CSPS & IPID 2020/21 Annual Performance Plans; with Deputy Minister

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Police

13 May 2020
Chairperson: Ms T Joemat-Pettersson (ANC) and Ms S Shaikh (ANC; Limpopo)
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Meeting Summary

Video: Joint Meeting: Portfolio Committee on Police & Select Committee on Security and Justice 13 May 2020
Audio: CSP & IPID 2020/21 Annual Performance Plans

Annual Performance Plan (APP) of Government Departments & Entities 20/2021

The Portfolio Committee on Police and the Select Committee on Security and Justice were briefed by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate on their strategic plan, annual performance plan and budget. The Deputy Minister of the Department of Police was in attendance.

The CSPS highlighted the institutional strategic risks as the following: lack of cooperation from relevant stakeholders in the establishment of community safety structures, lack of proper working relations with stakeholders, communities and police stations, lack of collaboration within the spheres of government, inability to fully provide oversight monitoring and evaluation reports on the South African Police Service and the interruption of service delivery due to the lockdown. The various output indicators for the 2020/21 annual performance plan will have to be reviewed. As an example, alternative methods of conducting interviews will have to be employed in order to manage the vacancy rate. The 2020/21 financial year is receiving a 9.3% increase compared to the previous financial year. Transfers and subsidies will decrease by 15%. National Treasury indicated that the following budget cuts will take place: 25% in goods and services, 40% in funds for buildings and office accommodation and 50% in payments and capital assets. The provinces have different sub-programmes in which the highest budget allocation will go to the safety promotion programme. The Eastern Cape is excluded from the presentation because the necessary information was not provided. On the Medium Term Strategic Framework, Gauteng will receive the highest budget and the Free State will receive the lowest.

Members asked for a more detailed presentation on the provinces and their programmes. Members raised concern on the independence of the South African Police Service National Inspectorate, the future status of the National Forensic Oversight and Ethics Board, the impact that the budget cut on goods and services will have in fighting Covid-19 and the poor quality of police stations in the Western Cape. Members asked why the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service wasn’t considered an essential service at the beginning of the lockdown, how it plans to reprioritize its budget in light of the budget cuts and why the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy has not been completed yet. It was asked why and which spheres of government were not collaborating with the Department on the Strategy. Members noted the performance decline in the 2018/19 financial year and asked why the internal and external audit recommendations were not implemented. Members also asked for more information on the challenges experienced in ensuring community and policing partnerships, what measures have been put in place to ensure compliance and implementation with the Domestic Violence Act, what measures have been put in place to reduce the number of police misconduct cases and whether the workshops facilitated on the establishment of Community Safety Forums were effective. Other concerns raised were the low threshold of targets, the relationship between the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Judge and the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service, whether a policy was going to be compiled to achieve the desired outcome of a transformed and accountable police service and whether people with disabilities are employed in police stations for the reporting of gender-based violence cases. Members also asked for an update on the Firearms Control Amendment Bill, whether the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service has access to the police litigation database and what measures have been put in place to deal with the growing threat of cyber-attacks.

IPID reported that it had reprioritised the investigation of cases, including gender-based violence cases, during the national lockdown period. All old cases on the court roll were postponed to later dates and only new cases were enrolled. The targets for backlog and active cases were merged so that all cases can receive the same attention. The lockdown disrupted the recruitment and selection processes for vacancies and the relocation project. The budget growth from 2015/16 to 2022/23 does not cover any expansion or adding of functions because it only accommodates the contractual obligations. Due to the impact of Covid-19, savings have been realised. The compensation of employees continues to account for the largest percentage of the budget. The province with the highest allocation for this financial year is the Western Cape followed by Gauteng. The following functions have been extremely affected by capacity constraints and limited funding: integrity strengthening and protection, legal services and contract management, service delivery coverage and accessibility, community outreach events and accounting, compliance and reporting responsibilities. The aim is to strengthen internal control by creating additional posts so that the issues of audit are fully addressed but this is not possible to implement due to inadequate funding.

