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W Cape cops play robbers

By Lorraine Louw There is an old saying that you should set a thief to catch a thief. The thing about old sayings is that they often have their origins in truth. Certainly, independent consultant criminologist Liza Grobler seems to have found it to be the case. Grobler spent three years talking to cops here Read more >

Bribery: it just doesn’t pay

By Zaheer Cassim For some South Africans paying a bribe is the efficient way to get things done. It’s a basic transaction whereby someone provides a service and, in return, is compensated. But this is no lawful contract and many people are learning the hard way that dealing with corrupt individuals through bribery is not Read more >

Police’s graft tolerance feeds ‘code of silence’

By Chantelle Benjamin A new study has found a direct link between South African Police Service (SAPS) members’ willingness to report on law-breaking colleagues and the extent to which the guilty parties believe their colleagues will keep silent, as well as whether they believe action will be taken against the lawbreaker. Considering that a previous Read more >

Shebeen owners slam ‘crooked’ cops

Shebeen owners in Pimville, Soweto, have accused SAPS officers from Kliptown police station of corruption. They claim their businesses are raided regularly and that their goods are confiscated – even though they have trading permits. Police officers harass them weekly, the shebeen owners in the area have told Corruption Watch. They often confiscate their goods, Read more >

Richard Mdluli: a comprehensive timeline

Can’t get your head around the convoluted saga of suspended police crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli? Let’s start from the very beginning … 2012 26 June 2012 – New national police commissioner General Riah Phiyega appoints Major General Chris Ngcobo as acting head of Crime Intelligence and Protection and Security Services. 17 June 2012 – Read more >

SA sees SAPS as most corrupt within the state – survey

Two-thirds of South Africans believe the most corrupt government officials are in the national police service, followed by those in the Department of Home Affairs – these are among the findings recently released as part of a Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) survey. The study, on perceptions of corruption in the country, was conducted with Read more >

Fighting graft top of new police chief’s agenda

By Wilma den Hartigh South Africa’s new national police commissioner, General Magwashi Victoria Phiyega, addressed members of the media for the first time yesterday, 14 June, at a press conference in Pretoria. Phiyega’s appointment, announced by President Jacob Zuma earlier this week on Tuesday, came as a surprise as she is not from within the Read more >

Will new top cop cut it?

Heated reactions have followed the appointment of our first female police commissioner, Magwashi Victoria Phiyega. These range from optimism that her experience will help staunch corruption within and beyond the force, to outright disdain over her being a civilian – something the South African Policing Union (Sapu) says is an “insult to the country's police”. Read more >

Cosatu welcomes Mdluli judgment

Cosatu welcomed on Monday the Johannesburg Labour Court's decision to rescind the lifting of former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli's suspension. “The federation urges the SAPS (SA Police Service), Hawks and Public Protector to urgently investigate all the extremely serious allegations made against him,” Congress of SA Trade Unions spokesman Patrick Craven said in a Read more >