SAPS & Police Secretariat on their 2013/14 Annual Reports

Meeting report

Department of Police 2013/14 Annual Report: Crime Intelligence and Protection Services
General Riah Phiyega, National Commissioner of Police, said the objective of crime intelligence was to contribute to the neutralising of crime by gathering, collating and analysing information that leads to an actionable policing activity. It had two sub-programmes -- crime intelligence operations, and intelligence information management. The former had a budget of R1.158 bn, of which 96.9% had been spent by 31 March, while the latter had a budget of R1.578 bn, of which 102.5 % had been spent. The spending included equipment and personnel expenses, which included fuel, vehicles, maintenance of fleets and telecommunications. About 34 534 network operations had been conducted in crime intelligence operations. 309 165 intelligence products had been generated to address priority crime for intelligence information management. Great progress had been made in the vetting of SAPS senior management. A crime intelligence turn around strategy had been approved. 88 vetting posts were filled to capacitate the vetting process while 254 posts at level 5-12 were advertised and filled.

Discussion
The Chairperson said the Committee welcomed the turnaround strategy. He asked why Dr Bongiwe Zulu, the Acting Divisional Commissioner, Crime Intelligence, was still in an acting position. He asked if the recruitment involved recruiting qualified young people, so that there were young people to deal with the relevant environment.

Ms D Kohler Barnard (DA) asked about the status of Richard Mdluli, former head of crime intelligence, and whether he would still be occupying his position till the end of the term. She also asked about the status of the suspended deputy head of intelligence, Major General Chris Ngcobo. It had been alleged that he did not have a matric certificate, but that he was part of the special dispensation from the former homelands who were allowed into the SAPS without a matric. She asked if this was true, and whether he was still earning R1 million a year while on suspension.

Ms Kohler Barnard said the positions of provincial heads of intelligence had been created to attract qualified people with degrees. However, the advertisement that had gone out downgraded the requirement from having to have a diploma, to simply having a matric certificate -- for a R1 million post. There was a concrete national instruction that candidates for that post must have at least a NQF level 6 qualification. She asked why the position had been downgraded to this extend as a matric certificate was insufficient for a R1 million post. This implied that the position had been downgraded so that certain people who were not qualified could be “parachuted in.”

Ms M Molebatsi (ANC) said that during the budget hearing, the Committee had pointed out the lack of measurable targets, and asked if this had been rectified. She asked if the division of Crime Intelligence and Protection and Security Services had impacted on the morale of police. She asked how SAPS intended to rectify its 2,2% vacancy rate, and whether people who filled vacant positions were vetted.

Mr P Groenewald (FF+) asked how SAPS determined its targets. He asked if the Committee could get an assurance that communication interceptions by crime intelligence were legal, and that permission to do so was obtained.

Ms L Mnganga-Gcabashe (ANC) asked if the crime intelligence operation achievement of spending 96.9 % could be increased to 100%, or at least to the Treasury-accepted level of 98%.

General Phiyega replied that the turnaround strategy was yielding results, as the report showed targets being exceeded in certain areas. This meant that a lot of work was being done. The focus was on staffing, financial management issues and outputs. Some of the successes were in the form of good crime intelligence. Dr Zulu was in an acting capacity because there were a lot of issues pending with Lieutenant General Mdluli. Her appointment in a full capacity was dependent on that case, and internal processes had been postponed sine die.

General Phiyega said the police were trying as much as possible to ensure that it recruited people with the necessary ability, experience, qualifications, competence and prior learning. The Act allowed the National Commissioner to condone certain things where necessary, to ensure that the right people were attracted. She assured the Committee that the recruited people ensured that SAPS objectives were achieved, taking into account the factors considered in recruiting people.

