No-man’s-land

This research paper examines the rise and fall of specialised investigative units within the South African Police Service (SAPS) between 1995 and 2015. It details how initial rationalisation under George Fivaz was followed by aggressive restructuring and decentralisation under Jackie Selebi, which the author argues led to a critical loss of expertise, demoralisation of staff, and a diminished capacity to combat serious, violent, and organised crime. The paper concludes that the loss of these units was a 'spectacular failure' and supports the recent policy shifts toward re-establishing specialised crime-fighting units as recommended by the National Development Plan 2030.

• The South African Police Service (SAPS) has experienced a decline in its ability to effectively carry out its mandate since 2012, attributed to a loss of expertise in proactive intelligence-led investigations. This loss occurred primarily between 2000 and 2009 when specialised investigative units were either closed or their capacities were distributed across police stations.
• Specialisation in policing is considered necessary for addressing persistent, complex problems that require specific skills, such as murder, robbery, and crimes against women and children. However, there is a risk of over-specialisation, where units may become 'corrupt fiefdoms' due to closed environments and group loyalties.
• Under National Commissioner George Fivaz (1995–1999), the SAPS integrated 11 police agencies and organised specialised investigative units into three broad groups: serious and violent crimes, organised crimes, and commercial crimes.
• During the first phase of restructuring under Jackie Selebi (2000–2005), the SAPS aimed to boost investigation capacity at the station level. This led to the consolidation of units into the Organised Crime Unit (OCU), the Serious and Violent Crimes (SVC) Unit, and the Commercial Crime Unit (CCU), resulting in the closure of 355 special investigative units by early 2006.
• A second phase of restructuring (2006–2008) involved the 'decentralisation' of units like the SVC and FCS to accounting stations. Former members described this as 'dispersal' rather than decentralisation, leading to a loss of team spirit (esprit de corps) and the dilution of the detective function as specialists were assigned minor general investigations.
• The decentralisation of the Serious and Violent Crime (SVC) Unit resulted in the loss of senior experienced detectives and the disappearance of a centralised mechanism to train new experts in the field.
• The Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units were decentralised to 176 accounting stations in 2006. A study by RAPCAN found that this resulted in the loss of a national pattern for dedicated personnel and resources, leading to the demoralisation of members and confusion for victims.
• The author concludes that the abandonment of specialisation within the SAPS over the last 15 years has been a 'spectacular failure,' contributing to the inability to combat sophisticated crime syndicates and resulting in failures such as the 2012 Marikana shootings.
• Recent developments indicate a potential shift back toward specialisation, with Minister of Police Nkosinathi Nhleko announcing the consideration of re-introducing 'crime fighting units' in March 2015, and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 recommending the re-establishment of specialised units for narcotics, cyber crime, and human trafficking.

APA

Burger, J. (2015). No-man’s-land. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper283V2.pdf

Chicago

Burger, Johan. No-man’s-land. Institute for Security Studies, 2015. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper283V2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Burger |first1=Johan |title=No-man’s-land |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=August 2015 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper283V2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{burger2015nomansland, author = {Burger, Johan}, title = {{No-man’s-land}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2015}, month = aug, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper283V2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }