This is a list of agencies in
law enforcement in South Africa
Law enforcement in South Africa is primarily the responsibility of the South African Police Service (SAPS), South Africa's national police force. SAPS is responsible for investigating crime and security throughout the country. The "national polic ...
, both past and present. It does not include the military police branches of the defence forces.
Pre-Union (1652–1910)
Cape of Good Hope
*
Fiscal's law enforcement officers (1652–1840) – Responsible for law and order in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
.
[Resolution of the Council of Policy (5 December 1652).]
*
Night Watch (1686-1840) — Responsible for patrolling the streets of
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
at night.
[Resolutions of the Council of Policy (3 July 1686 and 11 September 1686).]
* Magistrates' law enforcement officers (1686–1848) – Responsible forenforcement in the rural districts. Each district's magistrate had his own "officers of justice".
*
Police Office
A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...
(1825–40) – Established in 1825 to co-ordinate the fiscal's law enforcement officers and the Night Watch in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
.
[Ordinance 12 of 1825 (Cape of Good Hope).] It was replaced by the Town Police in 1840.
*
Cape Peninsula Urban Police (1840–1913) – Established in 1840 as the Town Police,
[Ordinance 2 of 1840 (Cape of Good Hope).] and modelled on the London
Metropolitan Police.
[Hattersley, A.F. (1960). ''The First South African Detectives''] – It replaced the Police Office. The force was renamed 'City Police' when it was placed under the control of the Cape Police in 1882. Together with the rural police of the neighbouring districts, it became the 'Cape Peninsula Urban Police District' in 1904. The force was taken over by the
South African Police
The South African Police (SAP) was the national police force and law enforcement agency in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the ''de facto'' police force in the territory of South West Africa (Namibia) from 1939 to 1981. After South Af ...
in 1913.
* Rural Police (1848–1913) – Replaced the magistrates' law enforcement officers. Each district had a chief constable and a small police force, under overall direction of the resident magistrate.
[Ordinance 25 of 1847 (Cape of Good Hope).]
* Frontier Force of Rural Police (1850-?)
[''Cape of Good Hope Government Gazette'' 2318 (28 November 1850) : Proclamation dated 26 November 1850.]
* Armed and Mounted Police (1853–55)
*
Frontier Armed and Mounted Police (1855–78)
[Act 3 of 1855 (Cape of Good Hope).]
*
Dock and Harbour Police (1860–1913) — Established in 1860 as the 'Water Police', to maintain law and order in
Table Bay
Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named b ...
harbour.
[Cape Town Water Police Act 1860 (Cape of Good Hope).] It was renamed 'Dock and Harbour Police' in 1882, and incorporated into
Cape Police District 3 in 1901.
*
Northern Border Police (1868–73 and 1879–84) — Responsible for law and order in the districts along the
Orange River
The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...
, which formed the colony's northern border at that time.
* Cape Government Railways Police — The
Cape Government Railways
The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910.
History Private railways
The first railways at the Cape were privately own ...
employed law enforcement officials.
*
Cape Mounted Police (1882-1913) — A para-military force established in 1882 as the 'Cape Police'.
[Police Regulation Act 1882 (Cape of Good Hope).] It was renamed 'Cape Mounted Police' in 1904, and transferred to the
Union Defence Forces in 1913.
* Detective Department (1882-1913) — Established to suppress diamond-smuggling on the
Griqualand West
Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, wh ...
diamond fields.
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
* Borough police (1854-1936)
* Water Police
[Holt, H.P. (1913). ''The Mounted Police of Natal''.]
* Railways Police
*
Natal Mounted Police
The Natal Mounted Police (NMP) were the colonial police force of the Colony of Natal created in 1874 by Major John Dartnell, a farmer and retired officer in the British Army as a semi-military force to bolster the defences of Natal in South Afric ...
(1874–94)
*
Natal Police (1894-1913)
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...
* Rydende Dienst Macht
ounted Police Force(1889-1902)
*
South African Constabulary
The South African Constabulary (SAC) was a paramilitary force set up in 1900 under British Army control to police areas captured from the two independent Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State during the Second Boer War. Its firs ...
