Tough Choices: Prioritising Criminal Justice Policies

This research paper analyzes the systemic failures of the South African criminal justice system, focusing on the police and prosecution services. It argues that while policing and incarceration are resource-intensive, enhancing the capacity of the prosecution service is the most affordable and effective strategic priority to reduce case backlogs, decrease prison overcrowding, and restore public confidence in the rule of law.

• The South African criminal justice system exhibits a low overall conviction rate. In 2000, only 8% of the 2.6 million recorded crimes resulted in convictions, with rates for specific serious crimes being even lower: car hijacking (2.3%), aggravated robbery (2.8%), arson (3.7%), residential burglary (4.7%), and rape (7.6%).
• A significant volume of police resources is wasted on cases that are withdrawn before charges are formally filed. In 2000, 535,000 assault cases (common and GBH) were reported, and every fifth recorded case overall was withdrawn before reaching court.
• The South African Police Service (SAPS) is described as an over-managed organization with a disproportionate number of high-ranking officers compared to junior officers. As of December 2001, only 8% of the 100,114 police officers were constables, while the service employed 447 directors.
• Prosecution performance has declined relative to crime levels. Between 1994 and 2000, recorded serious crimes increased by 24%, while the number of prosecutions dropped by 23% and convictions fell by 19%.
• Case withdrawals in court have risen steadily from 34% in 1996 to 46% in 2000. For crimes like residential housebreaking, robbery, and car theft, these withdrawals are attributed to investigation delays and witness intimidation or disillusionment rather than victim preference.
• The average time unsentenced prisoners spend in custody awaiting trial (detention cycle time) increased from 76 days in June 1996 to 139 days by February 2002, creating a financial burden of approximately R12,200 per average unsentenced prisoner.
• South Africa has a severe shortage of prosecutors compared to other nations. In 2000, there was only one prosecutor for every ten recorded murders, whereas Belgium had 6.7 prosecutors per murder in 1994.
• Prison overcrowding is critical; in December 2001, 239 prisons held 175,000 inmates despite an approved occupancy level of only 105,400. This overcrowding is linked to a 183% increase in unsentenced prisoners between June 1994 and December 2001.
• The author proposes that the prosecution service should be the strategic priority for improvement because it is smaller and more manageable than the police service, and increasing its capacity is more cost-effective than building new prisons.
• The document suggests several outsourcing opportunities to reduce the workload of the SAPS and prosecutors, including forensic investigations, commercial crime investigations, administrative functions, court orderly duties, and the transport of prisoners.

APA

Schonteich, M. (2002). Tough Choices: Prioritising Criminal Justice Policies. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/paper56.pdf

Chicago

Schonteich, Martin. Tough Choices: Prioritising Criminal Justice Policies. Institute for Security Studies, 2002. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/paper56.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schonteich |first1=Martin |title=Tough Choices: Prioritising Criminal Justice Policies |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=May 2002 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/paper56.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schonteich2002tough, author = {Schonteich, Martin}, title = {{Tough Choices: Prioritising Criminal Justice Policies}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2002}, month = may, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/paper56.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }