Murders down 9.4%, yet SAPS hit only 52% of its targets: key numbers

The police spent every cent of their R120.9 billion budget in 2025/26 but met only 52.13% of their own performance targets, according to the SAPS annual report presented to Parliament's Select Committee on Security and Justice on 22 October (SAPS presentation).

Reported murders fell 9.4%, from 25 573 to 23 171, and contact crime dropped 5.2% to 630 259 cases (SAPS presentation). Both falls still missed the far steeper targets SAPS set itself.

What did the police get right?

• Murder: down 2 402 cases. The murder rate is now 36.72 per 100 000 people, down from a baseline of 44.48 but short of the 30.02 target (SAPS presentation).
• Contact crime: 630 259 cases, down from 664 758 the year before. The target was a 25% cut (SAPS presentation).
• Firearms: 436 SAPS-owned guns were lost or stolen (402 stolen, 34 lost), under the limit of 515 (SAPS presentation).
• Audit: a sixth unqualified audit opinion on the financial statements in a row (Parliament).

How likely is a murder to be solved?

Not very. The detection rate for murder was 9.50% against a target of 60% (SAPS presentation). For contact crime overall it was 49.25%.

Forensic leads also fell short. DNA led to 4 055 arrests (target 6 020) and fingerprints to 1 764 arrests (target 2 164) (SAPS presentation; The Citizen).

Contact crime against children went the wrong way, rising 1.1% to 47 581 cases (SAPS presentation).

How many people escaped from police custody?

366 detainees escaped in 280 incidents, up 8.93% from 336 the year before. SAPS had aimed for a 10% drop. Of those, 248 were rearrested: 116 within 24 hours and 132 later (SAPS presentation).

What did the lifestyle audits find?

Of 1 277 lieutenant colonels put through preliminary lifestyle checks, 1 054 showed anomalies, and those investigations are still under way. Among 820 senior managers reviewed, 72 were referred for preliminary investigation and 44 need a detailed probe (SAPS presentation). An anomaly is a flag for further checking, not a finding of wrongdoing.

Why are there fewer police officers?

SAPS lost 4 988 members in the year, mostly to retirement (2 464), with 352 dismissed for misconduct. No new trainees were enlisted. More than a million people applied by July 2025, but the February 2026 intake could not go ahead because the Health Risk Manager's contract was terminated and the mandatory medical assessments could not be done (SAPS presentation).

The intake has moved to 2026/27 and grown to 11 000 trainees. Applicants now need Grade 12 and a valid driver's licence (SAPS presentation).

What about police vehicles?

SAPS has 46 017 vehicles, with 84.92% available for use. It got rid of 4 034 vehicles but bought only 3 133, so the fleet shrank (SAPS presentation).

What did Parliament say?

The committee welcomed the clean financial audit but said it "cannot mask severe governance, compliance and performance delivery failures". It flagged a rise in the Auditor-General's material findings on performance information, from 14 to 19, saying some reported results, including 10111 call handling and detective detection rates, could not be properly backed up (Parliament).

The committee will monitor how the R186 million Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana allocated for investigations and forensic capacity is spent, and has asked SAPS for a post-audit action plan (Parliament).