Independent Complaints Directorate, Civilian Secretariat of Police, Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority 2010/11 Annual Reports: preparatory workshop; Police Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report

Meeting report

Welcome and opening remarks
The Chairperson extended her appreciation to Members for the manner in which they had acquitted themselves in their engagement with the South African Police Service 2010/11 Annual Report and also thanked the support staff for their hard work. Within the time made available to them, they had done justice to their duty to make the Department account for their budget and had identified many shortcomings which they would not have uncovered if they had not been thorough in their work. If the Annual Report had not been analysed and scrutinised in depth, these issues would not have been picked up. She noted that the Committee had received expressions of appreciation from the public for the good work they were doing. As discussed the previous day, a letter had been written to the Minister, inviting him to meet with them to give clarity on key issues such as Irregular Expenditure, Section 35 and the Regulation 45 appointments. A letter had been sent to the National Commissioner saying SAPS should never extend an invitation to other people to attend meetings of the Portfolio Committee, as had occurred the previous day. It had become apparent that the demonstration of a mobile security device had not been vetted by SAPS management and had been arranged by Technology Management Services unilaterally. The Portfolio Committee could not be used as a platform for marketing purposes. The Committee decided to whom to extend invitations, and if SAPS wanted anyone to demonstrate anything, it had to request permission to do so. It could not inform the agenda and embarrass anyone.

Police Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report: Sections 1 to 7
Ms Nadia Dollie, Committee researcher, explained that Section One, the introduction, described the role of the Portfolio Committee and the mandate of the Department of Police and the structure of the report. Section Two dealt with the strategic priorities and measurable objectives of the Department, as contained in their five year strategic plan as well as their annual performance plan. Section Three dealt with the analysis of the strategic plan and some of the amendments which impacted on targets and had been made to the plan after it was tabled. Section Four dealt with the spending priorities of the Department for 2010/11 and an analysis of the Section 32 expenditure report. It provided an overview of the adjusted appropriation and an analysis of the third and fourth quarter expenditure reports. Section Five was the analysis and overview of the Annual Report and financial statements for 2010/11. It contained information on Programme performance, the financial statements and the Report of the Auditor-General. Section Six was a consideration of the reports of the Standing Committee of Public Accounts (SCOPA). She noted that SCOPA had not dealt with issues related to the Department of Police in 2010/11. Section Seven was the consideration of other sources of information such as the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the Committee’s key findings on oversight visits and other Committee Reports. It also identified key recommendations made in the previous BRRR. Section Eight was for observations of the Portfolio Committee and this was the most important section for input from members. Section Nine was the conclusion which provided an overall assessment of the 2010/11 financial and service delivery performance. This should summarise the perceptions of the Committee on these issues and members had to make further input here. The last section was for the financial and performance delivery recommendations and this required the Committee’s attention.

The Chairperson was satisfied with the structure and the outline of the content of the report and said that Ms Dollie should proceed to the sections requiring input from the Committee.

Ms Dollie moved to Section 4 dealing with financial matters. Section 4.1 dealt with the financial priorities and what the Department had said were their spending priorities for 2010/11 in the 2010 budget process. Section 4.2 gave an overview of the Department's budget over a longer period of time, indicating how the budget had changed. Section 4.3 dealt with the adjustment appropriations and summarised virements that had been made as well as the shifting of funds. Section 4.4 dealt specifically with virements made after the adjustment appropriation period (fourth quarter virements) and to what the virements were attributed by the Department. Section 4.5 dealt with spending up to the end of the third quarter, and highlighted the fact that they were spending the earmarked funds of the Integrated Justice System (IJS), and also some of the high spending in management, because of the retirement packages. Section 4.6 dealt with the fourth quarter expenditure report and noted the Department had spent almost 100% of its budget with only a small under-expenditure. It noted it had spent its IJS funds and gave a brief summary per economic classification items. Section 4.7 gave an indication of spending for First Quarter 2011/12 where the Department had spent 30.6% of budget.

Ms Dollie noted she had consolidated a lot of information in Section 5, showing how the Department had performed in its five programmes. It indicated that under Capital Works, only 19 projects had been completed, 14 projects had been rolled over and the two incomplete projects were the Roodeplaat Dog Unit and Letsitele Police Station. Highlighted under Training, was the number of personnel trained as detectives. The improved ratio for staff to vehicle was noted but the distribution of vehicles at detective level, was still not satisfactory. Issues on bullet resistant vests were also mentioned. There was a summary of the misconduct, discipline and corruption cases for the reporting period.

Under Programme 1: Administration, the Department's financial performance was addressed, their key spending priorities and their key Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects. Ms Dollie said she had added information on the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), the Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and the amounts paid to them.

Under Programme 2: Visible Policing, the key targets were noted and whether they were achieved or not and important issues were highlighted. These included sector policing; issues around reservists; murder of police officials; firearm control and the fact that the Minister had commissioned an enquiry into this; firearm losses; victim support rooms and why the target had not been reached; borderline policing and information on bases that had closed down. Under Public Order policing, the high number of management incidents were noted. The number of Special Task Force Operations was given. The financial performance of Programme 2 looked at key spending priorities.

Under Programme 3: Detective Services, there was a table of its key targets. Ms Dollie had put a note there, which could possibly be moved, on increases in the detection rates. These marginal increases were compounded by the relatively low percentage of case dockets received. The division had said that they would monitor detective rates and court ready cases, so that interventions could be made. There was information about crimes against women and the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units, the Criminal Records Centre and that additional personnel were provided for the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). She noted the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) had additional personnel and backlogs had decreased. There was summary of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPSI) numbers, their targets and training. The financial performance for Programme 3 looked at key spending priorities and what had been done with IJS funding and the allocation for DPSI.

Under Programme 4: Crime Intelligence she reported on targets, financial information and key spending priorities

Under Programme 5: Protection and Security Services she reported on key targets and whether they had been achieved, the arrests and seizures in all categories and key spending performance. Section 5.6 gave a summary of its financial statements, the revenue received, virements and actual expenditure. It highlighted some of the major issues picked up by the Committee, including donor funds and the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (CARA); performance awards and expenditure for compensation of employees; the fact that expenditure on goods and services had increased; the increase in the use of consultants; infrastructure and buildings; laboratory costs; SITA payments and computer services; operating leases for cleaning and gardening services. In terms of capital assets, key issues were over-expenditure on buildings that had occurred by the third quarter already, machinery and equipment, computer equipment, furniture and biological assets (which referred to the dog units). In terms of written off assets, it was noted that they had received much less than expected.