Members raised concern that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate is underfunded and facing major budget and capacity constraints. It was asked how its resources would be managed to achieve its objectives, why the targets were not adjusted downwards and how it would deal with the increasing number of police complaints given the constraints and time limits. Members also asked for more detail on which areas were facing capacity constraints, the criteria used to distinguish between normal cases and Covid-19 related cases, why certain indicators were removed from the presentation, whether the new head office building is being rented or bought and the determination of allocating offices to the regions. Other concerns raised was whether the re-opening of satellite offices would be fully equipped and manned to respond to demands and that the Free State receives the lowest allocation of the budget yet it consists of the highest increasing number of complaints during the lockdown. Members were concerned that they didn’t have sufficient time to engage with the presentation.

Members lost connection with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate. It was agreed that responses would be submitted in writing and another meeting would be scheduled for 22 May to deal fully with the presentation.

 

Meeting report

Opening Remarks
Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson greeted everyone in attendance and asked for the presentation to begin immediately.

Briefing by Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS)
Mr Alvin Rapea, Secretary, CSPS, introduced his delegation. He said the entity had received provincial information very late last night and this has been included in the presentation. Members have not seen this new information yet. Should it also be presented today?

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson replied that the presentation may continue.

Ms Itumeleng Moagi, Director: Strategic Management, CSPS, said there are a number of institutional policies and strategies governing the 5-year planning period to improve operational efficiencies. These include, amongst others, the 2016 White Paper on Policing, the 2016 White Paper on Safety and Security and the Community Policing Policy. The CSPS provides advisory services to the Minister of Police in court rulings that require a level of action such as reviewing or amending legislation. The key achievements of the previous planning cycle include developing and approving policies, introducing Bills to be approved by the Minister and activities such as developing the Human Capital Strategy. The decline in the performance level of the 2018/19 financial year was due to the failure of implementing internal and external audit recommendations and the cancellation of activities. A number of strategic risks were identified as the following: lack of cooperation from relevant stakeholders in the establishment of community safety structures, lack of proper working relations with stakeholders, communities and police stations, lack of collaboration within the spheres of government, inability to fully provide oversight monitoring and evaluation reports on the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the interruption of service delivery due to the lockdown. There are 4 key programmes in the 2020/21 annual performance plan with various output indicators. In view of the lockdown, these output indicators have to be reviewed in order to mitigate the risks. For example, on the vacancy rate, alternative methods of conducting interviews will have to be employed.

Mr Tumelo Nkojoana, Chief Financial Officer, CSPS, said the entity was allocated R166 330 million. This is an increase of 9.3% from the 2019/20 financial year. The compensation of employees will increase by 9%, goods and services will increase by 6%, transfers and subsidies will decrease by 15% and the payment for capital assets will increase by 5.9%. The National Treasury (NT) indicated yesterday that there will be budget cuts in goods and services by 25%, in funds for buildings and office accommodation by 40% and in payments and capital assets by 50%.

Ms Moagi said there are a number of key activities for alignment with the provincial secretariats. There is collaboration with provincial secretariats on an annual basis including the joint research project, facilitation and implementation of the 2016 White Paper on Safety and Security, data collection on reports, data collection on complaints management, monitoring of implementation by the SAPS on recommendations made by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), monitoring compliance with the Domestic Violence Act in the respective provinces and assessment reports on the implementation of SAPS programmes.

Mr Nkojoana said the provinces had different sub-programmes which relate to policy and research, monitoring and evaluation, safety promotion and community policing relations. The total budget for programme support will be about R87 million. For policy and research the total budget will be about R42.1 million, for monitoring and evaluation it will be about R148. 4 million, for safety promotion it will be R303.2 million and for community policing relations it will be about R128.9 million. The highest budget is therefore allocated for safety promotion. The Eastern Cape is excluded from these amounts because the CPSP didn’t receive the necessary information. On the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) period, the total budget for all of the 9 provinces is R175.9 million for the 2020/21 financial year and it is R789.4 million for the 2021/22 financial year. For the 2022/23 financial year it will be R827.9 million. Gauteng will receive the highest budget at R253.9 million followed by KwaZulu-Natal at R148.3 million and then the Western Cape at R84.3 million. The Free State will receive the lowest amount at about R27.2 million.

