Ian Cameron, Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, has expressed concern that only 58% of housebreaking victims report the crime to the police.
This is mainly because many people believe that the South African Police Service (SAPS) will not do anything serious about their cases.
Cameron was responding to Statistics South Africa’s (StatsSA) release, on Tuesday, of the 2023/24 Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey.
“The trust deficit between the SAPS and communities is a major Achilles heel in the fight against crime. It is up to the South African Police Service to work hard, through deeds and action, to reverse this negative sentiment,” he said.
The Chairperson welcomed the release of the survey, as he believes it gives a deeper analysis of the crime picture in the country. What is worrying, Cameron highlighted, was the general decline in reporting acts of crime across the board, especially sexual offences.
“The decline in reporting sexual offences from 92.3% to 78.4% should be reversed through training of police officers to adequately handle sexual-related crimes to prevent secondary victimisation. Also, the effective investigation of crimes leading to prosecution and the constant updating of victims will enhance trust between the police and victims,” he emphasised.
“It is extremely concerning, as SAPS is not currently equipped to really support victims and unfortunately when protection orders are not adequately enforced victims lose faith in the system,” Cameron added.
The Chairperson encouraged communities to actively participate in community neighbourhood watches and community police forums, and to continue to be the ears and eyes of the police.
READ MORE: Brute force not enough to fight extortion rings, says Makashule Gana.
