Budget Hearings: SAPS Programame 1: Administration and Programme 2: Visible Policing, with Minister

Meeting report

Opening remarks

The Chairperson noted that the Committee was supposed to have a meeting the previous day but due to issues in the parliamentary sphere, it had to be cancelled – an opportunity to hear the views of the trade union would be rescheduled to next week Tuesday.

The Committee would hear programme one and two of the SA Police Service (SAPS), while programme three and four would be presented the following day and programme five and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) would be presented on that day also.

Budget vote hearings in Parliament would begin very early this year so Committee reports would have to be finalised by the next week Friday, was not much time left for the Committee to do its work properly – Members must understand that the Committee would have to meet on Fridays.  All input from Members during the hearings would be included so it was important to raise issues during this time for inclusion in the reports.

Portfolio Committee on Police Budget Hearings – SAPS Annual Performance Plan 2016/17

Maj. Gen. Leon Rabie, SAPS Head: Strategic Management, took the Committee through the initial information relating to the budget by looking at the strategic management cycle, beginning by noting that the initiation of the strategic management cycle and Annual Performance Plan (APP) was informed by:

• National Development Plan (NDP) vision for 2030
• Strategic Plan: constitutional and legislative mandates, strategic outcome-orientated goals
• President's State of the Nation Address
• Key Ministerial priorities
• Issues raised by the Portfolio Committee (Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report)
• Overview of performance over the medium and short terms
• Internal inputs, including contributions by top and senior managers

The Committee was then taken through the milestones associated with the strategic management process and where they were now. Looking at implementing the strategic direction through which the APP and the annual operation plans – implementation, monitoring and evaluation occurred through:

• Strategic Direction: NDP, Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and the strategic plan  
• APP: Objectives, performance indicators and targets
• Divisional/Provincial Annual Operational Plans
• Cluster Annual Operation a Plans
• Station Annual Operational Plans

Turning to the establishment of the Back to Basics approach, the NDP outlined “Personal safety is a human right. It is a necessary condition for human development, improved quality of life and enhanced productivity. When communities do not feel safe and live in fear, the country’s economic development and the people’s well-being are affected”. “In 2030, people living in South Africa feel safe at home, at school and at work, and they enjoy a community life free of fear. Women walk freely in the streets and children play safely outside. The police service is well-resourced and professional, staffed by highly skilled officers who value their work, serve the community, safeguard lives and property without discrimination, protect the peaceful against violence, and respect the rights to equality and justice.”

Maj. Gen. Rabie then took the Committee through the methodology behind the Back to Basics Approach beginning with an in-depth analysis of the performance of the SAPS occurring through:

• 2014/15 and 2015/16 APPs (MTSF period) -Annual Report and Quarterly Reports
• Specific areas of persistent under-performance were identified linked directly to the prevention, combating and investigation of crime as per Section 205(3), thereby jeopardising the SAPS’s likelihood of delivering on the requirements of Outcome 3
• Specific areas of under-performance within the administration or support environment

Consultation with management and members of the organisation also formed part of the methodology with

• National Crime Combating Forum
• National Strategic Planning Sessions
• National Support Services Forum
• Detective Service Performance Reviews
• Management meetings between the Acting National Commissioner and all Commanders in each province
• Informal engagements with SAPS members at all levels were also conducted, including both operational and support personnel.

Maj. Gen. Rabie turned to the 2014/15 Victims of Crime Survey in terms of the various problem statements related thereto. These included:

• Perception that levels of violent and non-violent crime in the country had increased with specific concerns regarding housebreaking, house robbery and theft out of motor vehicles
• The under reporting of crime to the SAPS indicating that violent crime was more likely to be reported than property-related crime but proposing that the measurement of the extent of crime was important
• A decrease in the number of respondents who felt safe when it was dark
• The increasing role of illegal drugs driving up levels of property crimes
• 57% of respondents indicated that they were satisfied with the service provided by the police in their area

Further problem statements were identified in terms of persistent areas of under-performance in the APP within three financial programmes:

Programme One: Administration – management of service terminations, provision of employee health and wellness and incidents leading to civil claims against the SAPS

Programme Two: VISPOL – reporting serious crimes and crimes against women, recovery of stolen/lost state-owned firearms and stolen/lost vehicles, volume of liquor confiscated as a result of police actions and national and provincial crime awareness campaigns conducted

Programmes Three: Detective Services – detection rate of serious crimes, contact crime, crimes dependent on police action, crimes against women above 18 years and crimes against children under 18 years and the percentage of trial-ready case dockets.