Mr Rapea said the Western Cape has an additional budget including the ombudsman and law enforcement officers who receive grants. This additional amount is excluded from the presentation.

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson thanked the CSPS officials for the presentation and asked members to raise questions.

Discussion

Co-Chairperson Shaikh said there is a need to host another session that includes the representatives of the provinces so that members can get a better grasp and engage more deeply into the provincial programmes.

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson agreed and said members from the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and the National Assembly (NA) have asked for more information regarding the provinces. The CSPS should provide a more detailed presentation on what is happening in the provinces.

Mr A Whitfield (DA) noted the SAPS National Inspectorate. Has the CSPS ever considered or drafted any policy document relating to the independence of the Inspectorate? Would the CPSP assume responsibility for the Inspectorate in order to have better control over some of the outcomes in its strategic plan? There are serious concerns about the Inspectorate, how it relates to the functions of the CSPS and what the CSPS needs to achieve while the Inspectorate is under the control of the SAPS. The National Forensic Oversight and Ethics Board (the DNA Board) has come to the end of its term and there has been no indication of what the future of it will be. At one stage, the DNA Board recommended that the CSPS assume its functions. It is concerning that the presentation makes no reference of this. The strategic plan was signed off in March already. Has the CSPS given any consideration on the role of the DNA Board for the next 5 years?

Ms J Mofokeng (ANC) recalled she had asked at the beginning of the lockdown, why was CSPS questioned on whether their services were essential or not? Where were they at the time? It’s important for them to speak to the communities on what they’re doing. On the R11 million budget cut, can they come back and explain to members how they are going to reprioritize the budget? The upcoming budget cut won’t be a true reflection of what was presented today. On the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, the strength of using SaferSpaces as a tool to share knowledge with diverse stakeholders and the threat of the loss of public trust as a result of rising levels of complaints against the SAPS calls into question what the CSPS is doing about IPID information. Have you scrutinized the IPID information to get an idea of why people are not happy? One of the complaints is about incomplete post-mortem reports. Are you aware of this and what have you done to advise the Department on this?

Mr O Terblanche (DA) said one of the outcomes in the presentation speaks to a transformed and accountable police service but since 2016/17 up till now there has only been 4 meetings per year. What is the desired outcome? It can’t only be about meetings because the findings need to be taken into account. Are you going to compile a policy that will be improve or enhance the envisioned outcome? There was a census done on all police stations. Have you compiled a report on the findings? To what extent are the findings being implemented? The Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy is not completed yet and it is one of the most important things about policing. Why is this the case and what do you plan to do about it? On most of the outcomes in the presentation, it’s concerning that the targets are set at 1 per year. Can clarity be provided on this?

Mr H Shembeni (EFF) said there is no indication on sign language reporting when it comes to domestic violence cases. Is there any indicator that evaluates the capacity of the SAPS staff? Are sign language interpreters and people with disabilities employed in police stations?

Ms Z Ncitha (ANC; Eastern Cape) said the presentation indicates the decline in 2018/19 was due to a failure of internal and external audit recommendations being implemented. What was the reason for not implementing the recommendations? Who was responsible for not implementing them and what is the Department doing about it? On the failure to finalise the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy due to a lack of collaboration with the spheres of government, what spheres are you referring to? Is it local government or the provinces? Why are they not collaborating with the Department? The budget has been increased but in the same breadth there is an expected cut of R13.5 million. Can it be explained in more detail when you say the budget is higher than expected? You have highlighted the budget cut on goods and services but this is a concern because we are in a period of fighting Covid-19. Will the budget cut have implications on that?

Ms M Mmola (ANC; Mpumalanga) thanked the CSPS for the presentation. What is the relationship between the CSPS, the SAPS and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) Judge? Why did the DCPI Judge cancel community engagement programmes?

