Minister of Police Budget speech & responses IFP & DA

Minister of Police, Mr Nkosinathi Nhleko gave his Budget Vote Speech on 21 April 2016.
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                                               THEME: Building a united front to help and protect communities

House Chair
Honourable members
MECs from different provinces
The Acting National Commissioner Lt Gen Phahlane and your management team
The Head of DPCI Lt General Ntlemeza and your management team
The Acting Executive Director of IPID Mr Kgamanyane
The Acting Secretariat for Police Mr Rapea
The Chairperson of the PSIRA Board Mr Mongwe
The Director and Chairperson of the Firearms Appeal Board
Members of the South African Police Services
Esteemed guests
Fellow South Africans

Somewhere in the beautiful, vast landscape of KwaMhlabuyalingana, stays a granny, a lone defenseless granny whose only hope for protection, as it seems, lies in her God. She lives with the beautiful memories of her little daughter, who like many others, went to seek her fortunes in the cities. Today, her daughter works as a teacher in Durban eThekwini and resides at the very popular township of KwaMashu. UGogo does have beautiful recollections of her grandchildren, one of whom is a graduate of law and is serving articles at a popular law firm in Sandton, closer to her uncle, uMalume, gogo’s second born son, who himself runs a small business on the busy streets of the theater of a workman’s dreams, Johannesburg.

Although this family is scattered in the country, there are two very important threads that continue to bond them together. Firstly, it is their blood. Secondly, and similarly quite importantly, the fact that they are under the care and protection of a government that cares.

We also tell a story of how Lucinda Evans and her neighbours in Lavender Hills, Cape Flats always dreaded the onset of the festive season. After all, it is at this time that the gang wars are at their worst; when the already compromised quality of life deteriorates even further. The easy access to alcohol and drugs accentuates the social crimes.

December 2015 was no different. Or so they thought. They braced themselves for another unfestive season. But their fears did not materialize. Instead, a different war played out; a war for good.

Police patrols took over the streets making it possible for women and children to walk with less trepidation; children, for a change, took full advantage of the glorious summer and played, as children should; with gay abandon. Gangsters were put on notice. Drug dealers and peddlers lost ground. Other criminal elements that looked forward to taking advantage of the season suddenly found themselves having to deal with the law enforcement officers who were out in full force. A sense of tentative peace engulfed the community.

In response, Lucinda and her friends turned their efforts at making the lives of the officers on duty easier. They opened their hearts and pooled together their resources to serve warm meals to officers keeping their neighbourhoods safe at night. The community made sure that they gave police all the support they needed for effective policing to happen.  This is the story of a community and their police. 

This Budget Vote is dedicated to all the Lucindas of the world, the unsung heroes and heroines for playing their part expecting no reward or favour for doing what they believe is right.

We are government that heeds the cries and calls for transformation, for safety, and quite simply, for the creation of a more habitable South Africa. A South Africa envisioned by the pioneers of our constitutional democracy which we so value.

House Chair, it is simple stories such as these that give us the urge and strength to go head on against the triple challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment. It is success stories and stories of the pursuit of happiness by ordinary South Africans, living simple lives that propel us dedicate our lives, to invest our time and indeed deeply apply our minds, to create policy and legislative solutions, clear and practical strategies that seek to create a better life for all.

In the most recent weeks we have successfully stabilized the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth, through Operation Lockdown. Communities are beginning to tell us that they are now able to sleep at night without fear.

We arrested, in a matter of hours, the murderers who butchered a whole family in Emabheleni, Port Shepstone. Those killers are behind bars as we speak. So are the drug dealers and their acolytes. Drug dealers are caught daily in our airports and ports of entries.

These successes are beginning to turn the tide and there is a positive vibe, which is beginning to be felt and affect all our citizens.

 It is these stories, that continuously rejuvenate our commitment towards realising the National Development Plan, a plan that today has improved the livelihood of many South Africans and those who peacefully live with us. In fact, I agree with Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies when he suggests that “the NDP is potentially the most important government policy directive in recent years which if implemented, could see dramatic improvements not only in policing but throughout government.

 We are convinced that the NDP speaks to the very social moral fibre of our society, what we as Africans call Ubuntu.

The NDP besides emphatic recommendations that the SAPS be demilitarised as soon as possible, it also suggests that there be a review on the organisational cultural reform of the police, with a thorough assessment of the effects of militarisation, demilitarisation, and remilitarisation. These recommendations are in fact in line with the notion that one of the most important facets of law enforcement is the treatment of citizens with utmost dignity; indeed in agreement with the great theorist and historian, Michel Foucault in his book Discipline and Punish when he suggests that: “[t]he need for punishment without torture was first formulated as a need to recognize the humanity of the criminal. Man became the legal limit of power, beyond which it (power) could not act.” This immediately reminds me of the Constitutional courts findings in the case of State v Makwanyane, which abolished the death sentence. Here, the learned judge emphasised the importance of the rights to life and dignity, declaring them as the most important of all the rights in the constitution. Even further, the court emphasised, as was put by Justice Ackermann, that

“We have moved from a past characterised by much which was arbitrary and unequal in the operation of the law to a present and a future in a constitutional state where state action must be such that it is capable of being analysed and justified rationally.”

