Strategies to combat drug and substance abuse: briefing by SAPS

Meeting report

The Chairperson said that members had complained that they had received the presentation only this morning. Although she had received her copy only last night, she had had time to review it.

Briefing by SAPS on Strategies and interventions to combat drug and substance abuse
Major General Susan Pienaar, Head of Crime Prevention, said that some of the questions that had been received could not be answered specifically, as not all of the information could be obtained from the various police sections. The presentation covered the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) meeting, attended by the police, at which the Anti-substance Abuse Programme of Action had been adopted.  The Programme of Action (POA) was a five year plan developed in response to the resolutions of the second Biennial Anti-Substance Abuse summit that took place in 2011. This had been the second year of implementation of the POA.  An action plan had been developed on a yearly basis to implement targets for that particular year, and provide quarterly reports to the IMC.

The presentation also covered the focus areas of substance abuse.   These included the development of policy, the review and alignment of liquor legislation, education and awareness, promoting equal access to resources across South Africa, policies and legislation with regard to drugs and organised crime, and a review of institutional mechanisms to prevent and manage alcohol and drug use in the country.

The SAPS contribution to the POA was a programme to reduce the supply of illegal substances.  This included the combating of organised crime (including investigation and generating crime intelligence), pre-cursor control, International co-operation and the implementation of international agreements.  The second contribution by SAPS included crime information and analysis, crime prevention and combating (including liquor law enforcement), and communication and awareness.

The presentation covered the enforcement of liquor laws.  Enforcement of national and provincial liquor legislation during 2012/2013 financial year had included 382 678 compliance inspections conducted at liquor outlets/premises, 72 400 identified illegal traders being charged and closed down, and in excess of 1.5 million litres of liquor being confiscated.

Designated Police Officials (DPO) had been appointed at Police Stations and were responsible for addressing transgressions of the liquor legislation. The SAPS played an active role in the four Provincial Liquor Boards, where the provincial legislation provided for this.  In Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape, the Provincial Acts did not make provision for the DPOs to serve on Liquor Boards.  In day to day operations, the SAPS specifically focused on compliance and enforcement issues, and had attended to liquor-related complaints.  These included the misuse of alcohol, as well as vigorously addressing drunken driving.

Major General Pienaar spoke about education and awareness, saying that SAPS used the Safe Schools Programme to address drugs, crime and violence in primary and secondary schools. School -based Crime Prevention Coordinators visited schools and facilitated the creation of awareness on the negative impact of drugs, in partnership with experts such as the SA National Council on Alcoholism (SANCA).  Search and seizure operations were conducted in schools, focusing on drugs and dangerous weapons, in partnership with Safe School Committees located at the schools and school governing bodies.  SAPS was a member of the inter-departmental Ke-Moja drug prevention and education programme that informed SAPS work conducted in schools.

There had been a 26.2% increase in arrests during 2012/2013 for drug related crime, compared to 2011/2012, while arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol had risen by 6.78%.   

In terms of Crime Prevention Operations, a total of 257 648 515 police actions had been conducted during the 2012/2013 financial year and substance abuse, amongst other offences, had been targeted through patrols, searches of vehicles, premises and people, road blocks, visits to schools, and inspection of licensed liquor premises,
           
The drug most commonly used was cannabis, but there was a correlation between contact crimes against women and children and the use of liquor, either by the perpetrator or by the victim.

Discussion
Arrests
Mr D Worth (DA, Free State) said the figures looked good especially in terms of drug-related arrests, but the number of people convicted was not clear. When one asked SAPS, one was referred to the Justice Department.  This information was needed.

Major General Pienaar replied that this information could be obtained from the justice system, and given to the Committee.

Liquor Board
Mr Worth asked why there was no Designated Police Official on the Liquor Board. This was essential. Why could it not be changed? He had made a written request for more information on the matter

Major General Pienaar replied that one needed to contact the Department of Trade and Industry to raise the issue of the Liquor Board and how it functioned at national level.

Drug Trafficking and drug use
Mr G Mokgoro (ANC, Northern Cape) said that drugs being used by children was becoming a ‘major problem’. He asked whether the police had knowledge about drugs, for example, what was the most common drug used. He asked if the origin of those drugs was from inside South Africa, or external.

Major General Pienaar replied there was little information on what was mixed with heroine. Heroine did come into South Africa from other countries and there was an interaction with various border control stakeholders in order to undertake enforcement action. There was a great amount of enforcement action being undertaken, but there was still a great deal to do. She said that the most common drug used by children was marijuana. The common perception was that there were different mixtures, and that these were the most prevalent amongst children, but she could not verify this. She could not give exact figures of which were most prevalent.

International best practice
Mr Mokgoro said that drug abuse seemed to be an international challenge, and asked if SAPS consulted with police in other countries and determined what international best practice was in dealing with the situation.

Major General Pienaar replied that this was done through the South African Regional Police Council,  who dealt with the law enforcement aspect. There had been engagement with the Hawks and the Department of Trade and Industry.  They all shared information and sought to work together to combat the problem.  In terms of international agreements, SAPS worked with countries such as the USA.  SAPS worked mainly with countries where drugs came from, or were trafficked through. There was also a concern that one did not want South Africa to be seen as the hub through which drugs could be trafficked. SAPS worked closely with international law enforcement agencies, as well as other countries, to address that particular concern.