The issue of the increase of 2918 % in Irregular Expenditure was reported on, including details, the Department's explanations for why most of it had been condoned, and the investigations into condoned and uncondoned Irregular Expenditure. Ms Dollie noted that information on Police Day had been included somewhere else in the report but could be moved. Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure and the Contingent Liabilities and the Middestad Building Lease in Pretoria was reported on in this section. There was also a summary of the AG Report plus what the Department said it was doing to rectify audit queries.

Section 6 dealt with SCOPA and Ms Dollie noted that the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations had called the Department in, to account for irregular virement made during that appropriation period, as well as slow expenditure of earmarked funds for the Integrated Justice System and Criminal Justice System Revamp projects.

Section 7 dealt with other sources of information such as the SONA and Committee Reports (sites visited during Committees oversight visits and key recommendations and concerns). The summary of the key findings of Committee oversight visit were inadequate safeguarding of firearms, the poor state of archives and SAPS 13 stores; inadequate implementation of the legislation; community allegations of corruption; ill-discipline and ineffective management at station level.

Section 7.3 dealt with the previous BRRR and summarised the key financial recommendations made by the Committee in 2010. These had included asset management, the allocation of funds to programmes at the planning stage, moving funds in the fourth quarter and costed operational plans which included the ring -fenced amounts.

Observations of the Portfolio Committee on Police
8.1. Consideration of financial issues
Ms Dollie noted that Section 8 was the most important section for input by the Committee and she had summarised some of their key concerns that had been made in their engagement with SAPS on their Annual Report. The first issue was the huge increase in Irregular Expenditure and specifically the costs for Police Day. She reported that it had been a concern for the Committee why this had been allowed in the first place, that there was insufficient control, that the amounts had not been declared as irregular expenditure (as the R70 million had only been declared after the AG had informed them). The Committee had expressed its concern with the amounts condoned by the Bid Adjudication Committee and that BAC had condoned the expenditure on the basis of whether value had been received, irrespective of the processes being faulty. Members questioned the qualifications of BAC members as well as the fact that persons responsible for irregular expenditure might be on the BAC. That BAC claimed value for money was received in all cases was problematic. This was supported by the Office of the AG who acknowledged that the matter should be taken further. The Committee had advised the Department that all members involved in the irregular expenditure should be disciplined. The Department had claimed that in all cases where irregular expenditure had been condoned, it had been conditional on investigations and in this regard written warnings were issued. In most of the cases, investigations were pending. 

Ms Dollie dealt with the unqualified audit opinion, saying while the Committee understood the AG would not qualify a department if Irregular Expenditure was disclosed in the financial statements, even if corrected only after intervention by the AG, it had misgivings about this process. The disclosure of incorrect practices resulting in non-competitive procurement should not mean that a department was not reprimanded or the people involved were not held to account. The Office of the AG had emphasised that its role was to give the assurance that the financial statements were reliable and that it then became the function of oversight bodies such as the Portfolio Committee to act on the information.

On the matter of Contingent Liabilities, the Committee was seriously concerned by the implications of the Matter of Emphasis in the AG's report and the 'significant uncertainty' about the Sanlam Middestad building lease which might be substantially understated. The Department stated that if the Court made the decision that the State was liable, then the funds would have to be found and provided for, within their existing baseline. The Department believed that R611 million was the correct estimate including escalations.

On the auditing process, the Committee had grave concerns about whether the Office of the AG could uncover the reality of financial and programme performance in SAPS. The Committee questioned if an auditing scrutiny of a sample of 25 police stations, was adequate. The Office of the AG acknowledged that, because of the size of the Department, they could not look at all aspects. The Committee welcomed the initiative of the Office of the AG to expand their sample in subsequent years, by auditing 25 police stations on an announced basis and five on an unannounced basis. The information emanating from the five unannounced audits would guide future auditing processes. On its measures to address auditing findings, the Department indicated steps taken to address these concerns and monitor progress on these management control measures.

Other concerns members had raised and which were reflected in the Report were concerns about the high number of virements and about the donor funds not utilised though it was noted that the Department would use the funds in the current financial year.

Civil claims, the R82 million owed to Department of Minerals and Energy, the reduction of informers fees and the helicopter purchase were further Committee concerns. The Committee had expressed the concern that the Department was not revealing operational capital costs properly, in its strategic and performance plans. The helicopter was ordered in 2009 but was not mentioned in any documentation yet it cost R30.9 million. The Department acknowledged that there was no alignment between its performance plan and the budget and had said that this would be addressed in its 2012 performance plan.

Discussion
Ms A Van Wyk (ANC) referred to the Irregular Expenditure and said that it was important to indicate that the Minister had engaged with the AG on the matter and that should be reflected in the report. She felt that unless something substantial was said on civil claims, it should be removed.

Mr V Ndlovu (IFP) said that if the report stated that members were concerned about civil claims it should remain, but if not, it should be removed.

Ms Kohler-Barnard stated that it should be noted that in respect to the R76 million Irregular Expenditure, that the AG had informed them, that due to the size of SAPS, less than 5% of the Department had been properly audited and this gave an indication that the extent of the problems could be greater. The big issue under the contingent liability was that it had gone up and every year it would go up with by a billion rand and that it had not been stopped in its tracks.

Mr P Swathe (DA) said the concerns raised on the civil claims should be retained as it would encourage the Department to deal with it.

Ms Dollie suggested that it appear under Contingent Liabilities and the Middestad lease could be the first item. The second item could be on the Committee's concerns about accumulated civil claims.

Ms Van Wyk said they should be cautious about the 5% audit that was done because it could be concluded that the irregular expenditure was related to this. She agreed that they could state at the beginning of that section that due to the size of SAPS and its budget, less than 5% of the Department was audited by the AG.

Ms Van Wyk was not convinced that civil claims should be under Contingent Liabilities. The responsible way of reporting would be about the increase of the civil claims for 2009 /10 and 2010/11. The point was that SAPS legal services was managing civil claims badly and that had to be reflected. She noted that some of the civil claims they had on their books had expired.

Ms Dollie said it was something to be borne in mind and it could be shifted to the Recommendations section or some other sub-title.

The Chairperson referred to the statement on the Committee's response to the unqualified audit opinion of the AG. She said the Office of the AG had explained exactly how they worked and that they could not change, as that was the way it was done globally. Raising misgivings about it was not going to change anything. The auditors had said that once they had done their work, it was up to the relevant bodies to use the information. The AG had said that it was not their practice to audit the whole Department. They took a sample and audited that sample and the Committee had to appreciate that.