The learned judge correctly cites the well published Prof. Etienne Mureinik who himself suggests that;

"If the new Constitution is a bridge away from a culture of authority, it is clear what it must be a bridge to. It must lead to a culture of justification—a culture in which every exercise of power is expected to be justified.... If the Constitution is to be a bridge in this direction, it is plain that the Bill of Rights must be its chief strut."

House Chair, the police have a duty to do not only to fully adhere to the Bill of rights but to also formulate policies that are infused with Constitutionalism and to conduct themselves, in their much sacred duties, in the manner that they showcase nothing less than an embodiment of the spirit of Ubuntu.

It is from that premise that our police service continues to make gogo feel safer in the deep rural areas of KwaMhlabuyalingana, that we ensure visible policing, establish specialised crime units to fight crime and create a safer township in Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth and in other places.    We present this Budget Vote a lot more optimistic that the future we seek for our children and their children is attainable. Whether it is in the Cape Flats in the Western Cape or Matatiele in the Eastern Cape; whether in Lebowakgomo in Limpopo or Itsoseng in North West; whether it is in Koffiefontein in Free State or Carnavon in the Northern Cape; Ndundwini in KZN or Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga or even in Orange Farm in Gauteng, we dream of a future where all people in South Africa are and feel safe.

House chair, even as we present this Budget Vote, we are emboldened by the positive changes that we are implementing and whose fruits we are seeing in the policing environment. These positive changes include but are not restricted to impressive police work during the past festive season and other significant periods; as well as the turning of the tide for our men and women in blue to a service towards a positive outlook that will in time, infect and affect all our citizens.

We continue to diligently ensure that the fellow inhabitants of South Africa are and feel safe. In the process of ensuring the deliverance of our mandate, the saps will continue to derive lessons through experience. We believe such experiences can only help police services to grow but also improve its level of delivery of service to our people.

Steven Pinker in Better Angels of Our Future makes the point when he places the nexus, in regard to the very existence of a public service function like ours in the heart of acceptance by communities. In that regard, he asserts that;

“The source of the state’s pacifying effect isn’t just its brute coercive power but the trust it commands among the populace. After all, no state can post an informant in every pub and farmhouse to monitor breaches of the law, and those that try are totalitarian dictatorships that rule by fear, not civilized societies where people co-exist through self-control and empathy”.

This ANC-led people’s government is not and will not be totalitarian or anything resembling it. For that reason, fellow South Africans, we have begun in all earnest to put the recommendations of the Farlam Commission of Enquiry into action so that our country may begin to heal from one of the darkest periods of our short history. An announcement will be made to the citizenry in due course on the concrete steps and actions towards this work, which will, in the end, result in the meaningful transformation of the police service and its allied institutions.

Cabinet has approved, two critical pieces of policy namely; The White Paper on Safety and Security and the White Paper on Policing.

The white paper on Safety and Security rests on six pillars,                namely:

·         an effective criminal justice system;

·         early intervention to prevent crime and violence and promote safety;

·         victim support;

·         effective integrated service delivery for safety, security and violence and crime preventions;

·         safety through environmental design; and

·         active public and community participation.

It focuses on an integrated and developmental approach to safety in view of recognition that safety extends far beyond the purview of just the police. It also seeks to entrench the ideals of the National Development Plan of people living in safe environments with equal access and recourse to high quality of services when affected by crime and violence. More importantly, it talks to preventative action, which will be achieved by the concerted effort of all sectors concerned to address the fundamental causes of crime including roles by departments such as Health, Social Development, Education, the Criminal Justice System and co-operative governance. It is only through cooperation that we can effectively protect our communities.

The White Paper on Policing places an emphasis on the core of policing and, provides a framework that will regularise SAPS as part of the broader public service. In that way, we hope to enhance effective civilian oversight over SAPS.

The white paper calls for a professional, well-resourced and highly skilled police service; a demilitarised police service in line with the Constitution and ideals of the NDP; Further advocates a community-centred policing with sustained community participation and support; as well as an active eradication of barriers to reporting of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

We continue to receive and incorporate significant inputs from various sectors of society, to enable us to truly reflect the views of ordinary citizens and ensuring that the voice of the electorate is truly represented as this work unfolds.

Cabinet approved the Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill on 13 April 2016 for public comments. The Bill seeks to repeal the National Key Points Act, 102 of 1980.

The Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill (“the Bill”) seeks to bring the legal framework for the protection of critical infrastructure in line with the constitutional imperatives and changing developments within the country. The Bill is aimed at ensuring that South Africa maintains a robust and sustainable approach to the protection of South Africa’s critical infrastructure in the interests of the state and all citizens. We will, in due course, give updates on the progress in this regard.

SAPS has embarked on a Back-to Basic approach, which focuses on every member of SAPS reverting to the established regulatory framework, or simply put, doing the basics of policing, properly and consistently.

This approach rests on 3 fundamental pillars:

• Discipline, and the manner in which police officers conduct themselves, as a distinctive characteristic of policing;
• Enhanced police visibility, which implies more police officers in uniform, thereby minimising opportunities to commit crime; and
• The deployment of operational resources to ensure the optimal utilisation of the limited resources that the Police have at their disposal, ensuring that they are applied to maximum effect. 

In addition, those areas of chronic under-performance are being corrected through specific recovery plans targeting visible policing and detective service capabilities the SAPS.

A structure that supports the new ethos has been approved and is being implemented in earnest and we will keep the House updated on a regular basis.

The SAPS is allocated a budget of R80.8-billion for the 2016/2017 cycle with spending focus over the medium term on:

• Addressing the current fixed establishments,
• Professionalising the police service through skills development,
• Continued strengthening of the criminal justice system by contributing to the criminal justice sector revamp and modernization programme; and
• Investing in capital assets consisting of machinery and equipment.
• Strengthening the resource capability of Public Order Policing Unit. A total of R1,957 billion has been allocated for this purpose.

These activities support the JCPS Cluster objective of creating safer communities and contribute towards ensuring that people in South Africa are and feel safe (outcome 3).

• More specifically it will include:
• Community Outreach Programmes; Imbizo and Community-based recruitment programmes;
• Implementation of an Integrated CJS to ensure a single, coordinated management of criminal justice and performance, focusing on funding for Forensic Services and broader Detective Service in SAPS to enhance crime investigations;
• Provision for equipment and training for detectives to enhance the process of investigation of crime;
• Policing of major events including the upcoming local government Elections 2016; and       

There are a number of other emerging priorities that this budget had to take account of including the funding of Transformation and Institutional Reform Initiatives (TIRE), determining the research agenda, sustained visibility and enhancing police safety to mitigate murders and attacks on police.

We want a SAPS that is accessible for all citizens and to this end, we will continue to launch Mobile Community Service Centres, as well as partnering with traditional authorities and the Post Office to establish service points in areas that have scant policing service points.

We also have to make serious budgetary determination to deal with the ever increasing attacks and murders of police officers which should, in all seriousness, make us hang our heads in shame. It is not just the ever-increasing number of police that are killed that should worry us; but the ever-growing attacks that, were it not for the way our officers have managed to protect themselves, would show a much higher mortality rate of our police.

As we have said before, the attack on police is an attack on the authority of the state. We heed the president’s call in his state of the nation address that when attacked, the police should indeed use lawful means to effectively defend themselves and their colleagues.

A transfer of R111-million will be effected for the Civilian Secretariat for the Police as a designated department. The Secretariat drives policy research for the Ministry and performs general support functions for the Ministry of Police.

This financial year, we have increased the resourcing of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) with funding of R1, 431 billion which will also cater for the new specialized units. A decision was taken to reestablish the Narcotics Bureau and the Firearm Investigation Combating units because of the need and the outcry of our citizens.

In the outer years of this period, the Hawks will be funded directly from Treasury, and this should satisfy compliance with the ruling of the Constitutional Court in entrenching the independence of the unit. 

The Hawks have continued to notch up impressive successes especially in the field of commercial crime and organized crime. Working with sister agencies, the unit has contributed to the freezing and forfeiture orders to the tune of R735-million.

The unit has also been involved in fighting rhino poaching, the illegal trade in precious metals and corruption and fraud in government which has led in 91 officials being convicted.

Our effort in fighting transnational organized crime will continue and the recently held Russia Africa Anti-Drugs Dialogue bares testimony to the reach that we are beginning to show in the focused fight against drugs. 

Some successes in this regard include the dismantling of 23 laboratories and seizure of equipment to the value of R42.8 million. Six of these laboratories were in Gauteng. The value of drugs taken out of circulation amounts to R391.4 million resulting in 64 arrests.

Through operation Fiela, over 40 000 arrests were effected on account of vehicles impounded and firearms confiscated. The JCPS cluster continues to plan and execute operations of such magnitude, we will keep the house updated on such developments. 

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), working with other departments in the justice, crime prevention and security cluster, aims to ensure that all people in South Africa live safely in a corruption free society, with an independent and fair criminal justice system. In line with this mandate, the medium term strategic focus for IPID is to contribute to the professionalisation of the police service by strengthening its investigative capacity to be able to effectively deliver on its investigations mandate.