The Minister of Police, Mr Nkosinathi Nhleko; the Acting National Commissioner and senior management of SAPS, identified the need for the introduction of a Back to Basics approach to policing. This approach focused on every member of SAPS reverting to the established regulatory framework, or simply put, doing the basics of policing properly and consistently. The approach emphasised:

• Culture of performance management and accountability
• Uncompromised compliance with the fundamental principles of policing
• Transformation of SAPS including demilitarisation, professionalism, integrity and discipline
• Enhanced police visibility
• Thorough and responsive investigation of every crime
• Efficient utilisation of resources in support of the investigation of crime
• Crime intelligence in support of proactive and reactive policing
• Targeted and informed deployment of resources
• Collaborative and consultative approach to policing 

Turning to management interventions, the purpose of the interventions was to ensure professional knowledge based management of policing towards achieving the outcomes and impact of the constitutional objectives of SAPS. The objectives of the management interventions were to:

• Establish and maintain a SAPS Policing Body of knowledge through research in SAPS
• Determine non-compliance with the policing regulatory framework and poor policing performance
• Implement timely interventions to prevent or correct non-compliance and/or poor policing performance towards sustainably achieving the constitutional objectives of SAPS

Tangible outcomes included recovery plans targeting specific areas of under-performance, including detective services, VISPOL and service terminations; and enhanced organisational performance

Maj. Gen. Rabie then looked at the elements of purpose of the management interventions, which included:

• Professionalism: Back to Basics quality dimension that is measured by addressing the needs (what) and the expectations (how) of the client focusing in the Code of Conduct, Policing Practice and Policing Body of Knowledge
• Knowledge-based management: approaching policing and problem solving through research, planning and monitoring and evaluation
• Policing approach: broadening the traditional approach to policing by addressing the root causes of crime in an integrated multidisciplinary approach
• Interventions: active and timely knowledge-based interventions to address policing problems which, if left unattended, will have a negative effect on the SAPS achieving its objectives
• Outcomes and impact: focusing inputs, actions and outputs on achieving outcomes and the desired impact so that all people were and felt safe.

Turning to the SAPS organisational structure, the aim of the structure was to establish an organisational structure that was responsive to current policing challenges and demands:

• Reorganise and strengthen operational capacity in terms of core operational responsibilities policing and Crime Detection.
• Establish synergy driven by the Back to Basics approach
• Development of organisation specific solutions to address policing demands.
• Initiate interventions to address areas of persistent underperformance and non-compliance.
• Ensure continuous assessment of levels of performance and compliance.

The structure had been consulted and approved and the appointment of personnel had commenced.

Maj. Gen. Rabie then took the Committee through the strategic objectives of each SAPS programme:

1. Administration: To regulate the overall management of the Department and provide centralised support services
2. VISPOL: to discourage all crimes by providing a proactive and responsive policing service that will reduce the levels of priority crime
3. Detective Services: to contribute to the successful prosecution of offenders by investigating, gathering and analysing evidence
4. Crime Intelligence: to gather crime intelligence in support of the prevention, combating and investigation of crime, to collate, evaluate, analyse, coordinate and disseminate intelligence for the purpose of tactical, operational ad strategic utilisation to supply intelligence products relating to national strategic intelligence to NICOC and to institute counter-intelligence measures within SAPS
5. Protection and Security Services: minimise security violations by protecting foreign and local prominent people and securing strategic interests

Discussion

The Chairperson said the Committee welcomed the process approach and that there was consultation. On the implementation of the NDP, he saw the reference points in terms of creating the strategy but he saw all the elements of chapter 12 of the NDP – he understood it was a phased approach but wanted to know what would be done this year to implement chapter 12 or in the outer years if that could not be managed. Was SAPS taking into account the issues raised by the Office of the Auditor-General of SA last year in regard to the current strategic approach and in terms of the development of the plan. Having had one or two discussions on the new structure, the Committee broadly agreed with the approach but what happened if, in a perfect situation, top management and provinces were working 100% and the intervention unit was not needed? It also seemed as if there might be blurring of lines at the end of the day unless the synergy and exact roles in terms of interventions were fully explained.

Lt. Gen. Khomotso Phahlane, Acting National Commissioner, said that not necessarily all the NDP elements would have been taken on board in the approach because the Minister had established a panel of experts and a committee to deal with the issues stemming from the Marikana Commission of Inquiry as well as some elements of the NDP, transformation, demilitarisation and so on. SAPS viewed the NDP as critical. Issues raised by the AG in terms of programmes two and three would have been taken on board  - they would be spoken to as the presentation progressed. Management intervention was doing wonders and looking back on what was achieved, the team was very proud. Many achievements were attributed to this approach. With the analysis done, 63 police stations were identified with chronic deficiencies. Docket analysis was also conducted in particular to deal with the number of dockets closed with cases undetected. From this came recovery plans for the intervention teams to establish compliance. The idea was to do away with the inspectorate and to not have everyone doing oversight. There was no blurring of lines of responsibility between national intervention and the line management - in actual fact, management intervention teams would never grow big because they drew resources from line management. The same inspectorate that was there had been reconfigured in a way that would do justice. Regional commissioners had been in the Service and had immense experience from various divisions in terms of operation and support.