Ms Van Wyk agreed and suggested they could change it to the Committee's advantage by rephrasing it to emphasise that the Committee had the responsibility to act on the AG's findings.

Ms Dollie suggested it be shifted as it gave the Committee the function of acting on the AG's report and this could be in the Recommendations section. She suggested editing the whole section. It was also the duty of the Committee to make a follow-up on the outcomes of the five police stations that had unannounced audits, and this could be included in the recommendations as well.

8.2. Consideration of performance per programme
The Committee considered Section 8.2 and addressed issues under each programme and noted the key successes and summarised the key concerns such as supply chain management. Capital projects was another concern especially as the budget for the 33 projects had been exceeded. Only 19 projects had been completed and the running costs of the 14 remaining projects would extend to the subsequent financial year. The targets had been set by the police and had not been met. The projects in mora were stalled due to the bankruptcy of contractors and members had questioned why they had been given the contracts and why there was no cover for bankruptcy. Even where projects were driven by the Department of Public Works (DPW), SAPS was responsible as the budget came from them and they had to ensure that all checks and balances were in place. The high costs of projects were still evident, as in the cases of Bisho and Lady Frere. The length of time taken to complete projects was a further negative factor. It was noted that Building Services was under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). The appalling state of police barracks was raised as a serious concern. 
 
Other issues included the movable and immovable assets, basic services, the effectiveness of the Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) system and the availability of vehicles for use by detectives.

In terms of the Technical Management Services (TMS) and Information Services (IS) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) budget, the Committee had expressed its concern that they had spent their money very late in the financial year and this was a sign of bad planning.

Training concerns were that there were fewer training opportunities, there was a need for detective training, firearms training and that the Belgian funding for strategic management training had not been fully utilised.

The Committee's serious concerns about the lateral appointments and promotions done in terms of Regulation 45 of 2008, and Section 35 terminations and the costs of these to the departments, were highlighted.  Ms Dollie suggested that they add a footnote giving the definition of Regulation 45 and Section 35. Under Regulation 45, there had been 20 appointments, 16 were lateral and four were promotions. SAPS had said that prior performance, experience and qualifications had been taken into account. The Committee had raised the concern that there had been allegations of poor performance about some of the appointees and they were not convinced by the explanations of the Department.

There had been 19 Section 35 terminations at a cost of R31 million. Terminations could be employer or employee initiated and the National Commissioner was responsible for the final decision. The Department had agreed it was financially more beneficial for people wanting to go on retirement, to take a Section 35 which entailed receiving a salary for six months, a bigger lump sum and up to five years added to their years of service, dependent on their years of service remaining to their normal retirement age. Approximately four out of the 19 individuals, who had received Section 35 terminations, were under investigation. There was no mechanism to retrieve the money.

Concerns had been raised by members on the rank structure and the criteria for promotions up the ranks and that SAPS members did not have to attend a course to be promoted.

The report gave statistics on suspensions and noted that the high level of suspensions were of concern to members.

Mr Swathe wanted clarity on promotions and asked if it related to the deviations in the promotion process members had picked up. 

Ms Dollie replied that those were the promotions under Regulation 45 and they would also report on promotions up the ranks

Mr G Schneemann (ANC) noted that the way promotion was structured, there was no requirement for a course and the need for this could be in the Committee's recommendations. He noted that SAPS had said that how people progressed from one rank to another was under review.

Ms Kohler-Barnard commented that a lot of the answers from SAPS on promotion had been fudged. She had given them a specific example from KZN where a secretary was bumped into the SAPS and pushed up the ranks above people who had operational experience of ten years. There was no explanation of their policy and how people could be bounced up five or six ranks.

Mr Ndlovu asked if they were sure that there were no requirements for people to skip ranks without doing a course.

Ms Van Wyk said she had the same concerns. It was normally possible to be promoted on merit in the first few ranks. The problems arose when people were commissioned officers and this was where SAPS was not doing what the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was doing. They had to be more precise. SAPS adhered to the current criteria only up to a point, as seen in the appointment of Station Commanders with no management experience.

The Chairperson asked if she would be able to apply if SAPS advertised a Director's post and if that would give her a rank.

Members responded that she could.

Ms Van Wyk said a specialist could be appointed as a General and she gave the example of Lieutenant General Schutte who was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of SAPS. He used to be with the former State Expenditure which was now the National Treasury and his appointment was a lateral entry into a post. There would always be posts for specialists and they did not have to do any police courses. What they were talking about was the career police officer i.e. the commissioned officer who moved through the ranks. She commented that this was something the Committee should consider when they made the recommendations. They should also look at promotions when they looked at the SAPS Act as well.

Ms Kohler-Barnard referred to Mr Schneemann's statement made the previous day. He had said that in the SANDF, one did the courses and then got promoted to a higher rank. In the SAPS, every time the Committee went to a station that was falling apart, it was because there was no management. They often found that the Station Commander did not have the qualifications. They were told that the person had been placed there with the understanding that they would get the qualifications once they were appointed.

Ms Van Wyk said they could state in the recommendations that the policy on promotions should be dealt with in the new SAPS Act.

Mr Schneemann said that they should indicate that there had been 5,000 promotions in the current financial year under the new rank structure.

Ms Dollie replied that it was mentioned.

Ms Van Wyk referred to the Section 35 terminations and said the relevant sentence should reflect that four of the 19 persons had been under investigation 'at the time' of their termination under Section 35.

Mr Schneemann noted that the figures for the breakdown in terms of rank of the 5,000 promotions should be given.

Ms Van Wyk remarked that there was a contradiction in the criteria given by SAPS for appointments as one year uninterrupted experience did not qualify as seniority. She suggested that they recommend that SAPS brief the Committee on the promotion policy and movement up the ranks.

Ms Dollie moved on to Programme Two and said key issues were the impact of the FIFA World Cup 2010 and the targets that were not achieved, which SAPS had said was the result of the World Cup. The Committee had said targets should have been set with the World Cup in mind and that SAPS knew when it would take place. The concern was the Department said that the World Cup had taken from the budget and this affected the funding for Victim Support Rooms (VSRs). The allocation should have been made and it should not have been affected by the World Cup,  which had in fact, been separately budgeted for.

Ms Van Wyk agreed that there had been a separate budget for the World Cup and they had not asked SAPS to report on that. The police had received two allocations, at the beginning of the financial year and in the adjustment appropriation process. This made its justification that it could not build VSRs as it used the  funds for the World Cup, worse. The amounts SAPS received for the World Cup should be added so that they knew the Committee was aware of the funding.