Co-Chairperson Shaikh said it’s clear the Department is experiencing challenges in ensuring community and policing partnerships. Can you elaborate on the challenges related to having functioning structures at the provincial level? The indicator on the number of monitoring reports on compliance and implementation of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) by the SAPS is a critical area of the Department’s mandate. What extra measures or strategies have been put in place to ensure compliance and implementation of the DVA? This is important in light of the increasing number of gender-based violence (GBV) cases even during the lockdown period. She noted the indicator on the number of workshops facilitated with provincial secretariats and municipalities on the establishment of Community Safety Forums (CSF) per year. What do these workshops actually cover in terms of content and how effective have these workshops been? On the reduced number of SAPS misconduct cases recommended for disciplinary action by IPID, what measures have been put in place to reduce the number of misconduct cases?

Mr Rapea replied that departments are expected to have their own internal monitoring function and the SAPS National Inspectorate fulfills this role. The CSPS functions as the oversight body. There is no intention of proposing a policy because the National Commissioner of Police also has a responsibility to monitor his own department and then the CSPS does this from the outside. When CSPS submits its reports, it works with the Inspectorate so that its proposals are implemented. The Minister is currently finalizing the appointment of the new DNA Board. The CSPS advertised the roles and the Minister has approved those appointments. The Minister wrote to the Ministers of Health and Justice and Correctional Services to assist with the appointment of the Chairperson of the Board. There was a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the previous Board and the CSPS that clarifies the roles and functions. This MOU is going to continue with the new Board. The previous Board prepared a comprehensive handover report that will be presented to the Minister and will be available to share with the Portfolio Committee on Police.

Mr Rapea explained that during the lockdown, there was a communication by the Minister of Public Service and Administration that identified the CSPS as an essential service. During this period, there has been oversight over police stations and monitoring of compliance with the Covid-19 regulations. The CSPS has prepared a report on this which has been shared with the Minister of Police and the National Commissioner of Police. On IPID, the quarterly meetings include an analysis of their report and then CSPS advises the Minister on the interventions that need to take place. On the targets, some concern research reports and policies. It is set at 1 because it takes a lot of time to do research in a year. There’s comprehensive work that needs to be done. If there is a policy being developed, there is a lot of consultations that need to happen and it’s a very intensive process. Can Mr Terblanche please repeat his other question?

Mr Takalani Ramaru, Chief Director: Civilian Oversight, Monitoring and Evaluation, CSPS, stated that there is a census report containing baseline information and it was shared with the Minister and National Commissioner of Police. Police stations are monitored on an annual basis where about 25% which is roughly 288 police stations are required to come up with an improvement plan based on the census report. The improvement plan is then monitored so that police stations address the issues that were identified. The current annual performance plan presented to members indicates that the focus will be on detective services where monitoring, evaluating and assessments will be done. On compliance with the DVA, there needs to be proactivity from the side of CSPS to assist the SAPS. The compliance forum has been established at both national and provincial level where there are either monthly or bi-monthly meetings to identify challenges. The CSPS works with SAPS to resolve them. An example of this was at a police station which had many cases of reported domestic violence. The CSPS did campaigns there to make sure SAPS members are sensitive and educated to handle these matters. The CSPS is also currently training students as the ambassadors to deal with issues around domestic violence.

Mr Ramaru said that police stations don’t have capacity for both sign language interpreters and other languages. SAPS indicated that they invite people but this is not always easy to do. On IPID, there are 4 meetings attended by the Secretary of the CSPS and the Executive Director of IPID. There are also monthly forums with IPID and SAPS that the CSPS chairs. At these forums, issues of concern are specifically identified and IPID also clarifies on its investigations. CSPS facilitates the forum to make sure that SAPS implement the corrective measures as well as jointly producing solutions to prevent the occurrence of such challenges.

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson asked Mr Terblanche to repeat his question.

Mr Terblanche noted the vision to transform the police into an accountable police service, but there are only 4 meetings per annum. What exactly was decided and implemented in the meetings? To what extent has it improved policing in general? There was a census done at police stations, was a report compiled indicating the findings and are those findings being implemented? What contribution has it made to improve policing? The Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy Crime is the most important issue in policing and it hasn’t been completed yet. Why not and what emphasis will be placed on it in the future? There is only 1 meeting taking place per year and if this trend continues then in 10 years’ time there will only be 10 policies. This is concerning because we need many policies.