Mr P Groenewald (FF+) noted all the good ideas but the question at the end of the day was if this was only good in theory or in practice too. He was very excited about the Back to Basics approach, which he thought was the core of building the police services. He however wanted to test the theory in practice today by relaying what happened in a small police station like Stilfontein – about a month ago, four young boys were caught damaging and stealing election posters from the poles. When he arrived he thought they were perhaps only mischievous being between the ages of eight and 11 and thought he would not bother SAPS with a charge of theft because at that age he too was a very naughty boy. He however realised that he could not just let the issue go because it enhanced crime. On this Sunday afternoon he then went to the police station and, when he arrived, asked for the shift commander and he was very professionally received.  He raised the story because the presentation specifically referred to professionalism as part of Back to Basics. The shift commander was a captain who did not recognise him as she spoke to someone else. When he eventually explained what happened to the captain, she first asked if the boys were black or white. She then proceeded to have a private conversation on her private cellphone after which he walked out. He was going to give the Acting National Commissioner the name and date of the incident to test the seriousness of Back to Basics in practice. On the Victims of Crime Survey and the under-reporting of crime, he received numerous complaints from the public who said they reported crime incidents but the police said they would not accept the complaint while some policemen and women said they were civil incidents – what was being done about this situation where people reported crime incidents but the police did not want to take it and record as an incident?

Lt. Gen. Phahlane said that he was equally as excited – SAPS was not perfect and in the process made mistakes but they were prepared to learn from those mistakes. He asked the Member to provide him with the details of the incident to look into the matter. Discipline task teams would make its way into the management intervention. From time to time he approached officers or vans when at home to find out where their appointment certificates and pocketbooks were. Just yesterday he heard of police officers with all sorts of different colours in their hair – this was unacceptable and not a fashion parade. Police people were to look the part and image formed a part of maintaining a level of professionalism as an institution of government. He appreciated observations from Members, even if negative, which should be corrected.  This also applied to where certain complaints were not accepted and mechanisms in this regard would have to followed up on. 

Ms A Molebatsi (ANC) unlike Mr Groenewald had been to her local police station and had seen professionalism happening before her eyes. She sometimes visited the police station one o'clock at night on the weekends just to observe and she saw professionalism happening there - this should be kept up. The issue of corruption in SAPS was an issue that kept rearing its head from all quarters – was it receiving more attention under the Back to Basics approach? When would the vacancies at top management be filled?

Lt. Gen. Phahlane indicated that a blind eye could not be turned toward corruption and anti-corruption capacity would have to be set up within SAPS – there was capacity in the Hawks to deal with such but the mandate of the Hawks spoke more towards serious corruption and serious crimes. A directory would be located in the detective services environment to deal with issues of this nature. He remained appreciative of the work done by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) in investigating allegations of police corruption from which recommendations were implemented. In terms of the vacant posts, SAPS was doing better with the filling of the posts. The posts were currently being advertised and slowly they would all be filled in time.

The Chairperson asked what the main functions of the National Management Head: Advisory Services would be and if a special adviser or a civilian would fill the post.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane replied that advisory services comprised of communication and liaison services under than five Major Generals. In the environment was also strategic management, marketing and organisation and project management. It was an existing post that had been reconfigured in terms of the responsibility and focus. Scoping was being done on counter-intelligence and there would be a relocation of some functions currently located in the crime intelligence environment so the scoping would delineate those responsibilities. 

Mr M Redelinghuys (DA), like Ms Molebatsi, had seen incredible professionalism.  From what he had heard thus far in the presentation he was very encouraged by the well-informed and researched package document behind the Back to Basics approach. He could see that it was not just talk but also informed by the Victims of Crime Survey and an honest assessment of the state of the SA Police Service and there were clear plans and he found this encouraging. He had hope, wish and trust that he would see the approach play out in the year ahead.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane assured that the plans were not just academic but would be translated into action. The divisions and provinces would need to ensure implementation and the apportionment of responsibility was detailed. This would also be monitored to form part of accountability to ensure the resources were tangibly used to achieve results.

