STELLALANDER-VRYBURG: Public confidence in South Africa’s police force has plummeted to its lowest level on record, with only 22% of citizens expressing strong trust in law enforcement.
This stark figure emerges from new findings by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), which shows that public trust in the South African Police Service (SAPS) has nearly halved since 1998. The data forms part of the HSRC’s South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) series, which has tracked public perceptions of crime and policing annually since 2003. Each year, the HSRC conducts between 2,500 and 3,200 interviews with South Africans aged 16 and older.
Supplemented with historical data dating back to the early 1990s, the survey results reveal a concerning trajectory: public trust in the police has never surpassed 50%, and the overall trend is one of steady decline. The earliest available data, from 1998, shows that 42% of South Africans expressed confidence in the police, while 41% reported distrust. Trust peaked in 1999 at 47%, with distrust falling to a record low of 37%. However, that optimism was short-lived. Trust dipped to 39% in 2000 and remained relatively stagnant through to 2010, fluctuating between 39% and 46%. A sharp decline followed the Marikana massacre in August 2012, with trust dropping to 28% by 2013 and distrust surging to 60%. While there was a slight recovery in 2015, confidence rose to 38% and distrust dipped to 48%, the following years saw little improvement.
By 2020, at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, public trust stood at 34%, while distrust was at 48%. The gap has only widened since then. In 2023, distrust reached a record high of 66%, while trust sank to an all-time low of 22%. Throughout the reporting period, between 11% and 19% of respondents remained neutral in their views on policing. The HSRC report highlighted efforts by former Police Minister Senzo Mchunu to rebuild public confidence, referencing his speech at National Police Day in January where he emphasised restoring legitimacy within law enforcement.
“Internationally, the legitimacy of legal authorities is recognised as crucial for the state’s ability to function in a justifiable and effective manner,” the HSRC noted. However, Mchunu’s attempts to boost public trust were soon overshadowed by serious allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. In March, Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of interfering with an investigation into political assassinations by seizing 121 active case files and attempting to disband the task team probing the killings. Mchunu denied the allegations, but the accusations sparked a political firestorm, with opposition parties and civil society groups calling for his suspension, dismissal, or even arrest. In response, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation, announcing the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry into the matter, stating that if the allegations proved true, they could “undermine the entire police service and its ability to combat crime and corruption.” Ramaphosa also placed Mchunu on immediate leave and appointed Professor Firoz Cachalia, a former ANC politician and current law professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, as acting Minister of Police.
