPS, eThekwini Metro Police and other municipal police services - only one officer was convicted.

This was a police officer from the High Flats police station who was sentenced to 30 years for murder.

The crimes for which the officers were under investigation included death in police custody or as a result of police action, misconduct, neglect of duties, rape, domestic violence, assault to do grievous bodily harm, murder and corruption.

KwaZulu-Natal provincial head of the ICD, Tabisa Ralo, on Wednesday told Sapa that of the 830 law enforcement officers being probed, 174 were being scrutinised for deaths in police custody or as a result of police action.

Another 289 were being investigated for misconduct while 351 were under investigation for failing to carry out their duties.

She said misconduct cases included assault to do grievous bodily harm, rape, indecent assault, extortion and corruption.

Up to 16 police officers had domestic violence cases filed against them by their own family members.

In the 2003/2004 financial year ending March 31 2004, figures on the ICD website showed that the directorate in the province had dealt with 725 complaints.

Most cases in Western Cape

This increased to 728 complaints by March 31 2005 - at least 102 cases less than the 830 cases Ralo said the ICD had on its books for the year ended 31 December 2007.

According to the website, the Western Cape had the biggest number of cases filed against its law enforcement officers in the year ending March 2004 with 1 289 cases. This decreased the following year to 1 257.

The second highest was Gauteng while the Northern Cape province was the lowest with only 292 complaints being investigated in the year ending March 2004.

This, however, increased a year later to 439 cases. The total number of cases investigated nationally by the ICD for the 2003/2004 financial year stood at 5 903.

A year later, it dropped slightly to 5 790.

More people died at the hands of KwaZulu-Natal’s law enforcement officers than any other province.

In the financial year ending March 31 2005 there were 175 cases filed against law enforcement officers for deaths in police custody or as a result of police action (a Class 1 offence).

Not much change in 2007

Ralo’s figures released on Wednesday revealed that in 2007 not much had changed - 174 officers were being investigated for the same offences.

Of the 174 officers being examined, 146 were SAPS members while 28 were municipal or metro police officers.

“The role of the ICD forms part of an ongoing commitment to transform policing in South Africa ,” said Ralo.

“The ICD is an independent mechanism established to ensure that policing in our country takes place within human rights and that those officers who do not uphold the rule of law, are held accountable for their actions,” she said.

However, she said there was a need to keep good relations with other state organs in order to preserve peace.

“There is a need to forge and maintain good relations with other state organs in a quest to preserve peace, national unity and the indivisibility of our country and secure the well-being of the people of South Africa ,” Ralo said.

Bribes

eThekwini Metro Police spokesperson Superintendent John Tyala said he believed that less then ten metro officers were under investigation by the ICD.

“Our management has committed itself to clamp down on corruption and this has served as a deterrent to other members.”

Tyala urged members of the public not to attempt to bribe his officers.

“Don’t bribe our members because you will be enticing them … they too have families and if they lose their jobs what will be their future?” he said.

“They will be unemployed.”

Tyala encouraged members of the public to report cases because: “We are servants of the public and you invest in us to do our job - so please come forward and report crimes committed by our members”.

Provincial police spokesperson, Director Phindile Radebe, said: “I’m not aware of this (the figures released by Ralo)…I’ll come back to you.”

Ralo said her team was committed to curb acts of criminality and misconduct.

Source: “830 KZN cops investigated”, News24, 14 February 2008