Mr P Groenewald (FF+) asked whether the Department has any access to the SAPS litigation database to report on how the SAPS is managing the litigation management process. This includes responses to civil claims. If not, why not and if so, can the statistics be shared with members? Two indicators, 100% implementation of internal audit recommendations and 100% implementation of external audit recommendations, were removed from the annual performance plan. Why has it been removed? On the Firearms Control Amendment Bill, how far are we?

Ms Mofokeng said she asked why at the beginning of lockdown there were questions of whether the CSPS was essential services. Where were you to be able to stand for up for communities and to communicate with the SAPS so that they can be there to assist? The CSPS is the first line in the communities and they weren’t there for them. Were you aware about the challenges that IPID has received from complainants such as delays in post-mortem reports? Since you are meeting with IPID and you’ve seen the complaints, can you indicate to members whether SAPS have been able to manage them?

Mr A Shaik Emam (NFP) said the poor state of some police stations in the Western Cape, such as the Woodstock police station, has been going on for many years with no plan to do anything about it at all. Nothing has changed. Shouldn’t there be something done about this? There was one vehicle in a satellite police station that is not even manned because it doesn’t have the resources. If you are doing inspections and making reports, where does it go from there? Is the Department taking it seriously and putting measures in place to make changes and improve the quality of policing in these areas?

Mr S Zandamela (EFF; Mpumalanga) asked for an update on the Firearms Control Amendment Bill.

Ms Z Faku (ANC) said the DPCI Judge was incorporated as a sub-programme but there are no measure performance indicators despite the allocation of the budget. Can members receive an indication on this? On the growing threat of cyber-attacks, what measures have been put in place to ensure it isn’t affecting the work that must be done?

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson said because there are time limits, some questions can be responded to in writing.

Ms Bilkis Omar, Chief Director: Policy Development and Research, CSPS, replied that over the past few years, the CSPS has done a lot of research and policy-making. On professionalizing the SAPS, the White Paper on Policing was developed and Cabinet approved it in 2016. There is quite a lot of policy and research which has been handed over to the National Commissioner of Police for implementation. On the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy, it reflects the policy proposal in the White Paper on Safety and Security. Over the past few years the implementation framework was worked on. It’s not complete because the CSPS still needs to consult on it with the 3 spheres of government. Because of Covid-19, there has had to be virtual consultations. The Strategy should be finalised by December of this year. There is no challenge in collaborating with the 3 spheres of government.

Ms Dawn Bell, Chief Director: Legislation, CSPS, replied that the Firearms Control Amendment Bill was approved by the Minister and can be progressed for consultation. The CSPS was due to meet with the Director-General of the Justice Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster on 7 April but due to the lockdown there is a prevention from continuing with the consultation. As soon as consultations are allowed, the Bill will be continued with so that it can go to the Cabinet for approval for public consultation.

Mr Nkojoana replied that the Department has already suggested to the NT to take some money away from compensation for employees instead of taking all the money away from goods and services. There were hiccups in the system which resulted in the failure of some suppliers not being paid within 30 days. Overall, 98% of suppliers were paid within 30 days. The reason why the audit recommendations were taken out of the annual performance plan is because for the past 3 years, the Department has received clean audits. Most of the audit findings have been eliminated. The Department is able to respond to the internal audit team and the Auditor-General during the auditing process and that’s why there is no reflection of audit recommendations in the plan.

Mr Benjamin Ntuli, Chief Director: Inter-sectoral Coordination and Strategic Partnership, CSPS, replied that at the beginning of Covid-19, the CSPS made an alternative programme so that it can be utilized during the lockdown. SAPS declined this and stated that it was not an essential service and chose to rather utilize the police service. The CSPS is governed by the SAPS regulations. On the DPCI Judge, the Judge reserved the right and cancelled the programmes that were going to be implemented. The content of the CSF workshops is guided by the White Paper on Safety and Security. Citizens must be active and participate. If the community mayors and councilors are not coming on board, it presents a challenge to establishing these structures. If community structures are not active it means the police cannot be duly monitored. The community must be encouraged.

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson said if members are still unhappy with the responses, additional questions can be put down in writing and it will be forwarded to the CSPS.

