High crime rates, use of violence by criminals, police brutality, corruption, rape by police officials and other forms of criminal misconduct against the police including the centralisation of specific specialised functions of policing, which was tantamount to taking away policing from the people at police station level, are some of the allegations which affects the image of the police as a legitimate organisation. Much of these allegations levelled by the community and the mass media are directed at the external and internal environments of the police. The aim of this article is to critically evaluate policing in South Africa, so that respect for the country and its citizens can be restored. For this discussion, the researcher collected qualitative information by means of a literature study and drew on his personal experience as a former senior police officer with the South African Police Service (SAPS). Prior to 1994, the call was for the rationalisation, restructuring and amalgamation of the police into a single police service that would enjoy legitimacy among all the communities of South Africa. Although the country embraced a new democratic dispensation in 1994, very little was done to implement transformational policies and processes to bring about systemic change in policing. A need for the change of the functioning of the police service in South Africa was identified, so that police officers may perform their role within the context of democratic principles and restore respect for the country and its citizens.

高犯罪率、犯罪分子使用暴力、警察暴行、腐败、警察强奸以及其他形式的针对警察的犯罪不当行为，包括将特定的专门警务职能集中起来，这无异于剥夺了警察的执法权站级，是一些影响警察作为合法组织形象的指控。社区和大众媒体提出的这些指控大多是针对警察的外部和内部环境。本文的目的是批判性地评估南非的警务工作，从而恢复对南非及其公民的尊重。对于这次讨论，研究人员通过文献研究收集了定性信息，并借鉴了他作为南非警察局 (SAPS) 前高级警官的个人经历。1994 年之前，呼吁对警察进行合理化、重组和合并，使其成为一个在南非所有社区中享有合法性的单一警察部门。尽管该国在 1994 年接受了新的民主制度，但在实施变革性政策和程序以实现警务系统性变革方面做得很少。确定需要改变南非警察部门的运作方式，以便警察可以在民主原则的范围内履行职责，恢复对国家及其公民的尊重。