Over the medium term, IPID will expand its investigative methods and systems to respond to cases of police misconduct and abuse of power. IPID will further strengthen its investigative skills capacity through the newly established national specialised investigations team in order to conduct specialised investigations and facilitate the training of investigators on systemic corruption and other specialised investigations.

It should also be noted that part of professionalising the police service by IPID includes the implementation of the recommendations of the Farlam Commission of Enquiry. This additional mandate has implications on IPID’s staffing and financial resource needs.

Since the establishment of the new mandate in 2012, IPID has secured more than 400 disciplinary convictions; ranging from sanction of corrective counselling, dismissal from service, final written warnings, fines, suspension, verbal and written warnings; and more than 300 criminal convictions, ranging from short to long term imprisonment. This is in addition to the achievement of the Directorate’s strategic targets with improvements in the total number of investigations finalised from 48% (5 137 of 10 657) in 2014/15 to 77% (8 593 of 11 103) in 2015/16.

It is through the above planned activities and mechanisms, that we believe the oversight role of the IPID will contribute to the professionalisation of police service in promoting good police conduct. The work by IPID ensures that members of SAPS indeed work for the South African public interests.

The challenges of regulating private security industry, in respect of service delivery, compliance, and revenue generation rest with PSIRA. We have plans for PSIRA to increase its National foot print. In the main, this seeks to ensure that there is adequate compliance to the regulatory framework.

As part of its objectives, PSiRA will establish a guarantee fund to provide limited guarantee to security service provider in the form of public liability and to protect consumers against loss of damage. The interest earned from this investment portfolio of the fund will be used to fund the regulatory operations of the Authority.

House chair and honourable members

It should be noted that the law enforcement agencies are placed under ever increasing pressures, as a result of some shortcomings – perceived or otherwise – of some service delivery imperatives.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and appreciate members of SAPS who under very trying conditions conducted themselves by applying maximum restraint and professionalism in policing public protests. Having said so we recognise and appreciate that our citizens have a right to protest their dissatisfaction however we appeal to the leadership in general to ensure that in the exercise to such a right, the right of others are not infringed upon.

As we are about to celebrate the Freedom Day on the 27th of April, let us ensure that our rights enshrined in the Constitution are enjoyed and carried out with responsibility.

It is only through our collective responsibility as leaders, be it leaders of the ANC or of opposition parties, religious and cultural groups, of NGO’s private companies and so on, that we can work together to encourage lawful methods of addressing grievances. For we all belong to humanity as South Africans.  In this regard let us build a united front to help build our communities.

I thank you

 

The occasion of the Budget Vote No. 23 and 20: Speech by the Deputy Minister of Police, Hon. Ms. Makhotso Maggie Sotyu (MP): Parliament, Cape Town

Chairperson,
Minister of Police, Mr. NPT Nhleko and all Colleagues,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Mr. F. Beukman,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
All MECs present,
A/National Commissioner of Police, Lt. Gen Phahlane & all SAPS members,
All National Heads of SAPS Entities (IPID, PSIRA and Civilian Secretariat),
Our Youth and Children,
Distinguished guests.

Chairperson,

This year is the 40th Anniversary of the Youth Uprising, which should be a very special and auspicious commemoration to us all as a nation. But, the recent research results by STAT SA might have dampened the mood a little bit.

Admittedly though, it did not come as a total surprise or shock, when the STAT SA’s newly released report on Vulnerable Groups Survey Report 2016, indicated that young South Africans are more susceptible than any other age group to violence and crime; unemployment and poverty.

As the Ministry of Police, we have had already indications since 2014 that there was a significant rise in crime among the youth in South Africa. 

Chairperson,

Nevertheless, at the backdrop of this bleak report, which is of great concern us as the nation, the Department of Police had proactively given ethos to youth development by establishing internship and learnership programmes to help curb unemployment amongst the youth. 

And indeed, at our last Budget Vote 2015, we even announced that the Ministry of Police would specifically recommend the Department to approve a further intake of 20 funded interns for the Financial Year 2015/2016. 

The Ministry of Police is today pleased and proud to announce that this promise was fulfilled, and we have taken an additional 21 interns and they have been placed at the various units in the Division of Visible Policing.

Ultimately, the intention is to fill some of the vacant entry-level posts with these interns. The Ministry of Police is also continuing engaging with other SAPS Divisions, such as the HAWKS, to consider the pool of these interns for their entry level posts. The objective is to retain these young interns as full-time employees within the SAPS. 

Chairperson,

This is part of the “Back-to-Basics” approach to policing in South Africa. We must not misinterpret this approach as only aspiring to clean living and moral upstanding. 

This approach is greatly inspired by the zeal to combine all our efforts to channel our youth in the right direction.

The re-launch of the SAPS Women’s Network and Men for Change (to be re-launched on 9th May 2016), as part of the 44th Anniversary celebrations of Women in Policing, is part of the Back-to-Basics approach to policing. 

