the police force..Many members were still functionally illiterate. Morale
was low, especially among the African members of the force, who were
highly unpopular as the enforcers of apartheid. In 1997, a typical year in
this respect, 232. police were murdered and more than I 18 committed sui-
cide. In 1996, moreover, 15,236 members of the police were charged with
crimes including assault, murder, rape, and reckless or negligent driving,
and 210 deaths occurred in police cusrody.P'
The nine provincial governments-consisting
of elected legislatures,
premiers elected by the legislatures, and executive councils appointed by
the premier-gradually
assumed the powers that were allotted to them in
the interim constitution and that were slightly amended by the permanent
document. However, the provincial governments were inefficient. They
had a weak revenue base, they inherited sterile, corrupt bureaucracies,
and several of them were run by incompetent people; most of the better-
educated ANC and IFP politicians had won seats in the National Assembly.
They were also dogged by allegations of fraud, nepotism, lack of disci-
pline, and misgovernment. In August 1997, the director general of public
service and administration reported that three provincial administrations