The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1116 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a Provincial Commissioner is appointed in each province. The 9 Provincial Commissioners report directly to the National Commissioner.
The Constitution of South Africa lays down that the South African Police Service has a responsibility to prevent, combat and investigate crime, maintain public order, protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property, uphold and enforce the law, create a safe and secure environment for all people in South Africa, prevent anything that may threaten the safety or security of any community, investigate any crimes that threaten the safety or security of any community, ensure criminals are brought to justice and participate in efforts to address the causes of crime.
From 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010, 107 SAPS officers died while on duty.
Read more about South African Police Service: History, Organisation and Composition, Air Wing
Famous quotes containing the words south african, south, african, police and/or service:
“I don’t have any doubts that there will be a place for progressive white people in this country in the future. I think the paranoia common among white people is very unfounded. I have always organized my life so that I could focus on political work. That’s all I want to do, and that’s all that makes me happy.”
—Hettie V., South African white anti-apartheid activist and feminist. As quoted in Lives of Courage, ch. 21, by Diana E. H. Russell (1989)
“Up from the South at break of day,
Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,
The affrighted air with a shudder bore,
Like a herald in haste, to the chieftain’s door,
The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar,
Telling the battle was on once more,
And Sheridan twenty miles away.”
—Thomas Buchanan Read (1822–1872)
“If your buttocks burn, you know you have done wrong.”
—White South African proverb.
“There are all sorts of ways of murdering a person or at least his soul, and that’s something no police in the world can spot.”
—Max Frisch (1911–1991)
“The Service without Hope
Is tenderest, I think—
...
There is no Diligence like that
That knows not an Until—”
—Emily Dickinson (1831–1886)