Chairperson,

These are the two networks in SAPS that also continue to champion the rights of the most vulnerable groups in our society, especially in the rural areas. The SAPS Women’s Network has been involved in visionary programmes in our rural areas, that show an extraordinary duty beyond policing, bringing a unique dynamic to community policing. 

This network has supported the elderly victims of brutal rape, ensuring that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are apprehended and convicted.

Furthermore, the SAPS Women’s Network and Men for Change will be embarking on community outreach programme that will be addressing the problem of ukuthwala of young children, in our rural areas, especially in the Eastern Cape.

Chairperson,

We want to say, we respect a tradition that builds a nation, but we abhor a so-called culture that oppresses, abuses, abduct, and rape our children in the name of tradition. We will arrest those children abusers who abduct our children in the name of “customary marriage”. They are nothing more than paedophiles!

The long-standing Inter-Governmental Relations Framework Act must help all our National Departments and three-spheres of Government to revive the basic principle of collaboration for efficient and impactful basic service delivery to our children, the future of this country.

Chairperson,

This Act did help us in establishing a working protocol with the Department of Basic Education. Probably. What is now needed is to monitor and evaluate the impact of this Schools Safety Programme. 

It is a fact that today’s youth faces a host of challenges that often lead to an abnormal psyche. Incidents of child-on-child rape; bullying; substance abuse; gangsterism; and sheer violence have become very common in our schools. 

Chairperson,

Parents, Teachers, Faith-Based Fraternity, Government and Business, must all come together to fight for the betterment of our youth’s future.

We are again urging our Department of Education to actively partner with us as we embark on our monitoring programme for ensuring that all schools have functional and effective school safety committees. 

Chairperson,

Going back to basics is also about active citizenry to mobilize and organize themselves against criminals and help the police. It is about encouraging the culture of initiative and proactiveness from all sectors and stakeholders of our society.

For instance, last year, the community of Masiphumelele brought to our attention that there was an acute lack of police visibility in their area. We promptly responded and intervened by delivering a mobile police station last year in November 2015. 

We acknowledge that Masiphumelele is not the only area with this problem. We have visited Lavender Hill, Cite C, Nyanga, and other areas, and it is the same problem. In this instance, the Mobile Police Station Project has been established. This project is all about enhanced police visibility, this is about responsive investigation, this is about utilization of resources.

Chairperson,

We can announce that the launch and subsequent roll-out of mobile police stations will start in earnest in May 2016, starting with Khayelitsha Cit C, proceeding to Lavender Hill, Crossroads village in Peddie, Botshabelo in the Free State, and other crime hot spots, across the nine Provinces. 

The Funding of these police stations will be from the SAPS National Budget and not from Provincial Budgets. The initiative of mobile police station is putting emphasis on desirability for a high police visibility and using it as a problem-solving tool. 

It will provide comforting reassurance and public confidence in police, and allows more tangible approach to community policing.

Chairperson,

We must understand that the logistics of building a police station involves a lot of departments, and thus takes a lot of time to complete. 

Also, the terrain of most of South African rural areas obligates mobile police stations. This was made vivid to me, when we held a community outreach programme in Ngqushwa, at Crossroads Village a week ago.

This visit was to continue raising the profile and importance of policing in rural communities. We must ensure that the rural communities do not feel as if they are receiving second rate policing service when compared to the urban areas.

We must continue dismantling organized criminals who are bent to steal valuable live- stock of the rural communities.

But, our visit to Crossroads village in Peddie proved to me that, crime in rural communities is not only about stock theft, it also about teen pregnancy, gender-based violence, gangsterism, violence; and substance abuse in these rural schools.

Chairperson,

Policing in rural areas presents very unique challenges. The sheer distances involved between villages, and isolated nature of many communities can lead to a sense of vulnerability and heightened fear of crime.

The mobile police station project will strengthen the Department’s Front Line Service Delivery (FSD) Programme. This FSD Programme is a dedicated programme that encapsulates the professional police member that the people of South Africa require to service them; community-accessible and receptive police service delivery points; a professional and accountable service that the police should render; and establishment of effective stakeholder relations and involvement in the delivery of policing services. 

Chairperson,

Frontline Service Delivery Programme is unapologetically biased to our still disadvantaged communities, and is thus pro-poor service delivery.

The FSD is leveling the field, by closing the gap between the poorly developed police station infrastructural capacities (scarce resources, skills, and isolated support), and those that are already developed, as found in affluent areas.

Chairperson,

A well-equipped police station is the first line for the community’s safety, their complaint, and their ultimate justice. However, it is a glaring fact that there is a growing frustration in the community about service delivery from other front- line Departments at a local level. 

And, this has put a lot of additional pressure on the police and their allocated resources.

We must then understand that conventional policing is being consistently negatively affected due to high number of these violent service delivery protests, which have inevitably diverted core policing human, financial and material resources. 

Police killings have also been very detrimental to effective policing.