Mr Z Mbhele (DA) on the elements of the national intervention units and teams under the Back to Basics approach, was also excited about it as a proactive, targeted mechanism for expediently addressing shortcomings and issues as they came up.  He also had good, speedy feedback on an issue raised at a station in Gauteng that he was pleased about. With the restructuring of the organisation, was there full compliance with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) regulations in terms of the number of posts, salary bands etc? He questioned the Victims of Crime Survey in relation to the specific point that violent crime was more likely to be reported to SAPS than property-related crime. He found this to be the opposite of what he assumed and sought clarity on this point.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane answered that there was full compliance with the structure. He reminded Members that the determination of SAPS structures was a competency that lay with the National Commissioner and not the DPSA – SAPS did however take cue from the DPSA directives.

Ms L Mabija (ANC) was happy with the presentation but felt that things were becoming worse and worse on the ground but she had hoped to see changes. The Committee had often heard good presentations that failed in implementation.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane agreed that the plans should not just be spoken to but plans that were translated into practice.

Mr J Maake (ANC) shared the sentiments of other Members on the Back to Basics approach. 

Mr P Mhlongo (EFF) appreciated the broad informative presentation thus far but there were some seriously problematic stations that made him question the level of monitoring. Ordinary men and women in blue complained of being abused and ended up being victims of criminals and this could really not be tolerated. Non-reporting of crime was also a serious issue that often resulted in people taking matters into their own hands 

Lt. Gen. Phahlane indicated that he would appreciate more information.

The Chairperson agreed that many of the issues came down to timing and this made him question what the intervention units meant practically to affect the output.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane suggested an opportunity be created for a detailed briefing on the national management intervention units for Members to be on the same page as SAPS was in terms of expectations and concepts.

Medium Term Budget: 2016 Estimates of National Expenditure

Lt. Gen. Stefan Schutte, SAPS Deputy National Commissioner: Asset and Legal Management, looking at the spending planning documents, noted this included the estimates of National Expenditure according to National Treasury directives referring to the 2016/17 amounts to be appropriated for Vote 23: Police to: appropriate the expenditure allocation per programme; and to appropriate the expenditure allocation per economic classification.

The Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan according to a framework referring to amongst other resource aspects and overview of the 2016 budget and estimates and Estimates of National Expenditure contains, inter alia, a strategic overview, expenditure estimates and expenditure trends.

The Committee was taken through the expenditure trends and spending focus and a summary of budget spending per programme. Also outlined were programme growth estimates over the medium term (year on year increases per programme). In terms of the overview of 2016 expenditure estimates, baseline allocations over the medium term grew from R76.7 billion in 2015/16 to R92.9 billion in 2018/19 at an average annual rate of 6.6%. The baseline allocations over the period 2016/17 to 2018/19 have been amended, and to the following extent:

• Cabinet approved reductions to the baselines of the Department amounting to R4.735 billion over the medium term period:
• The Department compensation of employees budget was reduced by R800 million in 2016/17, R1.5billion in 2017/18 and R1,4 billion in 2018/19
•  The goods and services budget had been reduced by R803.2 million over the medium term, following the implementation of cost containment measures on fleet services, computer services and consumables amongst others. The R803.2 million comprised baseline reductions of R302.1million in 2016/17, R225.9 million in 2017/18 and R275 million in 2018/19
• The IJS base line allocations had also been reduced by R50million, R100million, and R150million over the same period, bringing the total to R300 million for this purpose

Lt. Gen. Schutte informed the Committee of the spending policy direction for 2016/17 - the spending focus over the medium term would be on:

• Addressing the current fixed establishment
• Professionalising the police service through skills development
• Continued strengthening of the criminal justice system by contributing to the criminal justice sector revamp and modernisation programme; and
• Investing in capital assets consisting of machinery and equipment.
• Maintaining the fixed-wing air craft and helicopter fleet, including the procurement of requisite physical resources
• Policing of major events
• Purchasing of critical equipment such as firearms, ammunition and clothing
• Community Outreach Programmes, Imbizo and Community-based recruitment programmes
• Local government Elections 2016
• Strengthening the resource capacity of Public Order Policing Units and to police incidents of public disorder over the next few years.

The presentation then looked at budget figures, programmes, economic classification and compensation of employees. In terms of the economic classification weight percentage for 2016/17, the picture was compensation 76.6%; goods and services 18.4%; transfer payments 1.2%; and capital payments 3.8%

Members were then taken through a detailed briefing on the economic classifications for items representing goods and services to pursue purposes and functions and compensation budget. In terms of notes of a general nature, departmental spending over the medium term would be in relation to the core programmes with Visible Policing more than 50% weight of the total Vote in 2016/17. The Detective Service in terms of weight was also a significant portion of nearly 21%.

Compensation of employees would remain the largest driver of spending, constituting nearly 77% of the total budget for 2016/17 providing for remuneration costs and personnel numbers over the period (198 042 from 2015/16 onwards, subject to measures to be announced by the Ministers of Finance and Public Service and Administration to manage personnel expenditure and develop tools to assist departments to reduce personnel numbers in 2017/18 and 2018/19). Operational expenditures including goods and services, transfer payments and payments for capital assets total 23% in 2016/17. The growth rate for the Vote from 2015/16 to 2016/17 was 5.6%.

