DA says police need better training after racking up R56bn in civil claims
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu revealed in a parliamentary written reply this week that the police are facing over 46,000 claims since the 2018/19 financial year up to 31 October this year.
CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) says the police need better training after racking up R56 billion in outstanding claims for unlawful arrests and detention.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu revealed in a parliamentary written reply this week that the police are facing over 46,000 claims since the 2018/19 financial year up to 31 October 2024.
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This means each claim is worth more than R1.4 million on average.
Mchunu, however, said the money is not paid directly by the police, but a National Treasury's contingency liability.
"I do think the police certainly have to strengthen the training of their officers to make sure that lawful arrests and detention procedures are properly followed. And there must definitely be more accounting mechanisms in the police," said the DA's Lisa Schickerling.
Schickerling said they would be requesting a meeting with Mchunu.