General Phiyega said General Ngcobo was undergoing a disciplinary hearing, but not because he did not have a matric certificate. There were many members in SAPS who, due to certain arrangements of integration of policing, did not have matric certificate. However, if one applied for a job and misrepresented one’s qualifications, it was criminal, and it was on this basis that Gen Ngcobo was undergoing a disciplinary process. The matter had come to light after he was denied clearance because of integrity issues, for not declaring his qualifications, not because he did not have a matric. The integration process involved police who were from municipalities, the environment, and others who came from the former homelands, who did not have matric certificates. This did not stop the Police Service from recognising them, and programmes to capacitate them were continuously being offered. They had experience in policing and were accommodated in the police service

On the recruitment for people with degrees, General Phiyega said that at any given time, the National Commissioner casts the net wide to attract the right people who could assist SAPS to achieve its objectives. The downgrading of the requirements for provincial heads of intelligence was meant to assist it in attracting the right people. After advertising the position, it was realised that it had not attracted the right people and as the accounting officer, she was forced to cast her net wider to attract the right people. In the next financial year, the targets would be increased so that its work became more transparent.

SAPS had gone a long way in terms of the turnaround phase. It had had the opportunity to meet with executives in various departments and at road shows across the provinces. SAPS were back on track, and a lot of good work was happening. She sees motivated people, which talks to the fact that the turnaround strategy was working. A number of positions had been filled, and others had been advertised at the local and cluster level, so that it had the necessary intelligence to assist it to achieve its goals.

General Phiyega said sufficient progress had been made in vetting, starting with senior management positions and those working in supply chain management. All members appointed to management positions had been vetted. It had established mechanisms to pre-assess people, using a system that tells one everything, such as the number of cars you have owned in your life, the number of farms you have owned, your criminal record, the schools and colleges you attended and the qualifications you have. It gives a complete profile of a person. A lot of energy and support was being put into this process so as to get out from the historical process that had not been as intense in assessing people joining SAPS.

Targets were determined in line with government policy, that objectives must be “SMART.” Rigorous effort was being made to ensure that targets were measurable and achievable. There were many sub-targets for the objectives, but for the purposes of reporting and accounting, some of them had been left out in the presentation. SAPS had reviewed its policy on interception of communications to comply with the Act that regulates this environment. The authority for approval rests with her. On a weekly process, she and the Head of Intelligence sit together to ensure that by the time the papers go to the judge, they will had gone through them, and checked and cross-checked them.

The Chairperson said there was an indicator in the annual report that noted the strategic reports generated per request, and the outcome was 18 classified reports. The latest statistics showed that crime had increased. Did this mean that the targets were low, as the main aim of crime intelligence was to reduce crime?

Ms Kohler Barnard said a criminal gang had started in the pavilion outside Durban a few days ago, had entered the town and again robbed certain stores, and that did not show any issues related to crime intelligence work. She asked why the disciplinary hearing of Richard Mdluli had been postponed sine die. She had watched another situation unfold in Durban, where Booysens head of the Hawks in KwaZulu Natal was cleared twice by the Labour Court, once by the High Court, once in a disciplinary hearing, and yet he had been suspended again. Richard Mdluli’s hearing was being postponed, and the previous minister had done everything he could to keep him, only for public pressure to force him to suspend him. Why the double standards? Why do you have to be instructed by a court of law to take Richard Mdluli to a disciplinary hearing? She asked what had happened to the person who had drawn up charges that Mdluli was looting intelligence funds.

Mr Groenewald asked if the Committee could be provided with a report on Richard Mdluli and his allegations of the appointment of family members. He asked about the procedure used and the amount paid to informants in crime intelligence.

Ms Molebatsi asked what had been done about two police-marked vehicles involved in wrong-doing in Gauteng. She asked if there was any strategy in place to make sure that vetted officials remained clean.

Mr D Twala (EFF) asked the extent to which SAPS was curtailing the private sector’s interception capability.

Mr A Mncwango (IFP) asked whether action had been taken against the provincial commissioner of police in KwaZulu-Natal on alleged corruption, and if not, why not.

Lieutenant General Stefan Schutte, Deputy National Commissioner: Resource Management, SAPS, said R33.4 million was the total amount paid to informants.