Lt. Gen. Schutte then outlined the expenditure estimates per programme and its sub-programme:

1. Administration: Ministry, management, corporate services and Civilian Secretariat
2. Visible Policing: crime prevention, border security, specialised interventions, facilities 
3. Detective Service: crime investigations, criminal record centre, forensic science laboratory, specialised investigations
4. Crime Intelligence: crime intelligence operations, intelligence and information, management
5. Protection and Security Services: VIP protection services, static security, government security regulator, operational support 

Programme One: Administration

Maj. Gen. Rabie proceeded to take the Committee through the APP for this programme. The purpose of the programme was to develop policy and manage the Department including administrative support for the following sub-programmes:

• Ministry
• Management
• Corporate Services
• Civilian Secretariat

The strategic objective of the programme was to regulate the overall management of the Department and provide centralised support services. The objective statement was to ensure a capacitated, professional police service able to intensify the fight against crime and make the country safer, focusing on the human resource capability and establish an adequate human resource capability. Performance indicators included percentage of filled posts; percentage of terminations finalised within 60 working days; percentage of received service terminations submitted to the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA); average time taken to fill vacant funded posts; and percentage of people with disabilities employed in relation to the total workforce

Targets in relation to the above performance indicators included to:

• Maintain a minimum workforce of 98% in terms of the approved establishment (198 062)
• 60% received service terminations submitted to the GPAA within 60 calender days from the date after the employee’s exit from the Service
• 90% of vacant funded posts to be filled within six months after becoming vacant
• 2% of members with disability in relation to the total workforce

Maj. Gen. Rabie highlighted the next objective statement as the need for an effective discipline and integrity management capability. Performance indicators included percentage of disciplinary cases finalised; percentage of IPID recommendations initiated; and percentage of IPID-related disciplinary cases finalised 

Targets in relation to the above performance indicators included:

• 90& of disciplinary cases finalised within 60 calendar days
• 100% initiated within 30 days of receipt
• 90% of IPID-related disciplinary cases finalised within 60 calendar days

The next objective statement was to improve the employee health and wellness profile to promote a healthy, dedicated, responsive and productive police service. Performance indicators included an average acceptable rate of unscheduled absence (sick and incapacity leave); and percentage of operational employees debriefed subsequent to attending a crime scene and operations in relation to requests received and incidents reported 

Targets in relation to the above performance indicators included:

• A maximum of 5.75% rate of unscheduled absence (sick and incapacity leave)
• Debrief 100% of employees as requested

Another objective statement was to ensure a capacitated professional police service to intensify the fight against crime and make the country safer focusing on Human Capital Development. Performance indicators included: percentage of learners declared competent upon completion of their training in terms of the Training Provisioning Plan (TPP); and number of internships undertaken.

Targets in relation to the above performance indicators included: maintenance of 96.5% of learners declared competent; and increased number of internships undertaken by 10% to 851

Maj. Gen. Rabie outlined the next objective statement as the need to improve requisite resources to sustain quality service delivery on strategic priorities. Performance indicators included:

• Ratio of personnel to vehicles
• Percentage of firearms and bullet-resistant vests distributed
• Percentage of official SAPS firearms dot peen marked

Targets in relation to the above performance indicators included:

• Maintenance of a ratio of 4:51:1 personnel to vehicles
• 100% of firearms and bullet-resistant vest distributed in relation to the demand
• 100% of official SAPS firearms dot peen marked

Maj. Gen. Rabie informed Members of the next objective statement which was related to infrastructure development and public access to policing services. The performance indicators included the percentage of planned police facility projects completed as per the SAPS Infrastructure Development Plan in respect of capital works, leases and planned maintenance

The targets in relation to the above performance indicator included:

• 80% (217) of planned capital works projects
• 80% of planned leased projects
• 8 0% (488) of planned maintenance projects

The next objective statement was to enhance Information Systems and Information and Communication Technology (IS/ICT) to support the business objectives of SAPS. Performance indicators and targets included:

• 95% of identified ICT infrastructure sites modernised, implemented and maintained project milestones achieved
• 7 5% of prioritised IS solutions developed, implemented and maintained within SAPS
• 70% of IS/ICT governance approved, implemented and improved within the SAPS 

In terms of the financial management capability objective statement, the performance indicators and targets included:

• 100% appropriated operational budget allocations in terms of baselines amounts to cost centres by the end of June
• 99% of legitimate invoices paid within 30 days

Maj. Gen. Rabie highlighted the next objective statement, which was compliance and assurance provisioning. The performance indicators and targets included:

• 100% of planned inspections completed
• 70% of complaints against the Service finalised within 30 working days in terms of Standing Order 101
• 100% audits completed in terms of the approved internal audit plan

The final objective statement of programme one was improving organisational performance and compliance enforcement. The performance indicator and target was 100% of planned management interventions completed.

