Building Police Stations: SAPS progress report; SAPS Quarterly Performance 2012

Meeting report

The Chairperson explained that the late start of the Committee meeting was due to protests on the N2 highway and welcomed the National Commissioner and her team. She asked the Committee to reflect on the ongoing public protests and the handling thereof, especially the deaths of civilians and the deaths of police in the line of duty regarding the protests. The matter of live ammunition being used should be discussed as this was seen as worrying but it was equally worrying that police officers were losing their lives on duty. She noted that it must be asked why communities did not display appropriate respect towards the police and also why police were not necessarily well equipped or trained to deal with such situations. In Rustenburg protesting strikers were not disarmed. The Portfolio Committee had a duty to examine the situation aggressively and ask if the best possible policy was being adopted. Apparently one police officer was killed every 10 days in South Africa, this was unacceptable. The Committee had a responsibility towards SAPS to equip them properly, not just with arms but also with expertise. Turning to the issues at hand, the Chairperson noted that the presentations were not received on time, and that they should be available a week before. Members and researchers must be allowed to prepare themselves properly. She warned that meetings would be cancelled in future if this reoccurred.

General Mangwashi Phiyega, SAPS National Commissioner, began by thanking the Committee for the opportunity to make a presentation. She also noted that in the 60 days since her appointment, six police had been killed, eight including the deaths on the 13 August. She expressed concern for all involved and eagerness to address the situation. She also apologised profusely for the late submission of the presentation and assured the Committee it would not happen again.

SAPS Performance: 1^st Quarter 2012/13
Lieutenant-General Stefan Schutte, SAPS CFO, began with a summary of the first quarter of the current financial year. Of Government’s 12 broad outcomes, two related to the police. Outcome 3 was for all people in South Africa to be and to feel safe. Outcome 12 was for an efficient, effective and development-oriented public service and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship. Outcome 3 outputs were listed as a reduction in levels of serious crimes, a more effective criminal justice system, reduction in corruption within the JPS cluster, perceptions of crime among population improved, level of corruption reduced so as to improve investor perception, securing of South African borders, improvement of integrity of identity and status of citizens and residents, and finally the combating of cyber crime. Outcome 12 outputs were service delivery quality and access, human resource management and development, business process systems improvement, decision rights and accountability and tackling of corruption effectively.

Turning to the financial data, Lt-Gen Schutte identified two classification systems, comprised of programmes, which represented general purposes or objectives on which funds were expended and items, which represented estimated expenditure on goods and service required in pursuance of objectives. As at 30 June 2012, Programme One: Administration had spent 20.7% of its estimated budget. Programme Two: Visible Policing had spent 25.2%. Programme Three: Detective Services had spent 23.5%, Programme Four: Crime Intelligence had spent 24.9% and Programme Five: Protection and Security Services had spent 24.3%. In total 23.6% of the total budget had been actual spent.

In theory, 25% of the budget should be spent at the end of the first quarter, but Programmes One and Three were dragging the average down somewhat. There were two main factors responsible for this, the Criminal Justice System (CJS) revamp and the building of infrastructure such as police stations.

Lieutenant-General Schutte went on to discuss the various categories of expenditure in some detail. Current Expenditure had two sub-categories, Compensation of Employees and Goods and Services (including the purchase of fuel and equipment). In total 24.3% of the expected budget had been spent. Transfers and Subsidies includes funds transferred to other institutions or individuals where something was not directly received in exchange, such as payment of vehicle licences, payments to SITA, death grants, medical treatment. 25.5% of the transfers and subsidies budget had been spent so far. Payments for capital assets include building and machinery over R5000, as well as equipment that could be used for more than one year and will yield future economic benefits. So far only 11.6% of the budget in this area had been spent, but this was normal and did not constitute a concern.