(1900–08)
* Orange Free State Police (1908–13) — A para-military force established by the colonial government in 1908 as the 'Orange River Colony Police' to replace the imperial South African Constabulary. It was renamed when the colony reverted to its former name in 1910, and was transferred to the
Union Defence Forces in 1913.
South African Republic
The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...
/
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
* Rydende Politie
ounted Police(1881–86)
* Rydende Artillerie en Politie Korps
ounted Artillery and Police Corps(1886–96)
* Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek Politie
South African Republic Police
The South African Republic Police ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek Politie; ZARP) was the police force of the former country, South African Republic, one of two Internationally recognized Boer countries of the mid 19th to early 20th century. The B ...
(1896-1902)
*
South African Constabulary
The South African Constabulary (SAC) was a paramilitary force set up in 1900 under British Army control to police areas captured from the two independent Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State during the Second Boer War. Its firs ...
(1900–08)
* Transvaal Town Police (1901–08) — Established by the British occupation authorities to maintain law and order in
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...
and
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
. It was superseded by the Transvaal Police in 1908.
* Transvaal Police (1908–13) — A para-military force established by the colonial government in 1908, to replace the imperial South African Constabulary and the Transvaal Town Police. It was transferred to the
Union Defence Forces in 1913.
Griqualand West
Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, wh ...
* Griqualand Constabulary (1872–74)
* Griqualand Mounted Police (1873–74)
* Griqualand West Police (1874–83)
* Border Police.
Zululand
* Zululand Police (1883–98).
British Bechuanaland
* Bechuanaland Mounted Police (1884–85)
* Bechuanaland Border Police (1885–95).
South Africa (1910-1994)
*
South African Police
The South African Police (SAP) was the national police force and law enforcement agency in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the ''de facto'' police force in the territory of South West Africa (Namibia) from 1939 to 1981. After South Af ...
(1913–94)
* South African Railways Police Force (1916–86).
Homelands (1976-1994)
Transkei
Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...
* Transkei Police (1976–94).
Bophuthatswana
Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for mem ...
* Bophuthatswana Police (1977–94)
Venda
Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of the ...
* Venda National Force (1979–85)
* Venda Police (1985–94).
KwaZulu
KwaZulu was a semi-independent bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a homeland for the Zulu people. The capital was moved from Nongoma to Ulundi in 1980.
It was led until its abolition in 1994 by Chief Mangosuth ...
* KwaZulu Police (1980–94).
Ciskei
* Ciskei Police (1981–94).
Gazankulu
* Gazankulu Police (1982–94).
QwaQwa
QwaQwa was a bantustan ("homeland") in the central eastern part of South Africa. It encompassed a very small region of in the east of the former South African province of Orange Free State, bordering Lesotho. Its capital was Phuthaditjhaba. It ...
* QwaQwa Police (1983–94).
Lebowa
Lebowa was a bantustan ("homeland") located in the Transvaal in northeastern South Africa. Seshego initially acted as Lebowa's capital while the purpose-built Lebowakgomo was being constructed. Granted internal self-government on 2 October ...
* Lebowa Police (1984–95).
KaNgwane
KaNgwane () was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a semi-independent homeland for the Swazi people. It was called the "Swazi Territorial Authority" from 1976 to 1977. In September 1977 it was renamed KaNgwan ...
* KaNgwane Police (1986–94).
KwaNdebele
KwaNdebele was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Ndebele people. The homeland was created when the South African government purchased nineteen white-owned farms and install ...
* KwaNdebele Police (1987–94).
South Africa (1994- )
*
South African Police Service
The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1,154 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a Provincial Commissioner is appointed in ea ...
(1994- )
[South African Police Service Act 1995.]
* Municipal/Metropolitan Police Service (1998- )
[South African Police Service Amendment Act 1998.]
*
Hawks ( Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation/SAPS) - 2009
References
{{Reflist
Lists of law enforcement agencies