The presentation then looked at the performance indicators removed from the programme and updates to the strategic plan 2014 to 2019. Emerging priorities for the programmed included:

- Implementation of Transformation and Institutional Reform Initiatives (professionalisation and demilitarisation)

- Establishment of an organisational structure that was responsive to current policing challenges and demands

- Determining the Research Agenda in support of policing

- Turnaround of Key Areas of Under-performance:

1. EHW Capability (Police Officer Health and Wellness)
2. Service Terminations
3. Focused interventions to down-manage civil claims by addressing the causes of action.
4. Enhancing Police Safety to mitigate murders and attacks on police (members and facilities)

- Enhancement of Performance Management and Accountability (Progressive Discipline / Consequence Management)

- Enhance leadership through the establishing of a leadership charter.

- Enhanced Data Integrity in identified areas (cross-cutting)

- Reviewed Combined Assurance Approach.

Discussion

The Chairperson noted that the Committee made certain recommendations during the BRRR process and there were some outstanding such as “the Committee recommended that SAPS national and provincial senior management attend a workshop on the Constitution with special reference to civilian oversight, the rule of law and the separation of powers by the end of the financial year” - he asked what progress had been made with these recommendations. Another issue highlighted during the Rule 201 process was the SAPS media policy- the initial feedback the Committee received was of a redraft process but he asked if this was now finalised.  He also sought an update of performance agreements with top management, Lieutenant Generals and Major Generals.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane said the workshop was forthcoming and, if all went well, would be done in the first quarter of the financial year. There was success in downscaling the media statements and individuals could not just release statements on their own. There had been a review of Standing Order 156, which dealt with media-related issues, and the work done was shared with the SA National Editors Forum (Sanef) amongst others – the policy now just needed to go through the final processing but he assured the Committee that issues which were getting out of hand were dealt with. In terms of performance agreements, SAPS was now focusing on each divisional or provincial commissioner having their own, specific, detailed plans that were measurable in terms of what they would be doing so that each of their contributions could be monitored in the environment. Monthly performance review sessions would also apply to divisional and provincial commissioners to account for their performance so there was definitely a shift in this regard.

Mr Groenewald noted that some of the indicators were requested from the side of the Committee. He still had an issue however with the target for employees debriefed as requested – SAPS members often witnessed brutal scenes but there was sometimes an attitude that going to debriefing was seen as a sign of weakness.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane said the debriefing of members, was not solely on request. The National Instruction requests that members, upon exposure and with traumatic experiences, must be debriefed. Mandatory briefings for members were included once or twice in a year. Members who attended debriefing would always be attended to in this performance indicator and target. It was also important to look at a dual approach should members approach private people for assistance. Debriefing was not always on request and was dictated by the policy. There were also obligations on the part of commanders.

Ms Molebatsi questioned indicators around corruption. On the leases, the Committee was told that it was cheaper and better to build than to lease, and she saw the target for 80% of planned capital works projects – did this mean SAPS wanted to move from leasing to building? She worried about the money being spent on leasing instead of building to reduce expenditure on leasing.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane highlighted the development of a direct anti-corruption unit within the detective services environment and said there would be specific categories in the disciplinary code/code of conduct.  On the leases, unfortunately there would still be leases because sometimes money was not always available for building so leases would then still be maintained. In building there were challenges and dependencies such as on Public Works, municipalities and availability of sites.

Mr Redelinghuys asked if the cutting of the budget of the Civilian Secretariat for Police was done in consultation with the police Department and Minister of Finance. Or did Treasury just place the money into the bank account of SAPS to be transferred to the CSP?

Lt. Gen. Phahlane indicated that the latter was correct and the CSP made their own submissions on what their needs were and so on.

Mr Mbhele questioned the progress in terms of the implementation of the recommendations from the NDP on the establishment of a national policing board as a multi-disciplinary body for processing such as monitoring and overseeing and synergy between such a board and the transformation task team running under the Deputy Minister. Although related to finances, he asked about contingent liability. 

Lt. Gen. Phahlane said the national policing board was still in the draft stages in terms of the White Paper and so on and was not yet fully finalised. 

Lt. Gen. Schutte explained that contingent liability referred to possible liability, which was usually an annexure. 

Mr Maake wanted to know more about how the targets were determined and then how they were monitored. What was meant by the target to have IPID recommendations finalised? 