General Phiyega said the chairperson of the Richard Mdluli disciplinary hearing had postponed the hearing sine die, and not SAPS. The Mduli and Booysen process were receiving the necessary attention from SAPS. The employment of relatives was part of the charges against Mdluli. The hearing of General Solly Lazarus had been done and concluded – he had been found guilty on some counts, and was out of the system. Vetted staff were kept clean by making sure they declared everything or notified the employer should he/she be involved in a court case or a criminal activity, including paying a traffic fine. That was the protocol of SAPS, and non-compliance was treated seriously. Even when one applied for another position, if one had a traffic fine, failure to declare this would result in punitive measures. This was also important for the promotion and transfer of staff.

General Phiyega said SAPS had established an integrity unit within SAPS to maintain integrity within SAPS. Private sector interception was an area that was highly unregulated, particularly in private sector security. What gadgets were being brought into the country? She was of the opinion that there were gaps in this environment, and SAPS was concerned about it. There might be a need to look at this area from a legislative viewpoint. The only thing SAPS did was to ensure that its vetting and interception was legitimate. SAPS had received a letter from the Deputy Public Prosecutor stating that there was no reason to prosecute the KZN Police Commissioner.

Ms Nganga-Ncabashe said SAPS could do more with the integrity unit, which should be linked to internal audit.

Ms Kohler Barnard said a detective had informed the Committee that 15 000 warrants of arrests were issued by courts for people who had disappeared. In other words, the detectives were doing the same work they had done before, as the people who had been arrested went out on bail and disappeared. There were 500 000 wanted persons out there, which represented an enormous amount of work for the detectives. She had spoken to a person in the Justice Department, who had informed her that it was a complicated process, as it involved syndicates and related operations -- the bail was paid by the syndicate and the person relocated to another city to continue committing crime, working for the syndicate. She asked if crime intelligence was not in a position infiltrate the syndicates and work with Justice so that the detectives did not continue doing the same work over and over again.

Mr Z Mbhele (DA) asked the National Police Commissioner to explain the gaps in private security on interception.

Mr Groenewald asked how the amount for the payment of informants was determined, as it was an area where corruption could flourish. He said there was a discrepancy in the annual report, that there were 4 541 interception applications approved by the judge, and a report to the other committee noted only 460 applications were approved from both Crime Intelligence and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

The Chairperson asked if there was a separate unit for integrity testing in Crime Intelligence, as there was a unit for integrity testing in the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI). He asked if there were any complaints against inspector generals in the past year.

General Phiyega said the issue of “circular arrests” was a serious problem, as police continued to arrest, arrest, and arrest. It was important to look at the role of the intertwined nature of the courts. It was difficult to process some of the issues, as a person arrested for a robbery of R3 million was given bail of R500. It was surprising that the same people could have a list of bails. If a person was on bail 15, the magistrate of the court should be thinking otherwise, but this was an area that the police could not prescribe, as its duty was to arrest. It was an issue SAPS would continue raising in the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster and the National Efficiency and Effectiveness Forum, which also brings the Chief Justice in to discuss these issues.

She said SAPS did not have control over who could buy and sell gadgets for intercepting communications. This was where the gap lay. It was the same with the machinery used by pharmaceuticals to produce tablets. There was a need for a regulatory place to track who was buying what, and what the machine was used for. There was a covert aspect to the payment of informants and she asked to be allowed not to disclose the procedure, as she was not sure if it was the right platform to share that type of information, as the SAPS maybe be found in contravention with another Committee.

Dr Zulu said there was a 5% increase in targets annually. Intelligence was provided to detectives investigating crime through profiling information, intelligence analysis reports, and crime threat assessments. This information was then used by visible policing, detectives and the DPCI investigating that particular crime. In every project run by the DPCI, there was an analyst from Crime Intelligence and a person working on undercover issues. When a crime was committed, nobody would be there, and finding out who committed it was a difficult task. In order to get information on how the crime was committed, this was done in a covert manner in order to assist the detectives and visible policing. Crime intelligence was deploying all resources to ensure that crime was dealt with.