Mr Schneemann said there had been a budgeted amount for the VSRs and the funds were taken away for the 2010 World Cup.

Ms Dollie said she could not remember SAPS saying that there had been a budgetary allocation for Victim Support Rooms. In their performance plan they had included the number of VSR's but they did not budget specifically for it

Ms Van Wyk said if this was so, then they should note that SAPS did not align the Strategic and Annual Performance Plan with their budget.

Ms Dollie said she had put the alignment issue in the recommendations.
 
Ms Dollie continued Programme Two and noted under Sector Policing, the Committee had concerns with the slow rate of implementation and the criteria used to determine the sectors.

Members had expressed concerns about escapes from police custody plus the reason given for the target of escapes not having been achieved was due to the fact that measures taken to address escapes were not cascaded down to station level. This should have occurred before the target was set. A total of 259 SAPS members had been charged with aiding escapees.

SAPS 13 Stores and archives were visited by the Committee and they were concerned that SAPS had no idea how many exhibit firearms they had. The Department had acknowledged that they had a serious problem in SAPS 13 stores and the archives.
 
Progress on firearm applications were still unsatisfactory and licences and competency certificates had not been distributed to applicants.

Other concerns were: Control of firearms by SAPS members and the number reported lost and what was being done in investigating this; the target for victim support rooms had not been met and the reason given, which was budgetary constraints; reservists and the long time being taken to review the reservist system; Public Order policing needed to consider non-lethal methods of crowd control; what happened to equipment and personnel when the SANDF took over borderline patrols and the purchasing of a helicopter.

Under Programme 3: Detective Services, issues were the detection rates and the low percentage of court ready dockets. The Committee wanted the conviction rates to be reflected in the Annual Report and this would also appear in the recommendations. Backlogs in detective training; crimes against women and children; lost and stolen dockets; information on the DPSI; cyber crime; the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and specific problems of the Silverton Laboratory and the proposed decentralisation of the FSL, were reported on.

The Chairperson referred to the matter of the low detection rates and said that the National Commissioner had indicated that they would focus on the detection rates and management had discussed this and this should be reflected in the report.

Ms M Molebatsi (ANC) referred to the sentence stating Station Commanders were not trained and said it should state that 'some' Station Commanders were not trained.

On Programme 4: Crime Intelligence, the Committee had queried the Secret Services account and whether, at station level, crime intelligence members were utilised optimally. They also had concerns about the vetting process; the former head of Crime Intelligence in Gauteng receiving a Section 35 as SAPS should have waited for the outcome of the criminal investigation against him.

Ms Van Wyk said that the Department had acknowledged that they had moved him into a position that did not exist or was not funded. She wondered if it should be included under Crime Intelligence or under Section 35 terminations as the issue of someone under investigation being granted a Section 35.

Ms Van Wyk noted the National Commissioner had stated that the Department did not have access or knowledge of what was happening in the Secret Service Account. He had made it clear that it was not under SAPS command.

Under Programme 5: Protection and Security Services, there was the issue about corruption at border posts and the concern about not moving members so that investigations could continue.

Section 9 Conclusion
In terms of financial performance, it was noteworthy that the Department had received an unqualified audit opinion with one matter of emphasis. It managed to spend nearly 100% of its adjusted appropriation. However the positive aspects were marred by a huge increase in Irregular Expenditure, the exceptionally high contingent liability emanating from the Sanlam Middestad lease, poor performance once more in the building environment and the construction of only 10 of the 79 targeted victim support rooms. The perception of the Committee was that the Department had a very large budget and seemed to be taking its funds for granted. The Department seemed not to have sufficient controls and measures to ensure that its spending was carefully managed. In terms of the realisation of strategic goals and objectives, the following could be noted: It was commendable that SAPS had achieved most of its crime reduction targets with overall decreases in all crimes, especially serious as well as contact crimes. In addition the detection rates in respect of all serious crimes had increased even though there was a concern by the overall decrease in detection rates of crimes against women. Other key successes included the elimination of backlogs in the Forensic Science environment.

The Committee was concerned that the Department was complacent in that it had achieved many of it targets. The Department needed to acknowledge that much more work had to be done to improve detection and investigation in order to ensure crimes were detected, charges were brought to court and criminals convicted. Without this, people in South Africa could not feel safe. The Committee was particularly concerned that the priority of combating crimes against women and children was still posing numerous challenges. In addition, problems in the detective and crime intelligence environment, despite prioritisation, were not showing improved performance. The Committee noted the number of problems at station level which impacted on service delivery to communities as well as impacting on the detection rates. In addition, it noted that in response to the question on whether it had received sufficient funds for 2010/11, SAPS had responded that they had received a credible baseline and funds had been sufficient. Key spending priorities and deliverables had been achieved in their opinion. The Department said it had expanded sufficiently in respect of personnel and Human Resource Development. Challenges in the detective and crime intelligence environment, at station level and in SAPS station stores and archives had been acknowledged by the Department. Other challenges were the administration of firearms and the quality of dockets needed to be improved. SAPS said that many of the issues raised by the Committee had already been identified by management and they were looking at strategies to improve.
                                       
Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) 2010/11 Annual Report briefing
Ms Patricia Whittle, parliamentary researcher,  gave an overview of the ICD's  financial statements and the programme performance highlights and issues for its three programmes: 1 Administration; 2 Complaints Processing Monitoring and Investigation; and 3 Information Management and Research (see documentation). The ICD had received an unqualified audit opinion from the AG with no emphasis on matters. It had received an adjusted appropriation of R131.435 million for the reporting year. Additional revenue collected was R168 000. It had spent R97.7 % of its budget and had no unauthorised or irregular expenditure. Virements of R159 000 and R1.165 million were made out of Programmes 1 and 3 respectively, into Programme 2, for the compensation of employees. The underspending of R2.991 million was attributed to the fact that it had been awaiting invoices for goods and services for which an application for roll-over to the next financial year was made to the National Treasury.

In terms of programme performance, the AG had noted that the Accounting Officer had not established a comprehensive system for reporting performance information, that in respect of Programmes 1 and 2, cases had been signed off as complete without case investigation reports and that numerous cases had been approved for completion by officials without proper written delegation of authority.

Under Programme 1. Administration it was reported that in respect of Human Resource management the total number of posts in 2010/11 were 292 of which 270 were filled, compared to 267 in 2009/10 and there were no additional posts or critical occupations. In terms of employment equity and the male/ female representation, number of females was slightly more than males being 50.74% and 49.26% respectively. However there were only three females as compared to eight males at senior management levels and increasing this ratio had been raised with the ICD and it had set a target of achieving 50% of females in top management positions in 2012/13. Four or 1.48% of employees had disabilities and three of these employees were recruited in 2010/11.

