ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the code of silence in the SAPS and puts it in the context of South Africa at large. We elaborate on the influence of the 1990s reform processes, effectiveness of the external and internal systems of control, and remilitarization of the SAPS on the extent of the code of silence. Based on the theory of police integrity and the related methodology, we present the results of our SAPS’s police officer survey. The results of our empirical analyses demonstrate that the code of silence is present in the SAPS. Furthermore, officers included in our study assumed that their fellow officers would not report colleagues who engaged in most of the behaviors described in the questionnaire. Our results further show that the officers’ own expressed willingness to report is related to their evaluations of misconduct seriousness, views about expected discipline, and the perceptions that other officers would report the misconduct. At the same time, their expressed willingness to report does not appear to be systematically related to their evaluations of disciplinary fairness.