The Chairperson said after the release of crime statistics, many members of civil society and analysts had argued that the reason for the increase was related to the work of crime intelligence. He asked if there was an active element involved, to ensure that crime was fought from all angles. He asked if Crime Intelligence had its own unit for integrity testing, or whether it used the DPCI unit.

General Phiyega said the integrity testing unit was like a human resource function, and was connected with DPCI, since it had started earlier there. Internal audit was used to audit and monitor certain issues, to remain in control.

Mr Twala asked how experience derived from crime intelligence was assisting in policy formulation.

The Chairperson asked the kind of support given to police stations at the local level should there be a need.

Dr Zulu said there was intelligence at the cluster level, which had a number of stations that it was supporting. For instance, Mamelodi cluster had a number of stations that it supported at the local level. If there was a bank robbery in the area, the crime intelligence cluster at that particular level would support the detectives in terms of tracking the suspect and providing the analysis that would be needed by the detectives. Sometimes the capability in the cluster might be too weak to deal with the matter; and it was then reported to the provincial level, where certain instruments might need to be deployed to be able to deal with the matter. The detective at the cluster would then be supported by intelligence at cluster and provincial level. If the matter needed a national intervention for the crime committed, it was deployed. Work was coordinated from local to national level.

Dr Zulu said the reports were the analysis of crime intelligence related to interceptions. The discrepancy in intelligence reports with approved applications was because the application file would have a number of subjects within it. The judge considered the file that was submitted. Thus one file submitted could generate 500 reports, because it depended on the subjects within it. The judge responded to files presented to him, and crime intelligence was reporting on reports generated from particular files.

Mr Groenewald said this gave totally different information. He asked if the Committee could be provided with the number of applications for communication interceptions. If he understood the issue correctly, one file to the judge could result in different reports being generated.

General Phiyega said this would be responded to later in writing, but when she signed an interception, it would be one file -- with 17 people, with each of them carrying one number or more. There were many platforms used for sharing experiences, such as reports, special engagements, peer sharing, operational engagement forums, and issues were looked at from multiple angles. There were certain issues where subject matter leadership was needed.

She said the establishment of a research unit was to assist in sharing information, as there were certain lessons that were important to crime intelligence in South Africa and the region. The cluster system was bringing in a lot of information through interdepartmental collaboration. Recently, SAPS had met various heads of departments in tertiary institutions to listen to research they had done on issues of policing. It was looking forward to a colloquium on research on various issues. She believed that through such experiences, SAPS would be able to deliver its capacity.

Mr Groenewald asked if there were good relationships between crime intelligence and the NIA, as there was a certain professional jealousy when it came to these matters.

General Phiyega said interdepartmental cooperation has taken SAPS far. There was collaboration, and it would grow from there. There had been discussions on whether there should be collaboration between all people working on intelligence in Defence, the NIA and Police. This was a type of cooperation discussion SAPS was involved in, to build a broader skills platform, because at the end of the day, whether one was in Defence, the NIA or Police, all were fighting to reduce crime in the country.

The Chairperson said there was a need to expedite the legal processes to ensure that there was a permanent head appointed for intelligence. The integrated approach was welcome and next year, the Committee would look to see whether there had been an impact on reducing organised and violent crime

Programme 5: Protection and Security services
The objective of this programme was to minimise security violations by protecting foreign and local prominent people, and securing strategic interests. The protection services are comprised of three sub-programmes -- VIP protection, static and mobile regulator, and government security regulator. VIP protection services provides for the protection while in transit of the President, Deputy Presidents, former head of states and their spouses, and other identified VIPs. Static protection provides for the protection of sites and residencies of identified VIPs. 100% protection was provided for the VIPs, without any security breaches. The Presidential Protection Services was in the process of building capacity in terms of K9, National Key points and other issues, so that it can work independently in terms of focus areas. Six breaches had been reported in static security.

Discussion
The Chairperson said VIP protection was a high-pressure working environment. He asked what kind of wellness support given to those working in VIP protection. He asked if SAPS was making any input into the review of the act regulating the private security industry.

