How effectively is the South African Police Service policing itself? That is a question that has arisen from Corruption Watch after parliamentary replies from acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia revealed that SAPS had identified hundreds of discrepancies involving senior officials and referred 77 cases for lifestyle investigation in the previous two financial years.
But none of the cases arising from its financial disclosure and lifestyle review processes had resulted in disciplinary action or referral to another law-enforcement or oversight body, he said. Corruption Watch spokesperson Janine Erasmus said while it was understood that not all discrepancies will result in consequences as there may be an acceptable explanation, five years without a single referral or disciplinary action definitely warrants scrutiny.
The figures released by Cachalia also showed a sharp increase in cases being referred for lifestyle investigation, from five in 2024/25 to 72 in 2025/26. Of the 72 cases referred last year, 33 were closed with no further action, 30 remained under investigation, six were referred for further investigation and three members retired before their investigations were finalised.
The most common discrepancies identified during lifestyle reviews involved undeclared motor vehicles and immovable properties, company directorships and partnerships, unapproved outside remunerative work, and gifts disclosed on the eDisclosure system but not recorded in the SAPS Gift Register.
Cachalia said, “The overwhelming majority of matters were resolved through consultation, verification and clarification. Cases referred for lifestyle investigation were either closed with no further action required, remain under investigation, or were referred for further investigation. No cases resulted in disciplinary action or referral to another law-enforcement or oversight body.”
Some of the reasons given for the discrepancies included administrative oversights without intention to deceive, assets being used by spouses, children or other family members, and vehicles that had not been deregistered after being written off, stolen or sold. Dormant or inactive companies, joint ownership of assets and misunderstandings about disclosure requirements, particularly where assets had been fully paid off, were also cited.
The jump in lifestyle-investigation referrals has raised questions about what had changed inside SAPS. Cachalia's response showed that SAPS made no lifestyle-investigation referrals in the three financial years from 2021/22 to 2023/24. There were five in 2024/25. And then there were 72 in 2025/26.
Erasmus said the increase could mean that detection had improved, but it could also point to worsening corruption and declining integrity.
“We could ask SAPS to explain what changed between 2023/24 and 2025/26 to account for such a jump in referral cases,” she said.
On consequence management, Erasmus said while not every discrepancy would amount to misconduct, where a pattern of financial irregularities could not be explained, further investigation was needed.
“If there are red flags popping up, why are we not seeing consequences for any of them? Where is the accountability?” she asked.
Willem Els, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies and former SAPS member, said that at the senior level in police, procurement was the most vulnerable to financial integrity failures.
He said compromised leadership could weaken controls throughout the organisation, especially in supply-chain management.
According to Els, that could have consequences far beyond a tender or a balance sheet. Compromised procurement could mean officers on the ground did not receive the equipment they needed, or received substandard equipment, damaging morale and trust within the service, he said.
Els, who served in the police for decades, said processes were in place to safeguard procurement, including committees and oversight mechanisms but some have been compromised.
He said weaknesses in those controls could emerge from the top of the organisation.
“It can only happen if it comes from the top and then people start to see the gaps, and once they see the gaps have been compromised by these people, and then of course, you know, money plays a role, and people are being corrupted,” he said.
He told The National that police standing orders provided for internal investigations and disciplinary processes when concerns about officers arose.
But the problem was that the internal disciplinary system had become dysfunctional over time, with cases not necessarily resulting in charges or consequences.
The issue has come under scrutiny at the Madlanga Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System.
Last month World Bank anti-corruption expert Dr Albertus Schoeman told the commission about weaknesses in the system used to identify unexplained wealth and possible conflicts of interest among public officials.
Schoeman distinguished between a lifestyle review and a lifestyle investigation.
A lifestyle review is conducted by an ethics officer and starts with an official's financial disclosure. The information declared by the official is compared with their income and information available from other databases. Where discrepancies cannot be satisfactorily explained, the matter can be referred for a lifestyle investigation.
But a lifestyle investigation goes further, using additional information to establish whether there may be unexplained wealth or income from potentially corrupt or other illicit sources.
Schoeman told the commission that the system had reached the “limit of incremental improvements” and required a substantive overhaul, including a reconsideration of how its functions were distributed, what powers were available and how the different parts of the system worked together.
His conclusion was that this should include consideration of some form of dedicated corruption-prevention agency.
There was another problem: who actually had the power to investigate?
In evidence to the commission, Schoeman said: “whether they’re conducted by private auditors or by SIU auditors seconded to SAPS, the persons conducting lifestyle audits have no statutory powers to collect information from financial institutions. So they depend entirely on information that is voluntarily provided by the person they are auditing.”
A discrepancy, however, isn't proof of wrongdoing. That distinction matters.
The figures released by Cachalia didn't show that the senior SAPS officials identified with discrepancies were corrupt. SAPS said many matters were resolved after officials provided explanations or records that clarified the apparent discrepancies.
In a separate response to questions from The National, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said that the status and outcomes of the 72 matters were still being verified.
“Regarding disciplinary action over the past five financial years, the absence of disciplinary action arising from the particular processes reflected in the parliamentary response should not, without further reconciliation of the records, be interpreted as a blanket finding that no misconduct was ever identified within SAPS. Matters may follow different investigative, administrative, disciplinary or law-enforcement processes depending on the nature and evidence relating to each case.”
According to a report on parliament's website, during a parliamentary committee engagement on the SAPS budget and annual performance plan in May, acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane said the State Security Agency was conducting lifestyle audits of lieutenant-generals, with plans to extend the process to major-generals.
The committee welcomed the re-vetting of SAPS officials and lifestyle audits as part of efforts to restore accountability and morale in the service.
Dimpane said the process formed part of the SAPS “reset agenda” and that accountability was at its core.
For Corruption Watch, the next question is whether the system can demonstrate that accountability in practice.
Erasmus said SAPS should publish information regularly, without revealing names. This should include the number of officials reviewed, the discrepancies identified, how many matters were closed and why, how many resulted in lifestyle investigations, the outcomes of those investigations, sanctions imposed, criminal referrals and outstanding cases.
Els also argued that lifestyle checks should not be a once-off exercise. Senior officers who had been cleared should still know that they could be scrutinised again.
wendy.jdc@nationalmg.co.za