Co-Chairperson Shaikh said this is the first time the CSPS has a budget of its own. Members welcome this important engagement. The CSPS must be encouraged to ensure community policing partnerships improve and that the implementation of the DVA is monitored. Members look forward to further engagement with the CSPS.

Mr Cassel Mathale, Deputy Minister of Police, agreed with Ms Mofokeng that the CSPS did not stand up for the communities. Communities are part of the forum and they must be worked with. This must be taken note of so that moving forward the participation of communities is facilitated. The Department appreciates the interaction with members and it will go back to the drawing board to integrate the advice and comments made by members.

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson asked the Deputy Minister to introduce the IPID presentation.

Briefing by IPID

Deputy Minister Mathale said the Acting Executive Director of IPID will take members through the presentation.

Mr Patrick Setshedi, Acting Executive Director, IPID, greeted members and the Deputy Minister. The new financial year commenced during the national lockdown period. IPID put measures in place, such as the establishment of the Steering Committee, in order to guide IPID on its operations. The investigation of cases including GBV were reprioritised due to Covid-19 operations. All old cases on the court roll were postponed to later dates and only new cases were enrolled. The recruitment and selection processes for vacancies were affected by the lockdown. IPID was about to relocate from the current head office building to the new building but this relocation project was also disrupted by Covid-19. IPID is working with the CSPS to finalise the IPID Amendment Bill. The progress on the Bill is reflected in the quarterly meeting. The targets for backlog and active cases were merged so that all cases can receive the same attention. Funds were also identified to finalise the implementation of Section 23. IPID reviewed its budget allocations and made a commitment to reopen some of the satellite offices that were previously closed due to financial constraints.

Mr Victor Senna, Chief Financial Officer, IPID, said the presentation indicates a growth in IPID’s budget from 2015/16 to 2022/23. There was a slight increase between 2017/18 and 2018/19 mainly because of the additional funding that IPID received from SAPS. The growth of the budget does not cover any expansion of functions because it only accommodates the contractual obligations. IPID cannot expand or add an additional function. Due to the impact of Covid-19, IPID has realised some savings in the 2020/21 financial year. Programme 2, Investigation and Information Management, is the core business and accounts for 64.9% of the budget. The nominal growth from 2019/20 to 2022/23 is at 5.3% which is slightly below the inflation. The compensation of employees continues to account for the largest percentage of the budget. The province with the highest allocation for this financial year is the Western Cape followed by Gauteng. The focus is always on ensuring the core business is properly funded so savings that are realised are directed to the core business. IPID is experiencing capacity constraints in the function of integrity strengthening and protection. The aim is to professionalize IPID and to ensure ethical conduct. Key activities on this include docket inspection, random testing in terms of conducting breathalyzer tests and lifestyle audit. IPID is not able to adequately perform the lifestyle audit due to limited funding. Other functions that are extremely affected by capacity constraints include legal services and contract management, service delivery coverage and accessibility, community outreach events and accounting, compliance and reporting responsibilities. The aim is to strengthen internal control by creating additional posts so that the issues of audit are fully addressed but this is not possible to implement due to inadequate funding.

IPID said the 2020-2025 strategic plan has 4 outcomes and 9 outcome indicators each with 5 year targets all contributing to the impact statement. The progress on the attainment of the 5 year targets will be monitored through the implementation of annual operational plans. The 2020/21 annual performance plan includes 4 programmes. Programme 1, Administration, consists of 5 output indicators and programme 2, Investigation and Information Management, consists of 13 output indicators. Programme 3, Legal and Investigation Advisory Services, consists of 4 output indicators and programme 4, Compliance Monitoring and Stakeholder Management, consists of 8 output indicators.

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson asked members to raise questions.  

Discussion

Mr Whitfield said he remains extremely concerned that IPID is constrained in fulfilling its mandate due to budgetary constraints imposed on it. It’s a very important Department. Given the fact that programme 2 is the core business and it’s the only programme where the budget declines over the medium term, why has IPID not adjusted the targets downward?

