Detectives in South Africa face overwhelming caseloads and inadequate resources, leading to a crisis in the investigative unit.
Being underpaid, under-resourced and overworked are the main reasons police officers resist becoming crime detectives despite the department adding a R1,000 monthly incentive on top of their salaries to boost the low morale in the unit.
This is the view of a Durban-based detective sharing her personal experience of seeing case dockets piling up on her desk every day.
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) said the situation in KwaZulu-Natal reflects a broader national crisis within the detective environment.
DA MP Mzamo Billy, a member of the Select Committee on Security and Justice sounded the alarm on Sunday about the situation facing detectives.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda requested at least three days to respond to questions sent to him and his national counterpart Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.
Billy recently paid an oversight visit to Durban’s Inanda, Phoenix Durban Central police stations and Pietermaritzburg’s Plessislaer Police Station.
He found that each detective at the Durban stations is assigned up to 180 dockets and up to 400 at the Plessislaer station.
This load compromises investigations on serious and complex crimes such as murder, rape, armed robbery and organised crime-related offences.
The detective said Billy’s finding is spot on.
“It is really bad at the stations such as Chatsworth where I was carrying 400 dockets.
“It is the same thing in Inanda and Durban Central where there is a huge caseload leading to us constantly working overtime without compensation for each extra hour worked,” she said.
She said working overtime has now become difficult since detectives had been instructed to leave vehicles at stations after working hours.
“As a result you cannot finish your job, leading to dockets piling up,” she said.
She said it is stressful to work under pressure due to discouraging circumstances.
She said she would normally get seven new dockets a day.
“The old dockets end up piling up with progress in investigation because you are always getting new dockets and attending trials.
“Sometimes I spend the whole month at the high court while the investigations are halted,” she said.
She said most serious offences need a detective to have enough time to focus.
“If you are under pressure, you end up concentrating on cases that are possible to solve and shelves those that require you to go deeper,” the detective said.
She said most police officers do not want to join the detective unit because there is a lot of work to be done.
“If you are in uniform it is better because you have nightshift and holiday allowances while a detective is paid for working from 7 am to 4 pm,” she said.
She said being observed to have detective skills, police officers are assigned from charge offices to the detective unit, but most of them reject the assignment or take it reluctantly.
“Most of them would return to the uniform,” she said.
She said R1,000 added to the detectives’ salaries last year does not make much difference in boosting morale.
“You have to understand the docket the way you understand yourself before you go for trial,” she said.
Billy said the workload slows down finalisation of investigation by up to seven months per docket, sometimes leading to the loss of 100 post-mortem records.
“The Plessislaer station has an approved establishment of 375 personnel but currently operates with only 307 members, leaving a shortfall of 68 posts.
“Of particular concern are longstanding vacancies in critical positions, including detectives, captains, lieutenant colonels and warrant officers.
“Some of these vacancies have remained unfilled since 2022,” Billy said.
He said the Plessislaer currently has only 68 detectives.
“Detectives reported carrying between 300 and 400 case dockets each while more than 700 murder cases remain under investigation.
“Among the most concerning findings was that forensic reports, ballistic testing and post-mortem results are taking between four and seven months to be finalised, severely delaying criminal investigations,” he said.
Detectives at Plessislaer told Billy that over 100 post-mortem records linked to investigations were lost, while more than 500 records across the Pietermaritzburg district were destroyed.
“Many of these records cannot be reconstructed, potentially affecting numerous criminal investigations, including murder cases awaiting crucial forensic evidence.
“The visits revealed that Inanda SAPS has 63 detectives, Phoenix SAPS 59 detectives, and Durban Central SAPS 124 detectives who each carry an average caseload of approximately 180.
“Particularly concerning is the situation at Inanda SAPS, where approximately 1 300 murder cases are currently under investigation, which affect the ability of detectives to thoroughly investigate cases,” he said.
Another officer said he would not join detectives because of the challenges the unit faces.
“You find some have up to 30 outstanding dockets and I know of detectives in Plessislaer who are handling over 100 dockets, which need to be taken for inspections.
“If I were to be recruited to join detectives, I would not agree because even this R1000 incentive is nothing, which is why most detectives leave the unit back to uniform,” said another officer.
He said most detectives do not have access to cars to work after hours, weekends and holidays, which forces them to borrow from charge offices.
POPCRU spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said when a detective is expected to carry around 180 dockets, and in some stations between 300 and 400 dockets, including serious and complex crimes such as murder, rape, armed robbery and organised crime-related cases, this compromises the quality and speed of investigations.
Independent Police Union of South Africa (IPUSA) Bethuel Nkuna said the country’s best practise is that each detective should handle dockets per detective, but they end up handling three to six times that number.
“International best practice suggests a manageable load of 20 to 30 serious cases per detective.
“Anything beyond this compromises investigative quality and delays justice,” said Nkuna.