Lt-Gen Schutte opined that precise quarterly amounts were not to be expected in all areas, and that not every quarter will necessarily yield exactly 25% as it may be subject to ballooning, for example. Compensation for employees was on course at 25.5%, Goods and Services expenditure was 20.1% with the Criminal Justice System Revamp spending below the linear benchmark, and spending pressures from oil and petrol prices were having a negative impact. The CJS Revamp consisted of a number of projects. The first related to the IT environment, the second to operational forensics and criminal records and the last one to detectives, especially the training thereof. The transfers and subsidies subcategory was in line with the linear benchmark. Capital Asset payments were lower than expected at 11.6%, but this was due to the fact that machinery and equipment costs pick up in the latter part of the year when delivery tends to occur. Buildings and infrastructure were lower than expected at 6%.

Compared to previous years, a graph showed that in April, May and June 2012 cumulative expenditure was very similar to the last three financial years. In Capital Works and Devolved Funds from the Ministry of Public Works, maintenance and property rates amounted to 21.9% of estimated expenditure, municipal services 24.8% of total budget and property leases 16.1%. Many of these payments were made to Department of Public Works which then paid the final bill, such as to the landlord of police utilised premises. The 16% was due to a late receipt of a monthly invoice from Public Works so payment only occurred after the deadline. If that amount was included, as it should had been, the total came to 24.4%. The named categories in total were not concerning. Capital Works was seen as concerning at only 6% and this was noted as a challenge.

Programme One: Administration spending totalled 20.7% for all its sub-programmes combined. This included Capital Works which explained why it was slightly below the linear benchmark in the property environment. Programme Three was only mildly below the benchmark but this was due to the impact of the CJS revamp in forensics. Therefore only the CJS revamp and Capital Works were behind the linear benchmark.

SAPS Performance: 4th Quarter 2011/12
At 31 March 2012, Programme One was at 94.6% of its predicted total and Programme Two was 101.1%. Programme Three was 102.5%, Programme Four 100.5% and Programme Five 97.9%. In total 98.9% of the entire budget was spent. Lt-Gen Schutte noted the impact of the CJS Revamp and Capital Works on Administration, where expenditure was 98.8%, transfers and subsidies 108.8% and capital assets 99.8%. Cultivated assets stood out at 671.1% expenditure but with buildings and fixed structures at 54.3%. The economic classification was the same as in the first quarter. A graphical comparison of trends to previous years showed that for the past five years, 100% was spent and the slightly lower figure from last year was due to amounts specifically and exclusively appropriated for the CJS revamp and Capital Works. This amounted to a deficit of R617 415 755, and a marginal amount left over of R10 882. Compensation for employees was 100.3%, goods and services 93.8% and this was due to the CJS revamp. Payment for capital assets was 99.8% of allocated budget.

Programme One saw 94.6% expenditure with prominent variances regarding capital works, the CJS revamp and radio communication system in the Eastern Cape. In total, Public Works came to just over 83%, including Capital Works. In terms of the Integrated Justice System (IJS) and CJS revamp, the CJS allocation for technology management services was 76.7%, Forensic services was 82.9% and there was 100% expenditure for compensation allocation with IJS also meeting 100%. Programme Two was 101.1%, made up of 90.6% of border security expenditure and 112.7% specialised interventions expenditure. Programme Three saw spending on forensic science laboratories at 88.6% due to CJS but in total 102.5% due to increased crime investigations expenditure and specialised investigations. This was largely due to compensation pressures and increased machinery and equipment costs. Programme Four was at 100.5%, also just over budget due to compensation pressure. Programme Five included operational support expenditure at 85.1% and VIP Protection at 105.1% making a total of 97.9%. VIP increases were because of overspending on vehicle fleet upgrades. Operational Support decreases were because of moving operational support personnel to Programme Two for assistance of Railway policing and Ports of Entry functions.

All in all, in terms of pure linear spending, there was under expenditure due to capital works and CJS revamp, everything else was approximately on course. It was recommended that the risks involved in the CJS revamp be examined.

General Phiyega asked the Committee to note that the two areas of concern had been discussed at length and a task team had been set up, made up of provincial commissioners and executives. They were to meet with the Commissioner the following day to report back.

Discussion
Ms D Kohler-Barnard (DA) referred to the 4^th Quarter report, saying that SAPS was generally well known for always meeting its budget, and that in light of this, the under spending of R617.4 million was concerning. The CJS revamp appeared to be a recurring problem and it seemed as if there was no political will driving it. She asked if other ministries were not coming to the party, as it did not look good for SAPS even though it was not necessarily their fault.