Mr A Gxoyiya (ANC; Northern Cape) said the challenge of funding is a major issue. The presentation states that IPID is spending more than R200 million on compensation of employees and only R8.9 million on its operations. This is a cause for concern because it has an impact on efficiency levels. What are the measures that you have in place to maximize efficiency with the little funding that you have? On the re-opening of satellite offices, members don’t want those offices to be opened just for the sake of opening them. They must be opened, fully staffed and equipped to respond to the demands of the people.

Mr T Dodovu (ANC; North West) said members must find a better way to manage the time so that there is sufficient time to engage with IPID. It is a very important Department and members support and appreciate its work. There must never be an impression created that members don’t support its work. Going forward, the challenge on the part of IPID is going to be managing its resources to ensure it accomplishes its own objectives. Going forward, the Portfolio Committee on Police and the Select Committee on Security and Justice must have sufficient time to thoroughly engage with IPID.

Mr Shembeni said in programme 1 there are 2 indicators that were removed. This includes the indicator that talks to the positive audit outcome and the one that talks to strategic training. Why have they been removed?

Mr Shaik Emam said that IPID talks about filling more vacancies and its targets have increased when they have budget and capacity constraints. The number of complaints against police officers are increasing. How exactly are you going to achieve this with so many constraints and time limits? IPID is being too optimistic. Can this be explained to members?

Mr Groenewald asked for clarity on a remark made by Mr Senna who said there is insufficient funds to ensure that IPID’s data is correct. Was he specifically referring to the Disaster Recovery Plan? As far as cases are concerned, how does the Department distinguish between normal cases and cases related to Covid-19? He said he has previously asked a question on the discrepancies of figures. Can that criteria be provided to members? What does the Department see as a Covid-19 related case?

Mr Terblanche said he is concerned that members are only allowed to ask 1 question. Members heard from the presentation that there is no budget and a lot of things won’t be done. IPID has this very limited budget but members are told that its intention is to open offices in the provinces. Its personnel numbers is going down from 415 to 391. Why would IPID be spending additional money on office space while its staff establishment is reduced? How are you going to cope with the workload?

Mr G Michalakis (DA; Free State) said it’s ironic that every year during the budget presentation by IPID, all members agree that it’s worrisome and unacceptable that the entity tasked with ridding SAPS from criminals in its midst is underfunded but when it comes to the budget vote, those exact members are silent when the opposition opposes it. The share of the allocation that the Free State receives every year is declining from last year at 11.7% to this year at just over 11%. Members were told that the Free State has the highest increasing number of complaints during the lockdown period in the country. How does IPID propose that the Free State deal with the increase in complaints if the share of its allocation is declining?

Mr Zandamela noted the relocation project. Is the new building being rented or did the Department buy the building? How do you determine the allocation of offices to the regions?

Mr K Motsamai (EFF; Gauteng) spoke in isiXhosa.

Ms Ncitha noted the capacity constraints highlighted in the presentation. The presenter didn’t outline or provide detail on which areas are faced with capacity constraints. Can this be explained to members?

Mr Setshedi replied there was a Strategy Lekgotla where IPID looked at the budget allocations against the targets. Most of the targets were reviewed. The targets in programme 2 were increased due to the previous performance. IPID has used historical data to determine some of the future targets. The budget was also taken into consideration and that is why the bulk of the budget is allocated to programme 2 in order to ensure the targets are met. On the re-opening of satellite offices, investigators have to travel a long distance and more money is being spent on the travelling. That money can now be saved and used to service the satellite offices. On the relocation project, IPID should be in the new building by July. The procurement was done by the Department of Public Works on behalf of IPID. Due to the lockdown, the processes of drawing up the floorplan were impacted. What IPID will be paying in the new building will be less than what it is currently paying. On the criteria of cases, Covid-19 related cases refer to cases that happen when the police are conducting Covid-19 operations. The normal cases are incidents that happened before Covid-19.

Mr Groenewald asked about the criteria that was used. What do you see as a Covid-19 operation?

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson noted that IPID had lost connection to the meeting.

Deputy Minister Mathale suggested that responses be submitted in writing.

Co-Chairperson Shaikh agreed with this suggestion.

Co-Chairperson Joemat-Pettersson said members have not done justice to IPID’s budget and another session will be scheduled to allow members to engage with the presentation.  

The meeting was adjourned.

 

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