More than 5200 members of the South African Police Service have been "conditionally" promoted - including dozens who are dead, have resigned or have criminal convictions.

April's promotions to the rank of lieutenant, captain and major have left scores of dedicated policemen fuming at being overlooked .

A KwaZulu-Natal detective with 20 years' experience said members at his station had done "the barest minimum" after the list came out because they were "demotivated and demoralised".

"I have a Bachelor of Commerce degree in management, yet hundreds with only a matric have been promoted. We have been short-changed," he said.

A criminal conviction or pending criminal or disciplinary case disqualifies officers from promotion. But some, particularly those from KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, were identified for promotion anyway. They include:

• Thulasizwe Mngunyana, a member of the Mariannhill public order policing unit, outside Durban, who was convicted for the possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition in the Scottburgh Magistrate's Court in 2004;
• Warrant Officer Shamila Singh from the Dundee police station in northern KwaZulu-Natal, who has a case pending against her for allegedly stealing exhibits; and
• Port Shepstone policeman, Mokoena Susha, who was arrested last month after he was allegedly found driving a stolen car.

Mngunyana confirmed his conviction for possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, but said he "deserved his promotion".

Dundee police station commissioner Colonel SP Makhubu confirmed that there was a pending disciplinary case against Singh over the alleged stolen exhibits.

Said Susha: "It's being blown out of proportion because of this promotion. It's not like I stole this vehicle." Susha, who has been in the police for 28 years, including 17 years as a warrant officer, was driving a friend's car at the time of arrest.

Police officers are also dumbfounded after the name of a former orderly at the Scottburgh Magistrate's Court, DN Khumalo, was included on the list - although he died in March last year.

The names of those who have resigned or are due for retirement soon have also crept into the list, including that of Inspector Johan van Jaarsveld, a former East London policeman, who resigned in October last year.

The name of a warrant officer attached to a satellite police station in East London's Duncan Village, who retires in six months, is also on the Eastern Cape list.

Police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo said a process was under way "to determine the suitability of the members" who had made the list in spite of their having pending cases, criminal convictions or performance concerns.

"The promotion of members not found suitable will not become effective," he said.

The South African Policing Union's Western Cape provincial secretary, Graham Daniels, said some who did not meet the service criteria were on the list .

"Somebody with five years' service is on the list," he said. Those eligible for promotion to captain had to have a minimum of 12 years' service as a warrant officer while those in line for a lieutenant's post had to have been a warrant officer for a minimum of eight years.