Trust in South African police hits record low, survey reveals

Police trust in South Africa has reached its lowest level in 27 years, according to a Social Attitudes Survey released by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

The findings come amid a growing political crisis following damning allegations by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.

The survey shows that only 22% of South Africans expressed confidence in the police in 2022, with similarly low levels recorded in 2023 and 2024/25.

This marks the worst confidence ratings since data collection began in 1998.

“A majority of the adult public never expressed trust in the police,” said Dr Benjamin Roberts, HSRC research director and principal investigator of the study.

“The findings are expected to inform interventions aimed at restoring public faith in the police. By adopting a more community-focused and accountable approach to policing, we can work towards creating safer and more secure communities for all South Africans.”

Between 1998 and 2010, trust levels hovered between 39% and 42%. Confidence fell sharply after the 2012 Marikana massacre and dipped even lower following the July 2021 unrest, when only 27% of respondents expressed trust in the police, he said. 

Roberts, however, noted that confidence had almost returned to the 2011 level by the time of the 2015 survey round.

He highlighted that the 2016 to 2020 period was characterised by modest fluctuation between 31% and 35%.

''The hard Covid-19 lockdown experience, which included instances of police brutality in enforcing lockdown regulations, did not appear to have had an aggregate effect on confidence levels based on the 2020 survey results."

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