IPID on Quarterly Reports; with Deputy Minister

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Police

14 October 2020
Chairperson: Ms T Joemat-Pettersson (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) reported on its quarterly performance by presenting reports for quarter one and quarter four in a virtual meeting.

The Committee said there was a new energy at IPID. It now has a new direction after being without a leader for some time.

In quarter four, IPID’s case intake in the 2019/20 financial year was 1 459, and a backlog turnaround strategy was implemented leading to the finalisation of 1 610 cases. A total of 102 departmental convictions, and 26 criminal convictions were secured.

In quarter one, the available budget is R249 million. A total of R355 million was allocated, and the cumulative expenditure amounts to R106 million. R242 million was budgeted for the Compensation of Employees, and R88 000 was spent, which is 36 percent of the budget. Out of a total of R355 million, R106 million was spent.

The Committee heard the Department is operating with four satellite offices, which affects the effectiveness of investigations. The actual expenditure amounts to 99.99 percent against a target of 100 percent.

Members noted the first quarterly report for 2020/21 was similar to the 2019/20 report.

The Committee raised questions about under-performance at IPID; the lack of capacity; training of investigators; and proper inspection of dockets. The Committee also questioned why the National Prosecuting Authority declined to prosecute on many cases referred to it by IPID; and which steps were put in place to protect investigators who were killed.

When questioned on the low conviction rate of police officers, IPID said it has not yet engaged on the matter. The Committee questioned the Directorate on the funds it continued to spend on litigation and bonuses.

IPID said some targets are not fulfilled, are due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions; a backlog in cases; delays in obtaining pathology and forensic reports; and witness’ statements. Catch-up plans are in place to improve IPID’s performance.

IPID’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) implementation plan was revised, and an ICT operational committee was appointed to closely monitor implementation. Alternative ways will be used to conduct community outreach, such as through community radio. The Department said it will continue to reprioritise limited resources to support service delivery. Backlog cases will be prioritised by hiring retired detectives.

Meeting report

The Chairperson read apologies and welcomed everyone. The Deputy Minister of Police, Cassel Mathale, was present.

The Executive Director of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), Ms Jennifer Ntlatseng, presented an overview of IPID’s performance for 2019/20 quarter four to the Committee.

IPID Quarter Four 2019/20
IPIDs case intake for quarter four was 1 459, and a backlog turnaround strategy was implemented leading to the finalisation of 1 610 cases. A total of 102 departmental convictions and 26 criminal convictions were secured. Investigation tools were procured to improve effectiveness in the various provinces and 60 vehicles and protective gear were obtained for investigators. The Department is operating with four satellite offices which affects the effectiveness of investigations.

Ms Ntlatseng assured the Committee IPID would address this issue and use its regional approach to secure satellite offices. IPID is in the process of engaging municipal offices and the Department of Community Safety to assist in accommodating some of its investigators in its offices at no cost.

A total establishment was reduced from 415 to 391 to accommodate the implementation of section 23, as section 23 employees needed to be paid. New posts which were created to address internal controls and deficiencies in key governance units could no longer be funded, as this money needed to be utilised to fund section 23 investigators. The implementation of section 23 of the IPID Act remains a priority. 80 million of pension liability was settled for active members and 20 million for level seven and eight investigators were also paid.

Quarter Four Expenditure
Ms Ntlatseng handed over to IPID Chief Financial Officer, Mr Victor Senna, who presented on the expenditure at the end of quarter four.

At the end of quarter four, IPID spent 99.99 percent of its total allocation. IPID underspent by R43 000 on rent.

Programme One – Administration spent 99.99 percent.
Programme Two - Investigation and Information Management spent 100 percent of its allocation.
Programme Three - Legal and Investigation Advisory Services spent 99.49 percent of its allocation.
Programme Four - Compliance Monitoring and Stakeholder Management spent 99.96 percent of its allocation.

(See presentation for full details)

Operational Performance
Ms Suzan Letlape, Director: Strategy and Performance, IPID, presented IPID’s operational performance.

Programme One: Administration achieved 43 percent of its targets
Programme Two: Investigation and Information Management achieved 67 percent of its targets
Programme Three: Legal and Investigation Advisory Services achieved 75 percent
Programme Four: Compliance, Monitoring and Stakeholder Management achieved 100 percent of its targets

The overall Departmental Performance is at 70 percent.

On its performance per programme, targets were exceeded due to additional training programmes which were reprioritised for the entire Department.

On its vacancy rate per year, IPID achieved 9.9 percent, and its target was achieved.

During quarter four, IPID had to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic which impacted on reporting and finalisation of some audit reports. To correct this, IPID reviewed its technical indicator description to ensure it covers the auditing process methodology of late submission of management responses.

