Question NW1883 to the Minister of Police
06 October 2016 - NW1883
Groenewald, Dr PJ to ask the Minister of Police
(1)Whether he is aware of the fact that the SA Police Service is referring some criminal offences directly to the courts without conducting a proper investigation and making an entry in the crime register; if not, why not; if so, (a) how many cases were referred directly to the courts countrywide in the (i) 2014-15 and (ii) 2015-16 financial years without proper investigation and (b)(i) what types of offences and (ii) how many of each specified offence were referred in such a way in each specified year; (2) whether he will make a statement on the matter?
Reply:
(1) No, the Minister of Police is not aware that the South African Police Service (SAPS) is referring some criminal offences directly to court without conducting proper investigation. The SAPS is referring cases to court in which there is prima facie evidence to place cases on the court roll. In some of these cases the investigation has not yet been concluded due to outstanding evidential material that must still be obtained and filed in the case dockets.
(1)(a)(i) and (ii) See reply to paragraph (1) above.
(1)(b)(i) and (ii) See reply to paragraph (1) above.
(2) No.