Responding to a Parliamentary question issued by the Democratic Alliance, the South African Police Service has revealed that is has paid out more than R854 million for wrongful arrests and detention since 2009.

According to the party, there has also been a “worrying upward trend” in the amounts paid each year – specifically, the total amount paid out increased by 400% between 2009/10 and 2015/16.

The DA said that the numbers show that the SAPS is in a shoddy state, and that “officers are under-trained at a station level and that they either do not know, or do not adhere to, proper policing procedures and therefore break the law or violate the SAPS Code of Conduct too frequently”.

Court fees make up the bulk of the costs, accounting for R705 million of the total, with settlements making up the other R149 million, according to the SAPS. The 2015/16 period has by far been the most costly, with R204 million being paid out for false arrests.

The table below details how much has been spent on false arrests since 2009:

Year Court Fees Settlements Total 2009/10 R32 271 176 R8 383 395 R40 654 571 2010/11 R51 003 344 R7 060 753 R58 064 097 2011/12 R78 192 440 R6 419 285 R84 611 725 2012/13 R101 652 001 R22 554 054 R124 206 055 2013/14 R138 189 961 R28 563 752 R166 753 713 2014/15 R133 260 473 R42 740 972 R176 001 445 2016/17 R170 652 542 R33 015 808 R203 668 350 Total R705 221 937 R148 738 019 R853 959 956

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