IPID achieved 21 percent on its percentage of risk mitigation strategies, and its target was not achieved. IPID only managed to fully implement three risk mitigation strategies. This is because most of the mitigation plans were partially implemented by the end of the reporting period, due to dependency on external stakeholders. Mitigation plans were since reviewed for the 2020/21 financial year.

Recommendations referred to SAPS
The total number of recommendations referred to SAPS by the end of quarter four was 2 617. Out of 2 617, 870 negative recommendations were made. This was where disciplinary steps were recommended. 1 747 recommendation reports were positive and disciplinary steps were not recommended.

Progress on Disciplinary Processes Finalised by SAPS
A total of 353 disciplinary processes were finalised by the end of quarter four. Members were found guilty in 160 cases. In 56 cases members were not found guilty, and in 123 cases, no steps were taken. 14 cases were withdrawn. In the 160 cases where members were found guilty, particular sanctions were applied such as: six cases of counselling, 18 members were dismissed from service, 33 received final written warnings, 12 received verbal warnings, and 16 members’ salaries were suspended.

Negative and Positive Recommendations referred to Metro Police Services (MPS)
106 recommendations were referred to MPS. 33 of the referrals were negative recommendations of disciplinary steps, and 73 positive recommendations were made where disciplinary steps were not recommended.

Recommendations Finalised by MPS
A total of six recommendations were finalised by MPS. Three Members were found guilty, one member was found not guilty, in one case no steps were taken, and one case was withdrawn. One member was dismissed from service, and one received a final written warning.

Programme Three: Legal and Investigation Advisory Services
The target on the percentage of legal advice provided to the department on litigation matters, within 12 working days of receipt of the action or application per year, was 100%, and 86% was achieved. The target was not achieved due to a mistaken computation of time and lack of supporting information by relevant stakeholders. Record keeping and activity tracking will be improved.

Programme Four: Compliance Monitoring and Stakeholder Management
The target on the implementation of integrated communication and stakeholder engagement strategy was 90 percent, and 92 percent was achieved.

Case docket inspections conducted per year was five, and one was achieved.

(See presentation for full details)

Discussion

Mr A Whitfield (DA) said the Committee consistently raised its concerns about IPID’s underperformance. To a large extent this is not IPIDs fault. It is due to under-resourcing, and the inability to employ sufficient investigators with the correct skills to complete investigations, to reach decision-ready status.

The section 9 report published recently in Parliament, which reflected on a six month period from last year, saw a worrying trend. The Committee raised a flag on this last year and continues to do so. IPID simply cannot get to all the cases in the speedy time frame required to instil accountability, and strike fear into the hearts of corrupt criminal police officers. What is happening is a rise in cases referred to IPID. This is a reflection of the impunity with which police officers appear to operate, and IPIDs inability to deal with the backlog of cases.

In the section 9 report, there were 2608 cases reported on, and only 757 were classified as decision-ready. This is only 27 percent of total cases referred in the period. He asked what measures the Executive Director is taking to secure more funding and support for IPID, to be more responsive to complaints, and to hold the police accountable.

He asked if the Executive Director familiarised herself with the Report published in February 2020. There are a number of recommendations in the report and Mr Whitfield has a specific interest in two of these. There is a recommendation to IPID to develop a screening system, to prioritise the most urgent investigations, to ensure the most serious crimes committed by police officers are dealt with expeditiously.
He asked if IPID developed such a screening system.

There is also insufficient information on why the National Prosecuting Authority declines to prosecute a number of cases. It must be understood if this is because of the quality of investigations. If so, this loophole of accountability must be closed to support IPID in its efforts to improve accountability in South African Police Services (SAPS).

Ms Ntlatseng said IPIDs improvement will only show in quarter three, as she took the position in August. The backlogs will be dealt with by employing retired detectives to determine the challenges in those cases, and prepare it for prosecution. So many cases were declined for prosecution. In her meeting with the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), issues relating to quality, how dockets are crafted, as well as a lack of evidence, were raised. IPID will introduce a team of legal quality assurers. Before a case is set for prosecution, the team of quality assurers will peruse the docket to ensure the information is sufficient for prosecution, and all loop holes are addressed before a case is referred to the NPA.

IPID is also in the process of realigning itself internally. Ms Ntlatseng referred to Mr Thuso Keafelakae, IPID Acting Chief Director: Investigations and Information, to speak on the recommendations of the report, and the screening of prioritised cases. Mr Keafelakae said several engagements were held with APCOF and IPID has to explore its input and what it refers to as a barometer.

This is a system which IPID envisages could be of assistance to it in prioritising cases. This will not be an overnight realisation, but a long term goal. IPID will continue to engage on this to ensure development of the system.