In terms of performance rewards, there had been 107 beneficiaries and the amount was R1.017 million and no employees with disabilities or on the lower skilled levels received performance rewards. 

With regards to Training, Ms Whittle stated that there had not been much detail in the Annual Report and the difference between the training needs identified, which was 607, and the actual training of 246, should be noted. The term 'Other training’ needed clarifying as well as the training budget was for 2010/11. An important aspect was the proposed shift in focus with the implementation of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Act which came into effect in May 2011. The focus would be more on investigations and it should provide more information on the training to increase its investigative capacity and skills in preparation for this change.

In terms of its vacancy rate, the ICD had an overall vacancy rate of 7.5% with a vacancy rate of 20% at senior management level and 19.2% for highly skilled, supervisory levels. There were no job evaluations or post upgrades. The overall annual staff turnover was 14% with the highest rate recorded for senior management level at 17%. The Annual Report had noted that the vacancy rate had fluctuated considerably as staff members resigned for promotions elsewhere, due to limited promotion opportunities and there was a very high turnover at senior management level. No new cohorts were recruited at that level in 2011. This raised the question about the challenges of filling positions at senior management level. A leading question was if these posts would be filled by female candidates given its 50% equity target and what mechanisms would be put in place to improve staff retention. This should be dealt with in its restructuring plans. 

Ms Whittle noted that under Disability Leave, it was recorded that one employee in the highly skilled supervision salary band, had 8 disability leave days at a cost of R6 million and that had to be questioned. There had been no explanation for this and it was unclear if the person came with the disability or was injured on duty, which would make that amount imaginable.

In terms of labour relations, the ICD had finalised seven misconduct and disciplinary hearings including breach of confidentiality, contravention of policy and making false statements on a sworn affidavit. Four had been resolved. Ms Whittle said that these were serious misconduct charges and noted that there had been two dismissals. Two disputes lodged with CCMA had been upheld and the implications should be explained by the ICD.

Ms Whittle indicated the statistics the ICD had reported for Programme 2. Complaints processing, monitoring and investigation in terms of its strategic objectives, targets and actual performance. 82% of 1052 cases of a target of 65% had been achieved for the complete investigation of deaths in police custody or as a result of police action. 2811 complaints of criminality against SAPS had been made and 83% investigations had been completed exceeding the target of 55%.  Most deaths in police custody or as a result of police action occurred in KwaZulu-Natal (248), Gauteng (182) and Eastern Cape (109). Most criminal complaints against SAPS members were received in the Western Cape (438), followed by Gauteng (418) and the Northern Cape (304). Highest misconduct complaints were in Gauteng (546), followed by the Western Cape (485) and Free State (448). Most Domestic Violence complaints were in the Western Cape (28), followed by Gauteng (23) and Free State (15). Ms Whittle noted that the Annual Report did not provide information of the ICD's objective to increase crime-scene attendance by 90%.

All strategic objectives for Programme 3. Information Management and Research were met (see relevant  documentation). Ms Whittle noted the reference to the "implementation of wireless mobile access solution for ICD staff " which was one of its performance indicators and she noted that the Committee should get more information on what it implied.

Ms Dollie picked up on key issues on the ICD's financial performance, such as underspending, which has been relatively large, the application for a rollover and the fact that Treasury might not allow it, the virements and the fact that though there had been no unauthorised expenditure, there was such expenditure from previous financial years awaiting condonation from Parliament. There was also irregular expenditure from the 2009/10 financial year awaiting condonation. Computer expenditure had almost doubled and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) services had increased by 382.8%. Its expenditure on consultants, contractors, and outsourced agencies had more than doubled. There had been no legal costs in 2009/10. However in 2010/11 there was R553 000 in legal costs, while the legal cost budget had been R365 000. There had not been any explanation for this.  There had been a huge increase in operating leases, which increased from R4.665 million in 2009/10 to R15.568 million in 2010/11. This was probably for the lease of its new head office. There were issues with the contingent liabilities and the total possible claims for which the ICD may be liable was R9.142 million. Ms Dollie noted that one would not expect civil claims against the ICD as it were not the police and it should give an explanation. The AG had noted that the contingent liability disclosure had been materially understated but it had since been rectified.

Discussion
Ms Kohler-Barnard asked Ms Whittle, if in terms of her analysis, it was because ICD did not have the money to give the promotions. Was it budgetary constraints or was it a management issue?

Ms Whittle said one factor was there were very few positions to be promoted to on a higher level since the ICD currently had a small top structure and was a small entity with a limited budget, so it was budget related. With the implementation of the IPID Act, there would probably be expansion. One of the issues she had raised was job evaluation as she did not get a clear sense from the Annual Report if this was being done, as it had reported that no job evaluations or post upgrades had been done in 2010/11. She had thought that evaluating salary levels and skills would have been done since people were leaving for higher salaries elsewhere and it did not have the money to compete and its future budget would have to address that.

Ms Molebatsi referred to strategic objectives for Programme 3, and asked if the one on increasing the number of community-awareness programmes and the other on providing relevant information to the public and stakeholders were not the same.

Ms Whittle replied that the ICD had said that the public meetings were to provide information on their mandate and to get feedback on cases relevant to specific communities. 

Ms Kohler-Barnard asked what a precautionary suspension was. She remarked that her perception was that the ICD had turned a corner administratively and delivery wise and asked whether this was correct.

Ms Whittle said the process had started with the IPID Bill. The issue was that they did not have the mandate to enforce the recommendations and this was the major criticism against the ICD. With the change in focus brought about by the IPID Act, there would be a new mandate and an improved budget and this would have an impact on how they delivered their services. The Committee should monitor these developments.

Ms Van Wyk said she was concerned the ICD had not spent its budget as it could not ask for more money, if it was not spending what it had. The large legal liabilities needed an explanation. She was also extremely concerned that no job evaluations had been done, given the fact that it had new legislation that it had to implement. The new legislation would mean restructuring which meant that job evaluations had to be done and new positions identified. If this had not been done, it would result in delays in the actual implementation of the IPID Act on the ground, by a year.

Civilian Secretariat for Police 2010/11 Annual Report briefing
Ms Whittle noted that the Secretariat was in the process of being restructured in terms of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Services Act No 2 of 2011. Thus its Strategic plan covered a one year period only and there had been a draft set of programmes and activities, some with non-measurable targets. One of the items it had prioritised in 2010/11 was the completion of a five-year Strategic Plan.

