Tracker / South Africa / 2023 / South African Police Service (SAPS)
§ Tracker · South Africa · Information Regulator · 2023

South African Police Service (SAPS)

Enforcement notice issued. Information Regulator, 6 April 2023.

Record ID
za-ir-2023-0002
Jurisdiction
South Africa
Regulator
Information Regulator
Type
enforcement notice
Date decided
6 April 2023
Respondent type
public
Sector
government
Violations
unlawful processing, failure to notify security compromise, inadequate breach notification
Provisions cited
POPIA 2013
Outcome
enforcement notice issued
Status
final
Source
Official document ↗
Source integrity
SHA-256 b8e3a94dad3c9cc0…
Record verified
30 July 2026

The facts

After the July 2022 Krugersdorp sexual assaults, the survivors' personal information, including names, ages, addresses and details of the assaults, was circulated on WhatsApp within the South African Police Service and later on social media. Following an own-initiative investigation, the Regulator found SAPS processed personal information unlawfully and unreasonably, failed to take reasonable technical measures against unlawful access, and failed to notify the Regulator and the data subjects of the security compromise.

Orders and outcome

An enforcement notice ordered SAPS to notify the data subjects of the compromise, publish an apology, investigate the members responsible, and build POPIA training into all SAPS training programmes. Reported April 2023.

BREACH-NOTIFICATION · SECURITY-SAFEGUARDS · LAW-ENFORCEMENT

Cite this decision

Information Regulator (South Africa), South African Police Service (SAPS), enforcement notice of 6 April 2023. African Data Protection Enforcement Tracker, Law Lab Africa Research, https://research.lawlab.africa/tracker/south-africa/information-regulator/2023/south-african-police-service-breach-notification/ (accessed 30 August 2026).

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