# South Africa’s elite Hawks crime-fighting unit is operating with about two-thousand-515 vacancies, including roughly one-thousand-500 vacant investigative posts. Acting Hawks head Siphesihle Nkosi told Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts that skilled investigators are difficult to retain because they can find better opportunities elsewhere. MPs were also concerned about the length of investigations and the number of cases that the National Prosecuting Authority declines to prosecute. Nkosi told SCOPA the Hawks have advertised 315 posts to try to recruit experienced investigators.
Hawks have only half the staff they need