Mr G Lekgetho (ANC) asked at what stage the 6% expenditure of capital works would be rectified and whether there was a definite time frame.

Mr M George (COPE) pointed out that one of the Outcome Three outputs was the perception of safety, and he asked if the General believed that all South Africans felt safe. He asked if expenditure in this area could be directly linked to output, and what form such expenditure took. He had the impression that South Africans did not had faith in the ability of the police even though they should. He asked what the precise nature of the problem with CJS was and identified another problem in the area of vehicles specifically. He noted that there were frequent complaints about insufficient or inadequate vehicles and asked if the amount spent on machinery and equipment was yielding proper results. Also, with R1 billion spent on leases, it seemed as if lots of money was being wasted whereas SAPS would be better off buying property. He expressed concern that although the budget was running at a deficit now, it would inevitably be used up at the end of the year on principle, even if it had to be spent on trivial pursuits. It was possible that the delay in spending money on things that needed to be spent on could be due to the fact that SAPS members were waiting to give tenders to their friends rather than spending it now on objectively sound tender bids.

Ms M Molebatsi (ANC) asked how retention of scientists in the forensic labs was to be done. She then turned to page 12 of the presentation, asking why the amount spent on leases was not a concern. Why was machinery and equipment being overspent on in the fourth quarter?

The Chairperson said that two consecutive years of under spending in the same areas was very worrying. Proper planning prevented poor performance, and it was seen as alarming that SAPS was failing to perform. Maintenance of police stations should be an ongoing expense, but it seemed that at a basic level, money was not being spent. In Upington, there were ten cells, only one of which was in working condition. The others had no doors, no lights and no running water, even though the station was regularly overpopulated. Such basic maintenance should not be ignored, especially as SAPS was given money for this exact purpose.

Regarding the CJS, it seemed that even the little amount of money being spent was not bearing fruit. The E-docket system was still being rolled out despite all the expenditure. At that stage E-dockets should be transmitted from stations to courts and back, but were still being physically moved, despite billions having been spent and even more not having been spent. She asked why vehicles were not bought with maintenance contracts and were going into disrepair even though there was money left over in the budget. Paarl police station had a detective vehicle not running as it was without tires, but the supplier was in Pretoria. It seems that SARS was not doing the best it could with the money available. She expressed concern at the management of contracts within SAPS and asked why, if the current contracts require long periods of waiting, the plans were not targeting this. She recalled that there was a vehicle-tracking contract that expired even though it had a provision for extension that was exercised only after the expiration. She asked what role Legal Services had in helping to manage these contracts.

It was still the most disadvantaged areas that suffered from police stations not being built. Communities appeared to be struggling because of far away stations. There should not be under expenditure in this environment two years in a row. Previously there was gross over expenditure and now SAPS was not building at all. As for the delivery of vehicles occurring at the end of the year, it should be done using a continuation of orders so that there was no time when vehicles were not available to stations.

The over expenditure on entertainment was massive, with catering at 143.3%; the Committee demanded an explanation for this. The increase in irrecoverable bad debt also required an explanation.

Ms Kohler-Barnard wanted to know about the cancellation of cleaning services and security guard contracts, and if any effort had been made to identify employment for these people within SAPS; also how many people were laid off? Police officers were having to fill the vacancies themselves and they should not had to choose between solving crimes or cleaning the station.

General Phiyega said that there were decisions taken by Parliament that created a difficult environment for SAPS. When it came to assets such as police stations, decisions such as whether to lease or buy was not for SAPS to make. SAPS did not control these decisions; they could only operate around them. Those owned assets by Public Works were also theirs to maintain. The contracts over building and assets were owned by Public Works. In the name of efficiency it would be onerous to expect SAPS to had to concern itself with maintenance and contract extensions. SAPS was not entitled to do certain maintenance processes, only Public Works could do them. SAPS could not buy certain things autonomously either. There were certain transversal purchases and contract arrangements that SAPS did not had control over. They did not choose where to buy their cars for example. Although these were intended to be economical measures, they in fact result in over complication and often delays. SAPS was looking at getting an increased authority over maintenance, as some responsibilities should be localised for efficiency.

