About PSP and its data sources
How PSP uses information from authoritative public sources and the safeguards applied before a record can appear in public search.
What PSP does
PSP helps people find selected public-safety records that have been intentionally made public by an authoritative source. Where information comes from the South African Police Service (SAPS), PSP shows the SAPS classification and provides a link to the official SAPS source.
PSP does not independently determine whether a person is wanted, suspected, guilty, convicted, cleared, safe or dangerous. A search result is a possible match to a public record and should be verified against the original source.
How records reach public search
- Each public record is attributed to its authoritative source.
- Records are reviewed privately before they can be published through PSP.
- A source check and separate private approval are required before a record can enter published state.
- PSP rechecks publication safeguards when a public search is performed.
- Published SAPS records must remain within PSP's 48-hour source-verification window or they are withheld from public search.
- If monitoring detects a material source change or confirms that a source record is missing, PSP can remove the record from public visibility and return it for review.
Always check the original source
If information shown by PSP appears to differ from the official source, rely on the official source and report the difference to PSP for review. PSP provides public-record information for reference and verification; it does not replace SAPS, a court or another competent authority.