Raids
Ms A Qikani (ANC, Eastern Cape) asked how often raids were conducted in order to combat the problem, as it seemed that the problem was getting worse.

Major General Pienaar replied that raids were done on a daily basis, but possibly not in every single town. Police stations did an analysis of where raids should take place, as well as what areas could be considered “hot spots” for drugs. Raids were conducted based on identified concerns as well as information given by the community. There had been more than 250 million police actions in the financial year. The public was not always aware that these actions were taking place, as sometimes they were in non-residential areas, at night or even merely in the form of police road blocks.

Vulnerable groups
The Chairperson asked if the issues of vulnerable groups were being taken into account, and if they were being taken seriously. The matter was supposed to be handled from the moment of arrest. This Committee had a focus on vulnerable groups. The presentation could also have touched on the trafficking of drugs as there was a report that said South African women were the ones who were used as drug mules. She strongly recommended that the method of questioning be changed in order to get more information on those arrested, particularly those related to children.

Major General Pienaar replied that she had the number of children charged with crimes every year for the financial year. The number was 68 078 children, for various offences.  However, she did not have a breakdown to indicate which were drug related.  It was possible to get information about a person who had been charged, as the information system provided more for ‘fairness information’ than ‘victim information,’ which meant that little was known about the victim. It had been suggested that there was a need to upgrade the information system so that it gave a more contextual view of crimes. When an analysis with context was given, there was a need to go and look at the docket.  There was a need to enhance the information systems in order to give people the information they needed in order to look at how crime affected vulnerable groups. She said that the number of charges against women would be able to be provided.  However, she did not have the information on her.  The information could distinguish between adults and children.

Unsatisfactory information
The Chairperson said the slide on education and awareness was ‘sketchy’ and was vague. She asked for a breakdown in terms of the programmes used in helping vulnerable groups, for example, what programmes were used in primary and secondary schools and how this was broken down in terms of provinces. Also there was a need for more information on the backgrounds of the children and their families.

Coordinators
The Chairperson asked if the coordinators of the Crime Prevention Coordination programme were properly trained and had the skills to tackle their jobs.

School Safety Programmes
The Chairperson said the programmes needed sustainability and a champion, as the question remained: were the children safe at schools?

Major General Pienaar replied that the school safety programme was a joint initiative between SAPS and Basic Education, and was being rolled out across the country.  What the Department of Basic Education and SAPS had done at provincial level was to identify schools and start the rollout. Afterwards they had linked the police stations with those schools. A committee would be established with various stakeholders, including learners, which looked at how the issues could be tackled and what could be done in terms of interventions, if they were not already there. SAPS did all the law enforcement work in that regard and set up measures so that people knew who to call if there was a need, and there were emergency response mechanisms in place.  There was a fair amount of work that went into prevention and education, such as life orientation lessons, which had drug-related aspects.  SAPS had been a part of rolling out these prevention programmes but did not administer them themselves.  They provided support to the life orientation programmes.  It was important that the police information was currently sifted into this learning process and was not a once-off. This ensured that the children did not go and find information in the wrong place. Although this programme was between SAPS and Basic Education, other departments, such as Health and Social Development, were involved in supporting schools. There was a need to get other departments involved in order to provide a seamless service in this regard. Programmes of this nature had been rolled out all over the country but unfortunately she did not have the statistics on her. This was a national programme, but it was rolled out in each province in a slightly different manner meaning each province had, to an extent, its own programme based on the priorities of the provincial education department, as well as other considerations. She said the programmes were sustainable, as they took on a multi-faceted approach and were upheld not by individuals but by a system.

Ke-Mojo
The Chairperson asked if the Ke-Mojo prevention and education programme was in all the provinces.  She argued that if there were only certain provinces targeted, then those who were causing problems would move to another area that was ‘quieter’. There was a need to say ‘no’ to drugs in schools.  She understood the problem of resources.

Major General Pienaar replied that the Ke-Mojo programme dealt with what should be addressed in the learning programmes at school. All the departments were involved with it and Social Development conducted a review of the entire programme in the financial year and were looking into implementation in the current financial year. There was an inter-ministerial committee led by the Minister of Social Development based on drug prevention, and another focused on violence prevention against women and children.  The Department of Women, Children and People with Disability (DWCPD) also sat on the committee, but SAPS worked specifically on the national Gender Council and also in terms of some of the other international obligations the South African government had.  SAPS also worked with various justice stakeholders in order to tackle issues related to drugs.

Record keeping
The Chairperson said that record keeping was a challenge, as was the acquiring of information about vulnerable groups. There were some international best practices that needed to be looked at, which would show that South Africa was committed to development. 

Major General Pienaar replied that in terms of record keeping, it had been identified that there was a need (which had been triggered by the Child Justice Act) to make enhancements in all the departments involved in order to track the progress of a child throughout the system and see if due process had been followed. Each child that was arrested needed to be assessed, and this would include several procedures which needed to be followed. This particular need was part of the greater need to update the system and had caused a number of changes to mechanisms, such as the way in which children under 10years old were dealt with.

Closing remarks
The Chairperson said that all questions that had not been addressed could be given in writing. She stated that if intelligence on the matter had been good, then the question of why drugs had become such an issue in the country would have been answered. She told the delegation to return to their department and added that the Committee had not been happy about the presentation, as it had not spoken to any specific issues and had been very vague.

The meeting was adjourned.