As for the security guards and cleaners, SAPS was dealing with a contract that had expired. It was a simple business transaction and they were looking at privatising and localising these resources. However, they had been accused of not being able to look after their own resources and state assets. They planned to be training young people and creating jobs for them. In many cases of laid off security guards, the individuals were not South Africans. SAPS was taking direct responsibility for this and wAS willing to submit details of the cleaner layoffs, but it reiterated that it had been necessary to make cut backs financially.

Ms Kohler-Barnard asked if the guards were now contracted to SAPS or through an outside company.

General Phiyega replied that SAPS had guards that were being appointed through broker services contracts. They had been challenged on not providing themselves with capacity to guard own asserts. What they did upon the expiration of contracts was to take into their service, a few young people who they trained and who were then guarding SAPS premises. The same resources that were previously used were being used and SAPS had directly taken responsibility for them, and they were SAPS members.

Lt-Gen Schutte said that catering, as had been raised before, was a micro item in Goods and Services. There was a decrease over a period of time but it included seminars, workshops, and enlistments. The reason for the increase was the introduction of the Second Hand Goods Bill in the first quarter. The debt situation entailed an outstanding amount. SAPS was recovering about R250 million every 18 months. Debt should be collected but certain debtors had a limited source of income or could not be tracked. The recovery of debt could deprive the debtor of livelihood, or might have been not be covered by his estate if he was deceased. Looking at increases in bad debt, it was still a very low percentage of total debt. Ill health aspects were largely the reason for this, and the health risk manager must make decisions about whether or not debt should be collected. If this takes a long time, the debtor may no longer reside at the same address. In summary, outstanding debt, though larger, was still low. The debt most often occurred when salaries were overpaid and had to be recovered - but the money was no longer available. There were other aspects such as vehicle accidents. It was not problematic to get money from existing SAPS members, only from retired members.

Lt-Gen Audrey Mofomme, Head of Supply Chain Management (SCM), said that with regards to transversal contracts with National Treasury for vehicles, suppliers were still to deliver. SAPS did have a difficult delivery schedule that was being monitored and provincial commissioners were kept informed. Towards the end they realised they had excess money and additional orders were placed. Challenges included the prioritisation by Treasury of cheaper vehicles such as Tatas and Fords which were bought first and Toyota or Nissans bought later. More expensive suppliers were generally not procured from. This had been raised with Treasury, as SAPS had special needs and a specific contract was being sought. Vehicles were bought with maintenance plans as of 2010/11. Tire purchase was also a transversal contract; complaints about delays in delivery were taken to the Treasury. Any purchases outside the contract amounted to a breach. The Automotive Vehicle Location (AVL) tracking contract was a contract put in place via the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and the contract expired before it was extended. SITA did not put processes in place to extend it punctually and SAPS requested a fresh contract. Contract management was done in conjunction with Public Works and an improvement was expected.

Ms Kohler-Barnard asked why SAPS contract management section had not been aware of the AVL expiration date and whether they had an oversight role for SITA-managed contracts.

Lt-Gen Mofomme said that it was only SITA contracts that were out of SAPS’ reach, the others were managed using supply chain management. Indications were usually made to SAPS six months prior to expiration; it was only SITA managed contracts that presented a problem. SAPS was in the process of streamlining them so as to solve the problem by managing all the contracts itself.

General Phiyega said that work had indeed begun to gain control over contract management. SAPS was looking at creating an accelerated and enhanced contract management function within SCM. The issue around contract management was getting priority and a trouble-shooting programme had been set up and would hopefully yield results. The under expenditure from the previous year would be answered in conjunction with the Treasury. Top SAPS management allocated the budget to provinces and individual programmes, and only exercised oversight on spending up to a point.