Ms Kohler Barnard asked what the six security breaches involved, as VIP protection was a zero error game. She asked who was involved and who was fired, and whether anyone was arrested and if so, did it reflect any corruption.

Mr Groenewald asked if the sign language person at the funeral of Nelson Mandela constituted a security breach. He asked if the new national key points included Nkandla.

Ms Molebatsi asked for an explanation for the removal of the indicator of the percentage of anniversary reports compiled.

Ms Nganga-Ncabashe asked if there was any plan to rectify the six security breaches to prevent it from occurring in the future.

General Sello Kwena, Acting Divisional Commissioner: Protection and Security Services, SAPS, said VIP protection had static and in-transit operations. The breaches were all in static. There were internal processes that were being undertaken. The perpetrators had been arrested. In the Northern Cape, the perpetrators had been sentenced to three years. Two security breaches had been in the Northern Cape, one in Bloemfontein (where the case was still pending), one in Western Cape at the provincial government (where a laptop had been stolen on the sixth floor by a cleaner who had been arrested) and two in Gauteng (where eight members had attacked the house of a Rwandan general who was in political asylum). Where there was negligence, there were internal processes in place to ensure that did not happen again.  Support was provided to staff. They attended two basic VIP courses and an advanced VIP course. They were continuously rotated. When the VIPs left the country, this gave the members enough time for training, rest and deployment to other areas. Before the election, VIPs were constantly travelling and this was hectic for the staff for a few months. SAPS was also giving input to the National Key Points Act. Nkandla was not one of the new key points.

Mr Groenewald asked if Nkandla was a key point in terms of the police services.

Mr Mbhele asked why the Presidential Protection required independent capacity, in terms of K9.

The Chairperson asked if there was career pathing for police force members attached to guarding legislatures for many years, so that they were given new skills.

General Phiyega said career pathing was an area SAPS was looking into especially, on the static protection front. It was unsound to attach a member to outlying border management for their whole life. It was looking at rotation to ensure that members got fuller experience in the policing environment, so that it developed a well rounded police service. It was benchmarking Presidential Protection Services with other nations, as what it needed to achieve was pre-eminence in the police service.

General Kwena said that in certain instances it relied on dogs from other provinces where the VIP would be visiting. Provinces usually had patrol dogs and explosives “sniffer” dogs. It was looking at developing its own K9 capacity that mainly dealt with explosives, hence the attempt to build capacity was concerned with presidential visits. There were time frames in which a member would be working in static security. After they had completed the advanced VIP course, they could be rotated to other places.

Mr Groenewald insisted on learning whether Nkandla was a national key point.

The Chairperson asked if there was constant vetting of VIP protectors. He asked what was being done to retain VIP protectors to ensure that there was value for money, as trying to place one was a costly exercise.

General Kwena said all houses belonging to presidents and vice presidents were seen as national key points. There were certain areas that were going to be areas of vetting, such as VIP protectors, supply chain management and senior management. Members were being rotated to grow in various environments. In many instances, members preferred to stay in the VIP environment, rather than other police environments. The two additional key points would be responded to in writing.

Vetting of Senior Management in SAPS
Dr Zulu said SAPS was migrating from normal vetting to e-vetting. She said the vetting statistics were always changing because of retirements and promotions. Overall, 745 senior managers had been vetted -- 23 Lieutenant Generals, 152 Major Generals, 557 Brigadier Generals and 15 Directors working in the ministry. Two people had been denied security clearance.

***This presentation was indicated confidential and Members who were given copies had them repossessed. The presentation just showed the distribution of vetted officials in ranks per province.

Analysis of Civilian Secretariat for Police Annual Report

Ms Nicolette van Zyl-Gous, the Police Committee Researcher, said it was important to ensure that the hearing of the annual report was assessed to ensure that the Secretariat provided high quality services, economical in nature, efficiently and effectively; services rendered must be in line with the Secretariat constitutional mandate, strategic plan and budget; services rendered by the Secretariat contributed meaningfully to the realisation of government’s overall objectives; and that measures were in place to improve its future performance.