Ms Whittle noted that there had been insufficient reporting on its financial performance. She had received telephonic confirmation on its financial statements. Its adjusted budget allocation had been R25 million and its expenditure was RR22,806 million or 91.2% of its budget resulting in under-expenditure of R2,475 million or 9.9%. In the Annual Report the under-expenditure was recorded as R4,299 million (20.16%) which was lower than in 2009/10 which was 22.71%. Reasons for the under-expenditure related to R3 million for a National Monitoring Evaluation Tool not finalised by SITA and R1 million for a National Victims Perception Survey which had been taken over by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA). There was over-expenditure of R1,824 million and this had been as a result of posts filled in addition to the fixed establishment. Ms Whittle was not sure how the amounts for the over-expenditure were derived as the amounts given by the Secretariat and those in the Annual Report differed.

Ms Whittle gave an overview of the performance of the Secretariat's five programmes (see relevant document). Issues she alerted the Committee to, were the fact that the Secretariat had been excluded from the deliberations on police reservists, but it had completed a draft report for inclusion in the White Paper. She said that there appeared to be challenges in terms of cooperation with the police. Access was denied to them to the SAPS performance chart.
  
Under the Chief Directorate: Partnerships, the Secretariat had met most of its targets and it had facilitated the resuscitation of Community Safety Forums (CSFs) and finalised a CSF policy. It had held 12 Community Policing Forum (CPF) meetings and one engagement guideline was developed. Ms Whittle noted that SAPS had reported very little on community policing forums and it would be interesting to ask the Secretariat what the challenges were in terms of the CSFs and CPFs.

In terms of Human Resources, which resided under the Chief Directorate: Support Services, Ms Whittle noted that the organisational structure had been aligned and one HR plan submitted.

Ms Whittle highlighted that R9.8 million was paid out by the Secretariat for performance rewards in 2010/11 which was reported in the SAPS 2010/11 Annual Report. The police had not awarded service rewards themselves for that period. The report did not say how many employees had benefited and if this amount was additional to the R25 million budget that the Secretariat had received. In the previous financial year, it had reported that seven out of 33 personnel had received bonuses and the average payout had been R14 714 per person. This was relatively high in comparison to the bonuses for the ICD where the average amount had been about R4 000.

Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) 2010/11 Annual Report: briefing
Ms Whittle alerted the Committee to the quality of the information in PSIRA's Annual Report and that there were errors in the very first paragraph relating to the year reported on (2011/12 instead of 2010/11) on and the preceding financial year (2010/11 instead of 2009/10). Other errors impacted on the accuracy of the figures for the total staff complement and in terms of gender and racial demographics, the composition of staff in the various divisions as well as typographical errors. PSIRA had previously had ministerial intervention because of problems in the organisation and when it had come to Parliament in March 2011, it had given feedback on the progress made since the new Director had been appointed.

In terms of its financial performance, it had received an unqualified audit opinion with emphasis of matter for restated or corrected figures related to errors in the 2009/10 financial statements as well as 'Material Uncertainty' regarding the entity's ability to continue as a 'going concern'. There had been a Net Deficit of R23.751 487 million for the 2010/11 financial year.  However, the Chairperson, in his foreword in the Annual Report, stated he was confident that the entity could continue to operate as a 'going concern’. There had also been Material Losses of R75 million as a result of bad debt and R75.495 bad debt had been written off. Thirteen cases of fraud and corruption were investigated in 2010/11 and four had been ongoing at year-end.

In terms of its Strategic Programmes and goals, there were seven strategic programmes and it had achieved most of its revised targets (see document). The AG had noted that there had been the absence of targets and performance indicators in the Strategic Plan and it had not been aligned to the budget.  As the new Director had only been appointed in September 2010, there had been instability in leadership and inadequate oversight over financial and performance reporting.

In terms of human resources, the total staff complement was unclear and Ms Whittle said she could not establish if it was 203 or 204. She recommended that the new Audit Committee check these and other HR discrepancies. Women made up the majority of the workforce comprising 67%. There were no women in Top Management and Senior Management, yet its Annual Report reflected 28.57% as the statistic for women in management. The annual staff turnover rate was 29% (based on a total permanent staff component of 193).

Ms Dollie highlighted some of the financial issues of the entity and said that its major problem was the Net Deficit. PSIRA had reported that its revenue had remained stable but its salary expenditure grew from R39 million to R57 million. Its other major problem had been the writing off of the bad debt. What the Committee should establish was if it were a going concern or not. The PSIRA Chairperson believed that with the restructuring, and its surplus of R12 million and the fact that revenue would increase, PSIRA would be a going concern, moving forward. The Accounting Officer had also said it had potential new sources of revenue. However the AG had made this a Matter of Emphasis, and expressed the opinion that the Net Deficit and the continued losses over the past years and other matters, indicated that there was material uncertainty that might cast doubt on the entity's ability to continue as a going concern.

She noted that there had been some indication from the AG that given PSIRA 's turnaround strategy, it might be able to improve this scenario. This would largely depend on its revenue, which came from annual fees, but this had remained static from the 2009/10 financial year. PSIRA had said it were working on this and had formulated a regulation about increasing the annual fees of private security companies. This still needed to be approved by the Executive Authority. The other issue was the bad debt of R75 million that had been written off, and the fact that provision had only been made for R55 million. Moving forward, it had to ensure that it collected all its fees to avoid bad debt and increased the costs of its services. 

Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report: finalisation
The Committee formulated their recommendations and edited the overall BRR report as they proceeded.
 
The Chairperson stated they should highlight the successes and the shortcomings and the Committees concerns when they dealt with the respective Programmes so that the report was balanced.

Key Recommendations
Additional Funding
Ms Van Wyk said that under funding for the cluster they should say that the Department had to note the responsibility that came with receiving the biggest budget in the cluster and should act accordingly in providing the best possible service, given the budget. They should ask Treasury to take a greater interest and bigger control in what happened to the ring-fenced amounts that came with the criminal justice revamp programme. The reference to the Minister could be deleted and focus should be on the responsibility of SAPS in terms of its huge budget.

Mr Schneeman proposed that they acknowledge the SAPS budget was relatively accurate and that the issue was not additional funds but the more effective utilisation of the existing funds.

Ms Van Wyk suggested they rephrase their recommendation to state that the Department take cognisance that it received the majority of funds in the cluster. She suggested they remove the reference to the Treasury and instead state that the cluster should take a greater interest in the ring-fenced spending.

Ms Dollie edited the draft accordingly.