From an access point of view, rural and urban areas had to be looked at in a different light. Rural areas required different vehicles and equipment such as 4x4s and this was being requested. Stations were often up to 200km apart and this presented a number of challenges. In time it was hoped that these differences and challenges would be defined more clearly so that solutions could be properly found. Issues were raised around the detectives’ environment. There had been a decrease in following up on cases. SAPS was working with the department on monitoring and evaluation. Nevertheless, monitoring could be done better and SAPS was striving for this. It was not seen as worth defending the problems, and the General vowed to focus on solutions instead. One of the things discussed was vacancies in garages for mechanics. SAPS should possibly start offering courses for mechanics and handymen so they could grow their own team.

General Phiyega stated that her to-do list included project management improvement, including technological system usage such as the e-docket. Her goal was to make information publicly available electronically, so as to improve monitoring and evaluation. Some projects like the e-docket needed to be accelerated, with timelines developed and enforced. A first draft had already been finalised and would hopefully be presentable soon.

In terms of perception, the General stated that she would like to dissect the amount spent on community perceptions on crime and the value received for that money at a later point. Once a year she proposed using an index to measure how service receivers felt about SAPS services. Her impressions from the first 60 days were that they were under communicating with the public. They had to talk to those they were servicing. They were allowing everyone to say things about them without responding adequately. She saw the need to revamp their communications environment in both directions.

General Schutte said that for contingent liability, letters of demand being recognised were not based on adequate recognition criteria. However, the payment of R95 million on civil claims had to be looked at in ratio and this amount was actually very small. There was no clear-cut rule on contingent liabilities, and they were by nature uncertain. He believed that in terms of the settlements and judgments by courts, this figure could be well managed.

Police Buildings
Lt-Gen Mofomme said police stations were defined as facilities where communities could access policing services and supporting government services. This included satellite stations and contact or service points. There were 1 130 active stations in South Africa, and a provincial breakdown was given. Rural areas were classified as having only 30% tarred roads, the rest being dirt or gravel. Rural/Urban areas were approximately 50% tarred and urban areas had 70% tarred roads or more. To construct a station the project had to first be initiated, then the site cleared, then a planning phase must occur and finally construction. In the first phase, projects were identified by provincial commissioners and approved by the National Commissioner. Site clearance involved consultants who were appointed to do feasibility analyses, obtain landowner consent, conduct geographical surveys, and conduct environment impact assessments (EIAs). This was regulated by legislation. The average timeframe for this was 18 months. The planning phase involved design and the procurement of the contractor and it took about eight months. Construction time ranged from 18-24 months depending on size of the station. 34 had been completed since April 2009, but only six in 2011/12. This included expansions and upgrades to existing stations.

Public Works was the owner and custodian of all state infrastructure and in 90% of cases they were responsible for property management as well. Some police station management was devolved to SAPS but they were still not the owners. 282 of 1 130 stations were devolved in this way. Challenges experienced included late initiation of processes impacting on interdependencies, underperformance of contractors, mandatory six month cooling off periods on tenders where there were non-responsive bidders. A list of projects that rolled over from the previous year was discussed along with revised projected completion dates and comments relating to the reason for the rollover. There was one each in Free State, Limpopo, KZN, Eastern Cape and Gauteng. The same was given for projects in the current year, of which there were seven. The initiative to strengthen the building process was reportedly underway with a new Public Works minister establishing dedicated technical teams to support infrastructure and frequent meetings at high level to monitor progress.

Discussion
The Chairperson asked exactly how many of the so-called new building projects were actually new stations and how many of them were just expansions on existing stations.

Ms Kohler-Barnard observed that a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigation revealed that 115 SAPS members linked to suppliers for building contracts came to R50 million and this amounted to massive corruption. 33 stations were built without clear legislative mandate. The SIU report said that SAPS had failed to comply with the tender processes and exceeded their budgets. SIU also identified 215 possible conflicts of interest. She asked what the arrangement was with Public Works that led to SAPS doing their work for them. She also enquired after the fate of the individuals who had conflicts of interest, whether they had been suspended pending investigation or if they continued on duty.

Ms D Sibiya asked if all the identified projects would be completed before the year.

Ms Molebatsi pointed out that in 2012/2013 there were no projects to be finalised but now there were two, and asked how this was the case. She also asked what criteria was used to prioritise projects, noting that in North West province a station was on the brink of total collapse despite being promised repairs and construction for many years but still nothing.