Therefore, as the South African Police Service, we are expected and obligated to change our basic methods, procedures, and structures of policing to align with these added constraints.

Chairperson,

The Farlam Commission had issued strong recommendations to do just that. The Minister of Police has already appointed the Panel of Experts to provide technical best practices to transform the organization.

The Ministerial Transformation Task Team, will in turn complement this Panel, by reviewing all the policies, national instructions, standing orders and operational standards that detriment and negate the police officers’ working environment, their living conditions, their career progression, and their dependants’ livelihood, when the police officers either retire or pass on. 

Chairperson,

The police officer health and wellness is an emerging priority, and these are principles that must not be lost from policing the nation. We do hope then that our Department will not be adversely affected by the cost containment measures as introduced by National Treasury.

We are pleased to inform this House that the Transformation Terms of Reference are completed, and will be consolidated with the Panel of Experts, which will be launched on 29th April 2016. But of course when this ANC-led government listens and promptly intervenes on the plight of our people and our police officers, we are being accused of “misdirected and political grandstanding”. 

Chairperson,

We unapologetically insist that, the security of our country must always be premised on the vision of the National Development Plan, which aims to counter the destructive legacy that was left by colonialism, apartheid, and a segregated economy. 

And this seems to be conveniently forgotten by the so-called liberalists who cynically claim that some of our transformative legislation will hasten investors to leave South Africa in their droves. An example of this is the PSIRA bill as Amended. It is alleged that the Bill in its current form as Amended, is “unconstitutional”, “xenophobic”, and a “threat to job creation and economy”. 

Chairperson,

The bone of contention is “ownership”, [Clause 20 (2) (c)] and sadly, has nothing to do with the behavior, conduct ad compliance of owners of these security companies and their respective customers, who also don’t obey the law. 

For instance, these skeptical critics avoid transformational issues such as equitable wage for the thousands security guards in the industry. As the SAPS Executive, we urge the PSIRA Council to advise the Ministry of Police in doing away with the issue of classification of areas with regard to Illustrative Contract Pricing Structure. 

Currently, this system truly smacks of the ‘Old Apartheid’ Group Areas Act, where pricing structure for a security guard is dictated according to three Areas, Area 1 (e.g.: Magisterial Districts of Germiston, Kempton Park, Pretoria Simonstown, etc), Area 2 (e.g.: Magisterial Districts of Mangaung, Kimberly, Somerset West, Stellenbosch, etc) and Area 3 (all other areas such as Umthatha, Umlazi, Polokwane, Galeshewe, etc), with different monthly salaries for the security guard as per area employed. 

PSIRA, anivakali ngalendlela sifuna ngayo. You must bite harder against non-compliance. Why are you still using such outdated contract pricing structures?

We will anticipate the PSIRA Council to sort this out urgently and to report to us within the next six months, as every policy must be in line with our Constitution.

Chairperson,

Another transformational issue conveniently forgotten is the matter of bouncers who are mostly armed at most of the establishments of their posting. 

I am sure no one is keen to know or to monitor if these bouncers are actually registered with PSIRA, as legislation dictates. Again, the skeptics seem to overlook this matter. All they care about is “ownership” as opposed to “compliance”.

Chairperson,

In no way do we say, multi-national private security companies operating here pose threat to the country’s national security and sovereignty. However, they must obey our Laws and our Constitution.

But, we would rather lose our global trading partners, break our international trade agreement obligations, rather than compromise our own transformation laws for our national security and the betterment of our workers. And, this is not a xenophobic stance, as hypocrites lead to believe.

Chairperson,

As I conclude, we want to reiterate that, our back-to-basics approach strive for a policing that will contribute to the national agenda of freeing our people from want and fear. We want to see a policing that secures our people from fear of poverty, unemployment, disease, violence and crime.

We all have a duty to go deeper and analyze the root causes of and consequences of insecurities, which undermine and devalue people’s lives. 

We will continue moving forward towards a safer South Africa, but we will never follow hypocrites, skeptics and pessimists, who are hell-bent to move our country backwards. 

I thank you all.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Responses
 

Vote 23: Police and IPID

National Assembly
Mr MA Mncwango, MP
Inkatha Freedom Party

Honourable Speaker,

The IFP laments the current instability in SAPS, as leadership is faltering in many aspects related to SAPS operations on a day to day basis and this is principally due to SAPS being beleaguered for far too long with political appointments to the office of National Police Commissioner. Enough is enough! This position is for career policemen or women not civilian appointees. To disgraced, suspended National Police Commissioner, Riah Phiyega, do the right thing, do the right thing and resign! Don’t make this more difficult than it already has been.

To the Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Johannes Khomotso Phahlane, your ‘back to basics’ approach has been a breath of fresh air, as SAPS has veered off-track over the years of serving under two teacher’s and a social worker come banker. We salute you on your approach, there is a quality and substance in your leadership and this comes only from years of dedicated service as a policeman that has worked hard through the ranks.

