Keynote address by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commemoration Day, Union Buildings, Tshwane

Programme Director,
Acting Minister of Police, Professor Firoz Cachalia,
Premier of Gauteng, Mr Panyaza Lesufi,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police,
Members of Parliament,
Acting National Commissioner of Police, Lt General Puleng Dimpane,
Chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya,
Deputy National Commissioners,
Representatives from Organised Labour,
Chairperson of the SAPSET Board and the Board of Trustees,
Chairperson of the National CPF Board and Provincial CPF Chairpersons,
Members of the South African Police Service,
Most importantly, the families and loved ones of our fallen police officers,

Good morning,

A nation reveals its character not only in how it remembers those who serve it, but in what it does to protect those who serve.

Today, South Africa stands before its Roll of Honour with grief and resolve. Today, we remember 12 police officers who gave their lives in service of our people.

National Commemoration Day is a national covenant of remembrance, accountability and renewal.

It is a commitment to honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice, to stand with the families they left behind and to build a safer Republic.

Police safety is a responsibility that falls to all of us.

This year, we remember 12 members who lost their lives in the line of duty during the last financial year.

Nine of these members were from Gauteng, with one each from North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. 
Among them is the only woman on this year’s Roll of Honour. She was a mother of three from Temba Police Station. 

We remember seven devoted husbands and fathers of young children.

Among the families gathered here today is a wife who was pregnant when her husband was killed, and another whose father and husband left behind seven-month-old twins. 

Behind every police killing is a family story that has been permanently rewritten.

The circumstances of these deaths should concern us deeply. 

Several members were killed while crewing the same shift, responding to business robbery complaints or transporting awaiting-trial prisoners. 

Others died on routine crime prevention and patrol duties in their own precincts.

The youngest was only 25 years old.

Today we remember them not as statistics, but as sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, colleagues and friends, who went to work to protect their fellow South Africans and never returned home.

We must confront a difficult question: what kind of society kills those entrusted to protect it? And what must we do to change it?

When criminals target a police officer, they are attacking the integrity of the State, the rule of law and the constitutional order.

They are not just attacking an individual. They are attacking the people of South Africa.

Our response must extend beyond enforcement.

The fight against crime must become a project of responsible citizenship: respecting the law, rejecting corruption, reporting criminality and teaching our children that respect for human life is the foundation of a stable democracy.

We must invest in families, schools, early childhood development, youth programmes and sport. We must build resilience before young people become vulnerable to criminal networks.

There has been a significant decline over the last few years in the number of police members being killed in the line of duty. This reflects the progress of operational interventions, police safety initiatives, community partnerships and cooperation across government and with the private sector.

But even one life lost is one too many.

The SAPS has therefore implemented a Police Safety Action Plan called ‘Think First – Act Safe: Every Call, Every Time’.

This plan is structured around governance, proactive and reactive interventions, the safety of police stations and infrastructure, redress and support. It includes monitoring and evaluation, with provincial plans aligned to the national framework.

But policing alone cannot solve this challenge. Communities must become part of the protective architecture around our police. They must report threats, protect information and reject criminality.

We need a stronger partnership with the private sector, which has a critical role in securing the future of the children left behind by fallen officers.

Since its establishment in 2010, the South African Police Service Education Trust – known as SAPSET – has supported 2,215 children of fallen police officers, with more than R25 million raised through sponsorships. 

This investment changes lives. Children who once faced uncertainty have graduated. Some have obtained Master’s and PhD degrees.

I appeal directly to corporate South Africa: support SAPSET through sustainable donations and scholarship programmes.

Give these children the foundation to transform the experience of loss into opportunity.

To the families of our fallen officers: the Republic remembers your loved ones. 

No ceremony can replace a husband or wife. No pension can compensate for the loss of a father or mother. And no tribute can return a parent to their children. 

But we can ensure that their service is never forgotten and that their families remain part of the national family.

To the children of our fallen members: your parents left you more than memories. They left you a legacy of courage, duty and service.

Carry their names with pride and build lives worthy of their sacrifice.

To the men and women of the SAPS: the nation sees your courage and recognises the demands of your profession.

But that courage must be supported by proper systems, intelligence, equipment, training and leadership.

Serve with authority, but also with humility.
Serve with courage, but also with discipline.
Serve with professionalism, integrity and respect for the Constitution.
And protect one another.

At this moment, the SAPS is operating under unprecedented public scrutiny. The revelations emerging from the Judicial Commission of Inquiry have raised legitimate questions about policing, leadership, accountability and institutional integrity. This must not result in paralysis. Instead, it must be a catalyst for renewal. 

The SAPS must remain focused on its core mandate: prevent crime, combat criminality, protect communities and keep South Africans safe.

The SAPS must continue to deliver. The best response to scrutiny is not defensiveness. It is performance.

The best response to criticism is not denialism. It is professional conduct, measurable results and safer communities.

We need to once again earn people’s trust, station by station, community by community.

Let us use this moment to strengthen the institution, restore public confidence and reaffirm the social contract between the police and the people. 

Let us build a police service that is trusted because it is competent, respected because it is disciplined and credible because it is ethical.

Today, we remember 12 fallen officers, but our responsibility is greater than remembrance. We must act.

We owe the fallen a safer country.
We owe their families sustained support and opportunity.
We owe our police officers the systems, leadership, protection and resources necessary to keep them safe.

We owe future generations a country worth inheriting.
May we honour our fallen heroes not only by remembering how they died, but by changing how we live.
May we honour their courage with courage of our own.
May we honour their service by serving this country better.

And may we build a South Africa in which those who protect our people are themselves protected — by Government and by the communities they serve.

May God bless South Africa and protect her people.

I thank you.