Mr George asked how the numbers of nine building projects in 2009/10, 19 in 2010/11 and six in 2011/12 could be explained. This year alone 20 were in construction, and 50 in site clearance. He asked how 20 could possibly be built when only six were built last year. He also raised the possibility of employing full time professionals within the department for construction projects instead of consultants. Finally he asked why only SAPS and Public Works seemed to suffer from low quality contractors. Private individuals did not seem to had this problem so it appears that criteria other than quality of the tender were being used to award contracts. He queried whether or not there were penalties for late performance from contractors as well.

The Chairperson remarked that SAPS did not bring the Committee the same information twice. The figures presented did not correspond with each other. Amalia Police Station had been given a different completion date every single year since the process had begun. Delivery had been shocking in the previous year and the question arose why SAPS was taking on responsibilities such as building that were beyond their mandate. She asked why new police stations were being grouped with expanded stations and repaired stations in the report. She expressed frustration and extreme irritation with SAPS on their failure to provide transparent figures on their progress in building new stations. She noted that the contradiction between these figures and those in the APP was unacceptable, citing a number of cases where the SAPS had obfuscated details of progress either through incompetence or an intention to confuse the Committee.

General Phiyega denied any intention to mislead the Committee under her leadership. It appeared to her that SAPS was working at cross-purposes with the Committee and this was a communication failure. There were different interpretations of what constituted the building of a police station. She plead with the Committee to commit to base line communication. Nothing of what SAPS was doing was intended as a cover up. She vowed to report accurately and transparently in the future and welcomed clear guidance.

The Chairperson said that this was unacceptable; the report was not consistent within itself. Building was defined in one section as including additions and upgrades but the breakdown of this was not available and the delegation could not explain whether or not progress was actually being made.

Ms Kohler-Barnard asked why SAPS was building in the first place. They were given a security mandate, not a building one and Public Works should be handling construction.

General Phiyega said that she would like to see the SIU report before answering to its contents. There was a lot of work being done by SAPS even though the presentation appears confusing. They were mindful of the capacity deficiency in Public Works and desired to take care of construction themselves so that it actually gets done. Completion dates were given alongside various challenges, so there could never be a firm expectation of completion. She defended the hiring of contractors as necessary and inherently risky as it was an inherent factor in hiring an outside party that they might be fallible. She endeavoured to give a more specific breakdown of the 594 building projects that had been presented.

Prioritising of stations for construction was done by Provincial Commissioners. They make recommendations from the ground and SAPS act on this. Consultants were engineers and architects, individuals with such expertise were not readily available to SAPS. The underperformance of contractors was for mixed reasons, as some were delaying or going into mora. The General undertook to return to the Committee on the matter of consolidating and elucidating on the numbers presented.
The Chairperson accepted that SAPS was not deliberately misleading the Committee but that there was bad history in this area. There were 100 stations in various stages of implementation in the current financial year but later in the report only 12 were actually discussed. She asked if the others were not actual building projects but additions and expansions and said that this was a vital distinction to make as it would show if the budget was being mismanaged.

Lt-Gen Mofomme wanted to indicate that of the “new” stations in 2009/2010, 2 were actually new buildings. In 2010/2010 3 were new and in 2011/2012 there was only 1 new station

General Phiyega wanted to establish a few issues before returning to the Committee. First, SAPS planned to discuss the APP plan regarding the projects. Second, even though the request at the Committee was about new stations SAPS would like to discuss the entire 500 including the ones being revamped, as well as satellite stations and other facilities. This was for the consolidation of the platform. SAPS also wanted to take the new projects and show the Committee precisely at which stage each one was situated. Also, to show the full picture, they wished to say that even though some projects were old they would like to show that they had been completed to show perspective. They were trying to rebuild collaborative efforts between SAPS and Public Works.

The Chairperson thanked the Committee, saying that the Secretary had taken note of what the next presentation would entail and the members would add to this. An example was the use of definitions and the creation of a standard framework for evaluation of performance and progress.