Honourable Speaker, not all is well at SAPS, the killing of our police officers remains a huge concern, and must be dealt with harshly. Our policemen and women are dying in the streets because criminals are out of hand in South Africa. A strategy must be formulated as soon as possible to deal resolutely with this.

Two commissions have already highlighted key facts and issues about SAPS that must be immediately addressed. In January 2012 the Social Justice Coalition got the ball rolling and because of their efforts the Khayelitsha commission was started. SAPS have committed to implementing the Commission’s findings and should take serious consideration in dealing with other SAPS areas like they are prersently doing in Khayelitsha. The Marikana massacre was the single most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since 1960, SAPS acted in a manner that defies responsible policing and we welcome Minister Nathi Nhleko’s appointing of an independent panel of experts to advise on public order policing issues going forward.

Logistical equipment and infrastructure, particularly in rural areas needs immediate attention and intervention. We must see an improvement in the state of our police buildings and barracks as some are in an appalling condition and this contributes to the current low morale of the officers. Our Police women and men must also have equipment that meets current needs. Vans fitted with the latest chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear detection devices, while a nice to have, do not assist in policing requirements as they stand today in South Africa. These are by no means not important, but these are the exception rather than the norm and should not take precedence of other priority equipment.

In conclusion, Let us work together to rebuild SAPS and in so doing make our country safer for all.

The IFP supports this budget vote.

I thank you.

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Policing is about people Policing is about people:   Zakhele Mbhele (DA)  Shadow Minister of Police

From the outset, I want to put this debate in proper perspective: policing is about people. This fundamental truth can be easily forgotten or obscured among all the budgetary talk of appropriations, programmes, targets and indicators, but beyond the allocation figures and well-intentioned plans, we are essentially talking about our thousands of rank-and-file officers on the ground who face the enormous task of reducing crime rates that are among the world’s highest, while the police stations are often under-staffed and under-resourced and our men and women in blue are under-equipped and under-trained.

Equally important, we are also talking about the victims of crime, too many of whom lose their lives, or survive but have to live with the trauma of having had their safety and dignity violated by criminals. In many cases, this is made worse when their cases remain unresolved due to lengthy or unsuccessful investigations, the result of a Detective Service in dire distress. Ultimately this budget is about it meaningfully contributing to making all people in South Africa safe, in feeling and in fact. Our assessment as the DA is that unfortunately this will not be the case, except for small gains in limited contexts.

This is our assessment, because the factors that underpin the chronic poor performance of our police service, demonstrated by steady increases in violent and serious crimes in recent years, have not been adequately addressed. The DA’s vision for a professional and effective police service is rooted in having competent police leadership and management with the right priorities who enforce strong accountability. The current state of affairs in this regard unfortunately falls far too short, at the cost of ordinary citizens being unsafe and vulnerable to crime on a daily basis in their homes and on the streets.

South Africa continues to have a murder rate about five times higher than the global average as measured in 2013 and, in recent years, there has been an increase in most categories of violent crime, with rising organised crime being a major contributor to this. The 2014/15 crime statistics showed truck hijacking being up by a staggering 29.1%, car hijacking up by 14.2% and aggravated robbery up by 8.5%.

The reason for this deteriorating situation is that SAPS management has not been getting the basics right for years: we have under-staffing in many police stations, often the worst in the poorest communities that were historically under-serviced, because of failures in human resource management. The Detective Service is severely constrained, with many stations suffer from under-resourcing because of failures in financial management and officers are hampered by under-resourcing because of failures in supply chain management.

Two oversight visits that I undertook just this week provided yet more snapshots of these systemic maladies. On Monday, I visited the Temba police station in Hammanskraal in Tshwane, which registered as being in the top ten stations in the country for drug-related crime in the most recent crime statistics. What I found was a station with 91 unfilled posts, whose officers were ill-equipped with vehicles not suitable for the distances and terrain they have to cover in executing their work.

To the credit of the local management, the task team that has been formed to tackle narcotics manufacturing, storage and distribution activities by local drug syndicates in this very large precinct has had some successes but this is in spite of the constraints under which they labour due to being left in the lurch by senior management, notbecause of any significant support from superiors.

Yesterday, I was at the Glebelands Hostels in Umlazi, following the protracted violence in the area which has claimed more than 60 lives since 2014. Residents told us that the local SAPS have been entirely ineffective in stopping the bloodletting, which is driven by a local syndicate, that in fact elements of the police have been co-opted and bought over to collude with organised criminal activity and that their tip-offs to the police have borne no fruit and investigations into the murders have been virtually non-existent.

This is a shocking state of affairs, with residents living in constant fear and receiving little to no help from law enforcement authorities that they should be able to trust to keep them safe. Responsiveness to the situation has either been lethargic – not even a task team convened to undertake intelligence-led operations to get to the bottom of the problem – or misguidedly haphazard in the form of a brief but ineffectual Operation Fiela intervention last year.

