South Africans don’t trust the police. About one in five people surveyed by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) earlier this year said they ‘trust’ or ‘strongly trust’ the police, but three in five said they ‘distrust’ the police.

Trust in the police has almost halved, from 41% of the people surveyed in 1998 to just 22% in 2024/25, according to an HSRC report, National and provincial trends: Trust in the police, 1998-2025.

The most recent survey results are the lowest recorded levels of trust in 27 years, said the HSRC.

The survey found that trust eroded when people felt they were treated unfairly or disrespected, or believed the police lacked impartiality, transparency, or effectiveness.

Why does this matter? The HSRC says, “The risk is that low and diminishing confidence in the police, if left unchecked, will also continue to negatively shape views of key elements of police legitimacy.”