Police Day
Mr Schneeman proposed that there be a recommendation calling for a review of Police Day or the nature of Police Day, highlighting the point that, where there were planned events, irregular expenditure should not occur as they should have budgeted for it. He did not want suggestions made for a Police Week, as that was an issue they could engage SAPS on and that could be part of the review process.

Ms Van Wyk said that they should start off by saying that any planned event in the Department's Performance Plan, did not justify irregular expenditure.

Ms Kohler-Barnard said that there had always been a Police Day held in each of the provinces and they had experimented with one National event for the past two years and both had resulted in irregular expenditure. It had been unplanned although SAPS knew of it more than a year in advance. It had become a means of getting money to certain people and was under investigation. Her recommendation was that they go back to provincial Police Days, held on the same day in the provinces, as it would cut out millions in terms of transport and other costs.

Mr Swathe supported Ms Kohler-Barnard’s suggestion of decentralising Police Day as it would save costs.

Mr Ndlovu said the answer to their proposal was that a review should be undertaken as proposed by Mr Schneemann and Ms Van Wyk. He agreed that there should be a review where they could talk about Police Day. It was in the annual plan and SAPS was a centralised structure and it was done by the National Commissioner's Office. If there were a review, the proposal made by Ms Kohler-Barnard would feature in the review.

Mr Schneemann said if they wanted to make specific recommendations, they would have to be sure about the cost implications and they were not at that stage. He felt that what was in the report was sufficient.

Ms P Mocumi (ANC) said that the recommendation should be preceded by a statement that the Portfolio Committee supported Police Day so they knew the Committee was not against it.

Ms Kohler-Barnard said she did not support a national Police Day but only a provincial Police Day. As for the costing, it would be easy enough to look two years back and see what the costing had been before it had been turned into a one town event.

Mr Ndlovu said they should not debate the issue further. The item appeared on the annual plan and they were talking about reviewing the item in the annual plan.
 
Ms Van Wyk agreed with what Ms Mocumi had said and said that the Committee should add that they supported the celebration of Police Day. They did not know what concept was suitable and therefore they were recommending it to be reviewed. They did not know what the cost was when the event had been held at a provincial level as the budgets were not clear and there was no guarantee that it would cost less. The only guarantee that they had, was that more people would be involved. By asking for a review they would cover what Ms Kohler-Barnard and Mr Swathe were raising and it might be possible to come up with something completely different.

The Chairperson noted that it would be safer to adopt the proposal for a review. There were SAPS awards that were done at provincial level and it could mean that they could add to that. The Portfolio Committee could lead the process and said possible suggestions could be that SAPS members would be allowed to have free health check-ups or free transport for the week. Deciding on one thing would restrict them and thus a review would be preferable.

Ms Kohler-Barnard agreed that this was a good idea.

Irregular Expenditure
Ms Kohler-Barnard informed the Committee that on the 13 October, she had written to the President and had asked for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to be brought in, to look at the irregular expenditure in SAPS as she thought it was crucial. She had received a letter in return, saying that this was being done.

Mr Ndlovu said that the National Commissioner had said in one of the preceding meetings on the Annual Report that the Department had requested that the President include them in the investigations by the SIU.

Ms Kohler-Barnard said the National Commissioner had called the SIU in connection with an investigation of the two leases.

Mr Ndlovu asked whether they should ask for an investigation. If an investigation was already being conducted, they would know the outcome of the investigation when it was completed.

The Chairperson said that the National Commissioner had indicated that the Minister had requested that the Office of the AG investigate the Police Day event. However, they could not do this because they did not have the capacity. The President had announced an investigation of the Supply Chain Management of SAPS for this period. It was true that the National Commissioner had said that the Department had not been included in the list, but they asked to be included. The AG had informed the Minister that if he wanted Police Day investigated, he had to get a forensic investigation done. The Minister would not have asked the AG to do it, if it had not already been under investigation.

Ms Van Wyk agreed and said it was not included in the Supply Chain Management investigation which was dealing with lease and contracts in general and the issues dealing with the building of police stations. She noted that the AG had investigated and found irregularities and as a result of these investigations, they had told the Minister that they did not have the capacity to conduct a proper investigation and asked him to get forensic auditors. She said they should formulate their recommendation better.

The Chairperson noted the R6 million irregular expenditure that had not been condoned. She suggested that they should add something about that.

Ms Van Wyk asked if they should not just stick to what the AG had said as that was the only reliable information they had on the issue. They should rephrase the recommendation to say that in the light of that information, they were calling for a forensic investigation.

The Chairperson summed up the recommendation which would be that due to the huge increase in irregular expenditure and the acknowledgement by the AG that it did not have the capacity to undertake a full audit, the Portfolio Committee recommended a forensic investigation.

Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Units
The members formulated recommendations on the prioritisation of FCS units including training of personnel, the effective use of physical and human resources, ensuring that all members of FCS units were fully trained and competent in the performance of their functions and obliged to attend trauma debriefing sessions with trained social workers and psychologists. The provision of victim support rooms was also mentioned and the roles played by the forensic science laboratories and crime intelligence.

Ms Van Wyk clarified matters on the recommendation of a strategic plan for combating crimes against women and children adding that it should have time-frames and a ring-fenced budget. She stated that it had been a national priority for a long time and that SAPS should not back away from it.

The Chairperson said they should reflect that the SAPS strategy on combating crime should include a detailed strategy on combating crime against women and children. The necessity of having  trained personnel or volunteers at every police station to provide the first point of contact for victims, especially at stations where the FCS unit was not yet rolled out.

Security of SAPS 13 and SAPS Firearms
The Committee debated the recommendation on the establishment of secure rooms for safeguarding of state firearms at cluster level. 

Ms Van Wyk noted that they had too little information at this point to make this recommendation as it involved transport and other risk factors. She suggested that they ask the Monitoring and Evaluation unit in the Secretariat to monitor and evaluate SAPS 13 stores over a year and report to the Committee, specifically on what steps were taken to improve SAPS 13 Stores.

The Chairperson said there were two issues, SAPS 13 Stores and SAPS Firearms. She noted that the National Commissioner had stated that they intended removing excess SAPS firearms from police stations to a centralised place for firearms not in use.

Ms Kohler-Barnard said they should recommend the establishment of secure well organised rooms for the holding of SAPS 13 and SAPS firearms. This would remove the problem of transport to cluster rooms. The organisation of the firearms had to be sorted out as well as the security. She did not feel they would be over-reaching themselves if they said it had to be done.