Lt. Gen. Phahlane explained the recommendations of IPID were informed by investigations and once SAPS were provided with the recommendations. There was also a disciplinary process but feedback was always provided to IPID.

The Chairperson noted that the issue of civil claims was a priority and asked if the current cover for it was sufficient.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane indicated that it did not auger well to simply say civil claims should be reduced by such a percentage, the focus should be on the contributors and root causes of actions such as unlawful arrests and then what needed to be done to curb the situation. This could be due to training, members not being familiar with the legislation etc. and these issues must be addressed to try to deal with the bigger matter at hand. Another big contributor as far as arrest was concerned was unlawful detention but these were the things being moved into. This explained the shift from targeting a percentage decrease to looking into the contributory factors for the end result of down-management of civil claims. Management intervention would also need to look at specific mechanisms to deal with this particular issue.

Mr Groenewald questioned the indicators covering lost firearms that he could not see.

Mr Mhlongo was concerned about the illegal activity occurring with foreign nationals hiding behind xenophobia.  Legislation had to be developed to deal with such issues.

Programme Two: Visible Policing

Maj. Gen. Rabie outlined the sub-programmes of the programmes included:

• Crime prevention
• Border security
• Specialised interventions
• Facilities

In terms of the first objective statement: to reduce levels of serious crimes, performance indicators included:

• Number of reported series crimes
• Number of reported crimes against women
• Number of reported crimes against children

The next objective statement was to address contributors to crime where performance indicators were:

- Number of crimes for unlawful possession of and dealing in drugs

- Number of stolen/lost firearms recovered

- Number of stolen/firearms owned by other government departments recovered

- Number of SAPS-owned firearms reported as stolen/lost 

- Number of stolen/lost SAPS firearms recovered

- Number of stolen/robbed vehicles recovered

- Quantity of illicit drugs confiscated as a result of police actions

- Volume of liquor confiscated as a result of police actions

- Percentage of escapees from police custody versus arrested and charged

Maj. Gen. Rabie outlined the next objective statement as quality service delivery and responsiveness where performance indicators included:

- Percentage of applications for firearm licences, competency certificates and renewals finalised

- Percentage of police stations compliant with the set criteria applicable to the rendering of a victim friendly service 

- Average national police reaction time to Alpha, Bravo and Charlie complaints

With the enhancing of partnership policing, the performance indicators were:

- Percentage of identified police stations where sector policing had been implemented according to the set criteria

- Percentage of functional Community Police Forums (CPFs) implemented at police stations according to set guidelines

- Number of rural and rural/urban mixed police stations implementing the minimum criteria of the four pillars of the Rural Safety Strategy

- Number of crime awareness campaigns conducted

- School safety programmes implemented at identified school 

In terms of effective border security management, performance indicators included:

- Percentage of crime-related hits reacted to as a result of the Movement Control System and Enhanced Movement Control System screening on wanted persons/circulated stolen or robbed vehicles

- Percentage of profiled vehicles/containers and cargo/consignment searched for illicit drugs, firearms, stolen/robbed vehicles, consignment, smuggled persons and counterfeit goods/contraband in terms of vehicles, containers and cargo.

Maj. Gen. Rabie then highlighted the next objective statement, which was police incidents of a public disorder or security nature which were not deemed to be “normal” crime where performance indicators were:

- Percentage of medium to high-risk incidents stabilised in relation to requests received to the national intervention unit, special task force or Public Order Police (POP) unit

The last objective statement of the programme was the safeguarding of valuable and/or dangerous cargo where the performance indicator was:

- Percentage of sale deliveries of valuable and/or dangerous cargo in relation to the number of cargo protection provided

Members were then taken through updates to the strategic plan 2014 to 2019 for the programme. Emerging priorities included:

- Reviewed Frontline Service Delivery Programme, focusing on:

• The professional police that the people of SA expected
• SAPS service points as the face of service delivery
• Service excellence
• Partnerships with communities towards a safer SA

- Enhanced accessibility through Mobile Community Service Centres and partnerships through opportunity with Tribal Authorities and the Post Office for the establishment of service points.

- Crime Prevention Focus Areas included:

• Serious Crime impacting on Farms and Smallholdings
• Drug Trafficking
• Taxi Violence.

- Sustained Visibility

- Implementation of Farlam Commission Recommendations:

1. POP Training and Resourcing
2. Focused Intervention -North West POP Capability
3. Intensified Crime Awareness Campaigns at Schools
4. Ensuring adequate Police Detention Facilities.
5. Re-connecting with citizens to strengthen grassroots partnerships towards creating a safer SA through a collaborative, consultative approach to the core functions of policing
6. Optimisation of operational capacity (reduce idling-time).