Best policing practice tells us that when you have a crisis hotspot of organised crime, the most sustainable solution is a dedicated, intelligence-led approach to crack the spine of syndicate criminality and disrupt their activities with precision and effective force. At the very least, this should take the form of task teams, which we know to be the modus operandi of SAPS but we are facing a nationwide crisis and business-as-usual simply will not suffice.

The DA has always advocated for the establishment of specialised units where dedicated and skilled policing expertise is needed to crack down on organised crime and syndicate activity. Although we’ve been told that two specialised units will be established to address narcotics and illegal firearm-related crime, we don’t yet have any details on the implementation of this announcement. Even when that is rolled out, it won’t be enough, because they will be located within the Hawks which means they would only look at organised crime from what is designated as Level 3 and above, as they rightly should.

That means that there will still be a need for a sustained, specialised, intelligence-led approach to tackling local-level syndicate crime, as manifested in the Temba SAPS precinct and Glebelands Hostels, which the usual investigative processes of the constrained Detective Services currently struggle to address effectively.

The fact is, drug-related crime has increased by 217.7% over the last 10 years, by almost 100% over the last five years and since the dismantling of the specialised South African Narcotics Bureau (SANAB) in 2004, drug-related crime has increased by 325.8%.

We have powers to amend this budget. And we are going to use our powers to amend this budget. We will propose an amendment to Vote 23 on Police, in the amount of R718.4-million to fully fund a Gang and Drug specialised unit. We can find the money. And we will find the money.

Police that serve and a watchdog that bites: Zakhele Mbhele (DA) Shadow Minister of Police

Sizakele Sigasa. Salome Masooa. Eudy Simelane. Noxolo Nogwaza. Motshidisi Pascalina.

Motshidisi did not live to see her matric results. Instead, her body was discovered in a veld, mutilated and burnt. Her eyes were taken out and her private parts were mutilated.

Her parents identified her by the tattoo on her leg, it was the only thing visible.

Every queer person murdered, assaulted, victimised or discriminated against, like Motshidisi Pascalina, for their mere existence, is a stain on our Constitution.

Stigma against persons on the basis of their sexual or gender orientation, identity or bodily diversity persists and to this day queer persons are disproportionally subject to harassment, acts of discrimination and to sexual and physical violence.

Nineteen people were murdered on farms in the Free State last year alone, 14 of them farm workers or their family members. Attacks on farm workers in particular are on the rise, and more than 185 attacks and 47 murders occurred last year.

The Police Rural Safety Strategy is not implemented at 82 stations despite rural communities being disproportionately vulnerable to violent crimes and robberies.

Crime affects every person in this country. Crime knows no race, no age, no gender, and no social class.

The people of our country deserve, as our Constitution demands, police that serve, and a watchdog that bites.

The majority serve, protect and fight crime within the confines of their constitutional obligations.

But some act beyond the Constitution. Conduct inconsistent with the Constitution, violating the very Constitution they pledge to uphold and there must be consequences, not just apologies.

The recent UN Human Rights Commission probe into police brutality and the handling of the Marikana Massacre, days before Human Rights Day, and for the first time post-Apartheid, is an embarrassment and its findings even more so.

IPID must bite the hand of those officers who assault civilians, bite the hand in the cookie jar, bite the hand that flashes the badge or pulls the gun to intimidate, victimise, or abuse.

But the IPID has had its teeth kicked out by inadequate funding, budget cuts, and findings treated as mere recommendations to investigate elsewhere, and set aside or ignore.

Because of budget constraints there is a shortage of 138 investigators, hardly addressed by staff establishment increases of three or four investigators a year.

This explains why there was only one investigator on standby to deal with 500 police officers and 34 bodies at Marikana.

Despite the President and Minister’s vocal commitment to implement the Farlam recommendations – including the expansion strategy to strengthen and capacitate the IPID – Treasury refused the R5 million required.

We deserve police that serve, and a watchdog that bites, but government is kicking out its teeth, paying lip service to addressing police misconduct.

This House, as we scrutinise and amend the proposed budget, must instruct Treasury to give IPID the money it needs to reign in rogue police.

In dealing with crimes against queer people and rural communities, we must have specific, separate data on sexual and gender-based crimes, crimes against queer persons and farm attacks and murders.

The police must ensure that these crimes are promptly and thoroughly investigated and that perpetrators are brought to justice. Survivors must have access to full reparation and means of protection. This should be guaranteed by the State.

Finally, the Rural Safety Strategy, a mere policy intervention, does not lead to actual, specialist boots on the ground and I reiterate our call for adequately trained, equipped and capacitated specialised Rural Reaction Units.

Minister, there is no excuse to not do this immediately, because South Africans deserve police that serve and a watchdog that bites.