Ms Van Wyk said they had to separate the SAPS 13 firearms and the SAPS firearms and they could not have the two in one room. If there were excess firearms they should be destroyed and she clarified that was not referring to those that might be of use in the future. They had to say that the regulations had to be implemented as SAPS 13 firearms should not be kept in the same store as SAPS 13 exhibitions. It was supposed to be in a strong room.

Mr Swathe agreed with Ms Van Wyk on the need to separate the two stores. He was concerned with the statement that each police officer should have one gun as that gun could be taken away and the stores provided a back-up supply.

Ms Dollie read the recommendation as amended. The regulations on the management of SAPS 13 stores should be regulated to the letter. All stations should have well secured and organised stores, managed by a competent person. The Committee recommended that the Secretariat's Monitoring and Evaluation Unit monitor and evaluate the management of SAPS 13 Stores and report the results to the Committee.

SAPS Firearms
The Chairperson said the recommendation should be similar to that made for SAPS 13 firearms. She agreed that SAPS members could lose their firearms without negligence on their part, for instance in an attack and so allowances to replace firearms should be made. Surplus firearms should be in a central store and not at a station level.

Members agreed that a proper audit of SAPS firearms had to be done. If they did not know how much they had lost, how could they know how much they had.

Targets
The Committee noted that there had been a target set for the establishment of victim support rooms but no allocation and that SAPS had said they had no funds for this due to the FIFA World Cup - although they had received two separate allocations for the World Cup. A recommendation was made that all targets had to be costed and the annual plan had to be aligned to the budget,

Collaboration between the Office of the AG, National Treasury and the relevant Committees
Ms Van Wyk said this recommendation should strengthen the Committee’s oversight in terms of SAPS taking action on the findings contained in the AG's report.

The Chairperson asked if that did not imply that they were making a recommendation to themselves.

Ms Van Wyk that they should state that the Committee recommended closer cooperation between itself and the Office of the AG, itself and the Finance Committee, itself and SCOPA and their other relevant parliamentary counterparts, and that it had taken on board the AG's comments that it was the responsibility of oversight bodies to act on the findings of the AG's reports.

The Chairperson recommended that they should add that the Committee should have some influence in determining the sampling done by the AG in terms of its selection of what police stations were to be audited.

SAPS Anti-Corruption Strategy
The Committee made recommendations on the information to be included in the Anti-corruption strategy including that they should receive reports. The Committee recommended the inclusion of the conviction rates in the Annual Report.

Regulation 45 appointments and Section 35 Terminations
The Committee debated recommending a control shift on Regulation 45 appointments and Section 35 terminations from the National Commissioner to the Minister who would then oversee the appointments and terminations. They also noted that there should be separate recommendations for each respectively.

The Chairperson said that the regulations did not say that they should be overseen by the Minister.

Members conceded that their frustration was the fact that the regulations were not implemented properly. They recommended that it should be done strictly according to the regulations and that the Department should report fully in the Annual Report on the Regulation 45 appointments and Section 35 terminations and also during the year. Information on Section 35 appointments should include the full costs as well as the amounts paid to the Government Pension Fund. In terms of Regulation 45, the Department had to give compelling reasons for deviations for its utilisation and whether it was a lateral entry from outside by persons who were not specialists or a vertical appointment. In addition the Committee recommended that Regulation 45 and Section 35, be reviewed in the new SAPS Act, to strengthen the control mechanisms against misuse.

Poor Management at all levels
The Committee had uncovered this on its oversight visits, especially in terms of the implementation of management practices at station and cluster level and provinces were not assisting to address the problem. Station Commander Management training was seen as critical. It was noted that they were afforded training opportunities to improve their management skills.

Ms Van Wyk said that the provinces should be managing the clusters and the clusters should be managing the stations and suggested they should state that the clusters were not fulfilling their management role in terms of stations and provinces were not fulfilling their role in terms of the clusters.

The Chairperson suggested they add ' adequately' fulfilling their role.

Ms Van Wyk suggested they add their 'strategic' management role as they were not asking them to micro-manage.

Priority Police Stations
The Committee noted that there was no consistency in the identification of building projects and that the Department had made changes to their strategic plan in terms of building projects.

Mr Schneemann said budgeting was done in terms of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and they had to submit which stations they planned to build or re-establish to Treasury and changes could not be made. 

Ms Molebatsi recommended that a needs analysis be done. The lack of police stations in some areas could be related to the high crime levels there.

Ms Kohler-Barnard noted police station where basic services such as toilets, water and electricity were absent and suggested that they recommend a structured plan which prioritised these stations.

Ms Van Wyk said they were speaking about three issues: 1. Proper prioritisation based on specific criteria. A needs analysis had to be done in this respect. 2. The MTEF process, but the problem was that SAPS was so far behind in completing their projects. Deviation from a prioritised list in a province should be the exception and there should be specific criteria for such deviations. Deviations should be tabled with the Committee for its information. 3. There was the list of police stations that lacked basic services and a recommendation could be made that, based on the shortcomings at these stations, the Department had to provide a plan to the Committee, on how they planned to roll-out these basic services to the identified stations.

The Chairperson noted that SAPS had a plan and budget to address the provision of basic services to the identified police stations. The recommendation should include that they report back on their progress.

Recruitment, Training and Provision of Resources for Detectives
The Committee made recommendations on the need for the recruitment of additional detectives, ensuring that the backlogs of those requiring the basic detective training were addressed within given timeframes and that they be adequately resourced in terms of vehicles, cell phones and offices with computer access.

Crime Intelligence
The Committee made recommendations that the vacancies in crime intelligence be filled and that the dysfunctionality of the Programme be addressed, including the efficacy of crime intelligence at station level and that they provide statistics on their rates of successful investigations. It was recommended that the secret funding be looked into and that the Committee meet with their relevant counterparts to discuss their concerns about the secret funds. They noted that if they had a meeting with SAPS on crime intelligence on issues such as funding, it would have to be a closed meeting

Ms Kohler-Barnard mentioned the case of the secret funds of R2 million that had been stolen in a setup and questioned why they did not have a phalanx of guards with them, when they withdrew the money. Criminality should not be hidden in terms of the necessity for secrecy.

The Committee recommended that a meeting be held with itself and their relevant counterparts to discuss the secret funds.

Police Barracks
The Committee recommended that the Department supply them with the details of the future plans they had around the accommodation of police in police barracks.

Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report: adoption
Ms Van Wyk proposed that the Chairperson summarise the concluding remarks she had made to SAPS the previous day as these would be an appropriate conclusion.

The Chairperson called for the adoption of the report with the amendments that had been made.

The Committee approved the Report and the Chairperson noted that the Report would be submitted to Parliament before the due date.

The meeting was adjourned.