Discussion

Ms Molebatsi questioned the link between sector policing and rural safety.  On the list of targets for specific drugs, why was Nyaope excluded? She always raised the issue because her community was torn apart by Nyaope and this was why she always talked about it.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane noted that the indicator targeted where the high volumes and Nyaope was a combination of a number of drugs, which explained why it was not singled out in the list but it could not be ignored at all in terms of focus as it remained a common drug in areas such as Gauteng, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Getting closer to the coastal areas, the problem was Tik.  Looking at the provincial plans, this was where the specific types of drugs would be found as problematic in that particular province. 

Ms Mabija noted that at some stage, the Committee raised the issue of incorrect crime stats by incompetent data capturers, what had been done so far with regard to this issue?

Lt. Gen. Phahlane indicated the SAPS was working hard on and made progress with data integrity to ensure the information on the system was accurate. Part of the management intervention was to check up on the information being captured so that it was a true reflection of particular cases. There was also a focus on training of data typists at station level. It was found with the docket age analysis that although some dockets were deemed non-finalised, they had been processed through the courts but had not been captured on the system to update the particular status. 

Mr Mhlongo, as a lawmaker, felt the country could not be for just every person without clearly defined criteria. At a border level, there were so many state departments involved and although the police were doing their best, the country could not be as open as it was. When things affected black people, it was just let slip but when it affected others then attention was paid. With porous borders, people did as they liked in the country and when people started acting it was termed xenophobia – was it just a free for all? Some day we had to all sit down and stop being nice to everyone to affirm that we are a country.

The Chairperson said the target to reduce crimes against vulnerable groups was too low. He noted the issue of POP was a priority for the Committee and asked if the projected output in terms of recruitment for the MTEF would be achieved and, if not, what would be done. Would funds be utilised to meet the recommendations of the Farlam Commission in terms of equipment? He sought clarity on the target for school safety plans implemented.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane replied that one of the issues to address in the POP environment was the aging people in the environment. The team was looking at young people in other environments who could be trained to build capacity in POP. The North West was one province which required serious attention – because of Marikana, there were increasing reports of members being reluctant because of the fear of being on the wrong side of the law. The question of equipment was being attended to as part of the R50 million allocation, which had been approved and would be taken on board in the coming financial year.

The Chairperson asked if this meant all the Farlam Commission recommendations would be dealt with in this year.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane answered that there was a phased-in approach but they were being taken care of. The panel of experts would also recommend certain things to be taken on board.

Lt. Gen. Schutte added that there were plans to phase in a new kind of vehicle to replace the nyalas at some point in time so that matter was being attended to.

Mr Mbhele questioned the management of reservists – in many ways, reservists were the easy low hanging fruits to enhance capacity for some operations and were generally not paid as a resource. He asked for an update on the reservists and if their number had increased.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane said that reservists were a resource multiplier for SAPS. Members were informed of the challenges with reservists with those who saw the position as a back door into the SAPS and then once they were in, started making demands. This did not serve the purpose of the reservist system. There were however reservists who fully complied with the system as volunteering x number of hours outside of their everyday jobs.  During the voter registration period, most of the reservists would be deployed at some of the voting/registration stations. There was a revised strategy that spoke to the different categories.

Mr Groenewald asked if the recruiting of reservists was still the same.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane responded that SAPS was still recruiting reservists if they met the criteria as volunteers. 

Mr L Ramatlakane wanted to find out about the functioning of sector policing and when it had become such a complicated matter. The effectiveness of partnerships between the police and communities lay in sector policing.

Lt. Gen. Phahlane said he had been to countries where different models worked. The reality was that sector policing could never be implemented in every station – sector policing called for the demarcation of station areas into two or four halves where there was a vehicle for each and every one of those sectors and there were members in each and every one of the sectors. Going to the more rural stations, there were not enough vehicles on duty at any given time. The proposal was to identify in which one of the stations in the country was sector policing implementable and then what was being done to cover the remainder of those stations, this was where the balance between sector policing and rural safety came into play. In the stations where sector policing was not be implemented, the rural safety strategy was being applied.

Mr Redelinghuys requested a briefing from SAPS on the interaction with communities regarding the Back to Basics approach in terms of how it had been received, how various stakeholders had been engaged and how it had been used to boost confidence levels in the police.

Mr Groenewald noted that since sitting on the police Committee and dealing with the budget vote, this was the first time he heard practical, measurable answers provided to Members on what plans were and in which direction the police services was moving. He congratulated the Acting National Commissioner and his team for this approach.  For the first time in a long time he saw the light at the end of the tunnel – this did not mean there were no problems but it was the first time in a very long time he walked out of a Committee not frustrated because he got no answers.

The Chairperson thanked Members and the SAPS team for their participation – hearings would resume the following day at 09h00 with programme three.

The meeting was adjourned.