Zero cybercrime investigation training for police detectives in South Africa
The South African Police Service did not provide digital forensics training to any active detectives at its “top 30 plus five” high-contact-crime police stations between 1 April 2025 and 27 February 2026.
This was revealed in a Parliamentary reply to DA MP Ian Cameron, who asked for staffing and training details at South Africa’s highest-crime police stations.
The reply covered detective services at stations including Nyanga, Inanda, Delft, Khayelitsha, Hillbrow, Johannesburg Central, Mitchells Plain, Umlazi, and Rustenburg.
SAPS said the stations included the top 30 high-contact-crime police stations for the 2024/25 financial year, plus five additional stations that regularly move into and out of the top 30.
Member of Parliament Lisa Schickerling said the DA would write to the acting police minister, Prof. Firoz Cachalia, to ask why no digital forensics training was provided during the reporting period.
According to the reply, SAPS provided limited training in other specialist fields, but no digital forensics training for active detectives at those stations.
Only 15 detectives across the 35 stations were trained and declared competent in financial investigation as of 27 February 2026.
“This is not an oversight. It is a deliberate decision that leaves SAPS unable to keep pace with modern criminal activity,” said Schickerling.
“Crimes such as bank fraud have become one of the fastest-growing forms of crime in South Africa, with criminals increasingly using digital platforms to steal from victims.”
Despite that, Schickerling said SAPS was failing to equip detectives with the specialised skills required to investigate these crimes.
“The consequences are serious. Without refresher training on the chain of custody for digital evidence, detectives are at risk of mishandling it,” she said.
“Simple acts like turning on a seized phone without a Faraday bag will alter metadata, making evidence inadmissible.”
Danger of destroying evidence
Schickerling said smartphone encryption methods evolve rapidly, meaning that training from 2024 becomes obsolete by mid-2025.
“Detectives attempting old methods will lock devices permanently or trigger factory resets,” she said.
“Critical evidence, such as WhatsApp communications, location history, and financial app data from suspects in high-crime stations (e.g Nyanga, Inanda, and Delft), becomes irrecoverable.”
She warned that the consequences were that major case investigations are likely to stall or be thrown out of court.
“The Parliamentary Reply further reveals broader capacity problems within SAPS detective services,” stated Schickerling.
“Across the Top 35 high-crime police stations, there are only 3,496 funded detective posts despite an approved requirement of 4,607 posts. Of those funded posts, only 2 480 are filled.”
That meant thousands of detective positions needed to investigate crime have either never been funded or remain vacant.
SAPS listed 2,225 detectives as active duty across the stations, excluding those on sick leave, suspension, training, secondment, or acting appointments.
The reply showed 403 detectives across the stations had less than three years of investigative experience during the reporting period.
The largest active-duty detective totals were at Mitchells Plain, Johannesburg Central, Rustenburg, Hillbrow, Nyanga, and Tembisa, according to SAPS.
Randfontein had the lowest active-duty detective total among the listed stations, with 21 detectives on active duty in the reply.
“The SAPS cannot disclose the actual number of resources that are deployed operationally, particularly at police stations,” Cachalia stated.
“This may reveal vulnerabilities, which may place SAPS members, police stations and SAPS operations at risk.”
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