In the 2012/13 financial year, the Secretariat achieved 92% of its predetermined targets by spending 72.93% of its budget. There was a disjoint between the targets achieved and expenditure, which meant that either the budget was too big or the targets were too low. Its baseline targets were too low and generalised. The level of unspent budgets had increased since the 2011/12 financial year. The Secretariat had 121 funded posts, of which 102 were filled in 2012/13, meaning a high vacancy rate of 16%. The filling of posts should be a priority. The data on legislation was misstated in the annual report, while grievances were also misstated

The key challenge regarding performance was that risk management reports were not submitted because a risk manager had not been appointed, the consultative forums with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate had not yet been fully established, and there were provincial secretariats only in the Western Cape and Free State by 31 March. The Secretariat was still in transition. It must become an independent and critical voice. It must stabilise in terms of budget and performance while its targets must be based on outcomes, rather than outputs.

The Civilian Secretariat for Police 2013/14 Annual Report
Ms Reneva Fourie, Secretary, Civilian Secretariat for Police, said the Secretariat previously worked as a SAPS cost centre until 31 March 2014. It had achieved most its key targets. A dialogue between the government and civil society had been hosted during the Women’s Month, and a dialogue on the management of service complaints against SAPS had been hosted with various stakeholders. The number exceeded the targets because of community demands. Irregular spending was 0.02 % because of an extension in the provision of services by the service provider before the contract was renewed. The draft white paper on safety and security was not achieved because of the redirection of focus into the green paper on policing.

Discussion
The Chairperson asked if the Secretariat budget was too big because of under-spending. He asked for an explanation for the massive shift in the administration budget. He asked if its planned to address spending.

Ms Molebatsi said the presentation was worrying. It was as if the Secretariat had not been told that it would be a designated entity by 31 March 2014

Ms Kohler Barnard asked the number of years the Secretariat needed to fill its vacancies. It was still short staffed by 19 people, although its full staff complement was only 121. The Secretariat was not a new entity. She asked exactly what it needed in order to function effectively.

Ms Nganga-Gcabashe said the under-spending was too much, considering that the acceptable level from National Treasury was 90%. This meant that the National Treasury would reduce its budget in the next financial year.

Ms Fourie said the status of legislation was to be reported on 5 November. The budget was not too big. It was upgrading its ICT systems and was going to tighten internal control mechanisms

Mr Kibiti Lephoto, Chief Financial Officer, Secretariat, said it was dependent on SAPS administration processes, especially with supply chain management. This contributed to delays in certain areas. especially in procurement.

Mr Maiwaudile Hlanjwa, Human Resources Manager, Secretariat, said all position had been advertised. In certain circumstances, prospective employees had been interviewed and made offers, only for them to turn down the offer. In certain instances, the panel could not find suitable candidates. Five additional posts had been created and all positions would be filled.

The Chairperson asked if it had staff for auditing and compiling financial statements. It was surprising that legislation had the highest under-spending, when there had been outstanding instruments for some time.

Mr Mbhele said he was surprised to hear from the CFO that it had complied with the PFMA, considering it had such under-spending.

Mr Hlanjwa said the supply chain department and audit were fully capacitated. However, it was dependent on the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) for procurement.

Mr Twala asked if there was any alternative to dependency on SITA. It was well known that the government did not pay competitive salaries, compared to the private sector. This was why people turned down the offers. It had to come up with a pre-emptive strategy to avoid people passing interviews, only for them to turn down offers.

Ms Dawn Bell, Legislation, Secretariat, said that the under-spending in legislation was because work in this department had been halted because of the drafting of the White Paper on policing. The DPCI regulations had been drafted, and what was left was only discussion.

The Chairperson said the implementation of the National Development Plan was absent in the annual report. He asked if the Secretariat was advising the Minister.

Mr Hlanjwa said it was implementing corrective measures on under-spending, as it was a serious concern.

Ms Fourie said it would bring a more detailed report on the implementation of the NDP. A draft white paper on policing was to be taken to Cabinet in November, which touched on the demilitarisation and professionalising of the police.

The meeting was adjourned.