NUMBERS THAT COUNT

The report 'NUMBERS THAT COUNT' examines the deficiencies in the South African Police Service's (SAPS) systems for recording and reporting police misconduct, the use of force, torture, and corruption. It argues that unreliable data undermines public accountability and internal management, calling for the SAPS to develop comprehensive indicators and report them transparently in annual reports to Parliament.

• The South African Police Service (SAPS) and Municipal Police Services (MPS) have been found to grossly under-report cases of misconduct, partly due to a lack of obligation to do so.
• Publicly available data on the use of lethal force is limited to the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), which primarily records shootings resulting in death. SAPS internal systems for recording firearm usage are inconsistent; a 2001 study found that six of nine provinces lacked relevant records despite Standing Order 251 requiring immediate factual reports for any weapon firing.
• There are no known credible data sources for the use of non-lethal force (such as batons or pepper spray) by the SAPS. While 58% of police-related fatalities occur during arrests, ICD records do not distinguish between the use of non-lethal force during an arrest and general police criminality.
• Monitoring torture within the SAPS is hindered by a lack of distinction in complaints records between torture and other types of assault. The ICD's data is limited because it relies on public reports and uses a narrow definition of torture that may exclude cases meeting the SAPS or United Nations Convention Against Torture definitions.
• Deaths in police custody are regulated by the SAPS Act and the constitution, but ICD published data does not clearly distinguish between deaths in custody (inside cells) and 'police-action' related deaths. In 2002/03, 50% of deaths in police custody were attributed to natural causes.
• SAPS procedures for handling civilian complaints under Standing Order 101 are not uniformly implemented. A 2001 ICD study found that complaints were handled in a haphazard manner, with some stations lacking a complaints registry entirely.
• The SAPS is perceived as the most corrupt public service in South Africa. Data in the 2002/03 annual report is contradictory; for example, the text claims 872 members were suspended for corruption, while the accompanying graph shows only 188. Furthermore, only 18 members were dismissed out of 143 found guilty of corruption in disciplinary hearings.

APA

Masuku, T. (2004). NUMBERS THAT COUNT. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/01-jun-2004-sacq-no-8/numbers-that-count

Chicago

Masuku, Themba. NUMBERS THAT COUNT. Institute for Security Studies, 2004. https://issafrica.org/01-jun-2004-sacq-no-8/numbers-that-count.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Masuku |first1=Themba |title=NUMBERS THAT COUNT |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=1 June 2004 |url=https://issafrica.org/01-jun-2004-sacq-no-8/numbers-that-count |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{masuku2004numbers, author = {Masuku, Themba}, title = {{NUMBERS THAT COUNT}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2004}, month = jun, url = {https://issafrica.org/01-jun-2004-sacq-no-8/numbers-that-count}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }