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Tag: South African Police Service

Are over 4,000 officers convicted criminals? South African police ‘still checking’

Claim

Over 4,000 South African police officers are convicted criminals.
Source: Facebook post (2019)

unproven

Verdict

Police currently verifying members’ records.

Read more

06:58 | 30 January 2020 (GMT)

  • South African Police Service
checked

Femicide in South Africa: 3 numbers about the murdering of women investigated

Friends and relatives of South African woman Karabo Mokoena (22) attend her burial in Johannesburg on 19 May. She was murdered, allegedly by her former lover. Photo: AFP/DAYLIN PAUL

After the murder of young Johannesburg woman Karabo Mokoena (22) – allegedly by her ex-lover – the usual discussion about how to end femicide in South Africa followed. Africa Check vetted 3 figures used by a government minister.

08:08 | 13 July 2017 (GMT)

2 comments

  • crime
  • reader suggestion
  • South African Police Service
  • women
incorrect

Statistic that a child goes missing every 5 hours in SA incorrect

Children play on top of a tree trunk in the Umlazi district of Durban in August 2016. Photo: Marco Longari/AFP

A much circulated statistic claims that a child goes missing every 5 hours in South Africa but it is based on outdated data.

07:33 | 12 October 2016 (GMT)

1 comment

  • children
  • crime
  • reader suggestion
  • South African Police Service
misleading

Not only SA’s cabinet gets VIP protection, Maimane – DA leaders do too

In April 2011 South African soldiers were deployed in the Kruger National Park to safeguard the border with Mozambique. Here they check their weapons before a night patrol exercise. PHOTO: AFP/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN

The leader of the official opposition in South Africa, Mmusi Maimane, has claimed that VIP security for the country’s cabinet exceeds the number of security personnel at its borders. But this is misleading.

03:12 | 12 August 2015 (GMT)

3 comments

  • Democratic Alliance
  • government
  • security
  • South African Police Service
unproven

Have protests in South Africa nearly doubled since 2010?

South African policemen stand guard as thousands of workers from several unions, under the leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the United Front, take part in a march to celebrate Labour Day in central Durban on May 1, 2015. Photo: AFP/RAJESH JANTILAL

News media have claimed that protests have nearly doubled in South Africa since 2010. But limitations in the way police record incidents such as protests mean their data cannot be used to substantiate the claim.

01:10 | 22 July 2015 (GMT)

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  • data
  • South African Police Service
checked

Side by side: What Zuma said & what the Marikana Commission wrote

President Jacob Zuma, on Thursday released a long awaited report into the 2012 Marikana massacre in which 34 miners were killed by police. Africa Check compares his claims and what the Commission’s report actually said.

03:42 | 26 June 2015 (GMT)

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  • crime
  • Jacob Zuma
  • police
  • South African Police Service
unproven

Is a child raped every three minutes in South Africa? The data is flawed

Protesters demonstrated in October 2013 in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, after five people were arrested for the rape and murder of two toddlers in the informal settlement. Photo: AFP/Alexander Joe

Is a child raped every three minutes in South Africa? The claim has been doing the rounds since 2009 but the data is flawed.

07:38 | 13 November 2014 (GMT)

2 comments

  • children
  • sexual violence
  • South African Police Service
  • statistics

Factsheet: FACTSHEET: South Africa’s official crime statistics for 2013/14

This factsheet provides an overview of key crime trends for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 as recorded by the South African Police Service (SAPS).

01:10 | 19 September 2014 (GMT)

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  • crime
  • government
  • police
  • South African Police Service
  • statistics

Blog post: COMMENT: Why is crime and violence so high in South Africa?

We should look back at our recent history if we want to understand the extent of violence and crime in South Africa.

10:27 | 17 September 2014 (GMT)

14 comments

  • crime
  • South African Police Service
  • statistics
unproven

Why it’s wrong to call South Africa – or any country – the world’s ‘rape capital’

Where is the “rape capital of the world”? Is it South Africa or the Democratic Republic of Congo? What does the phrase even mean? A reader asked us to investigate the claims.

06:24 | 28 January 2014 (GMT)

1 comment

  • crime
  • data
  • media
  • rape
  • sexual violence
  • South African Police Service
  • statistics
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