Ms Ntlatseng said the NPA declined to prosecute in some cases due to the quality of investigations. The NDPP said cases referred to it does not warrant prosecution. This is why IPID is in the process of introducing a new measure of hiring legal quality assurers. It will be completed by the end of October 2020, and cases declined for prosecution will be reopened and analysed, to determine what it lacks. IPID also needs capacity to deal with backlog cases.

Mr H Shembeni (EFF) referred to IPIDs underperformance on investigation and information management. IPID should give exact reasons as to why it is underperforming on such targets. He asked if the implementation of the IPID Act will retain investigators, as it brings about a lot of changes.
He asked if IPID can provide the Committee with the number of backlog cases in all categories of investigation; and what measures IPID has in place to protect investigators, given investigators are being killed. He asked if this is because of political interference.

Ms Ntlatseng said there are challenges with underperformance, but IPID is reorganising internally to improve its performance. The concern is more about the quality of work IPID is doing. Once this is explored, overall performance can be improved. He communicated to managers a request for a monthly plan to measure performance.

Most managers submitted catch-up plans to ensure IPID reaches its targets. Mr Keafelakae will provide an explanation on the money paid to investigators. Mr Keafelakae said, by the end of the financial year under review, IPID was able to pay all active investigators. In the current financial year IPID is paying those members exiting. An amount of R9 million is required for this. IPID has already paid pension liabilities of the exiting and active members. Section 23 is a section in the Act which requires IPID to pay investigators on par with services. Year on year IPID receives a high number of cases. As a result, at the end of every financial year, IPID has a high number of cases which needs to be carried over. To be precise, in the previous financial year, a total of 912 cases were active and still need to be investigated.

In the process, there were other cases which were regarded as position-ready. Those cases are at a total of 21 284. This brings the total to 32 213. Many of these cases are in court and sentences are secured. Other cases were referred to SAPS for internal processes to be implemented.

Ms Ntlatseng said underperformance can be attributed to the capacity at the Department. The Department is currently at 391, and has come up with innovative ways of augmenting its capacity. As part of the Youth Development Strategy, the Department engaged the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to assist with engaging final year students in Law and Forensics. This is to gain experience at IPID, improve the quality of cases, to assist in dealing with backlog cases, and serve as a training ground for students. The targets were set on the basis of a baseline from the previous years.

The Deputy Minister said Mr Shembeni’s question was not adequately responded to. He said the implementation of Section 23 caused a lot of discomfort in relation to salaries. The implementation of Section 23 sort of equalised the disparities. He confirmed the implementation of Section 23 helped to retain investigators.

Rev K Meshoe (ACDP) said under the heading Administration in the presentation, one can see IPID only managed to achieve three out of seven targets. He asked what the reason for this is, since targets are exceeded on other issues.  He asked if this has anything to do with capacity, and how it will be corrected; if there is a way of knowing if targets are set too high or low, and how this is balanced. He asked how cases are prioritised where targets were exceeded; what the criteria is for deciding which cases to prioritise; and if in the cases where the NPA declines to prosecute, there is recourse. He asked if IPID agrees with the cases NPA declined to prosecute; and if there is any way of appealing this decision. It is surprising to see the conviction rates of police. The police are people of the law who should be exemplary and conviction rates should be much harsher and stiffer than what it is. He asked why the conviction rate of police is so low. One does not expect police to be involved in such criminal matters. There are women who are raped when opening cases at police stations.

Ms Ntlatseng said IPID has not yet engaged on the matter. IPID needs to liaise with the NPA on this to do a comparative study. IPID will try to improve on the areas of underperformance.

Mr O Terblanche (DA) said he also had concerns about underperformance. What concerned him was over the years, the Department managed to spend its budget, but there was a continuous underperformance by the Department which did not make sense. He wanted to understand what exactly the cause of this was. Some targets not achieved include investigators achieving specialised training. IPID was not able to do this, which does not make sense. People must be trained properly to complete the work.

Another issue is the ongoing accommodation issue for the Department. He asked who is litigating, and if there is litigation with the Department of Public Works as well.
He asked who is paying these expenses, and how this issue can be addressed.

There is an issue with overspending on the Compensation budget, due to bonuses. He asked who received these bonuses, and why are the bonuses not indicated in the budget. The vehicles were bought at a later stage. There is overspending, but people are not performing in the jobs.

Ms Ntlatseng referred the questions around training of investigators to Mr Keafelakae. He said during the third quarter of the previous financial year, IPID planned to have training, particularly on issues relating to corruption. When this training was scheduled, the external service provider, the Justice College, indicated it did not have space at the time. This was rescheduled to another time during the third quarter, but at the last minute the College was still not available.

During the fourth quarter, management decided it is not ideal to run any courses or training interventions at the time. This was during the festive season, and during this period many cases had to be dealt with. It was decided to prioritise training during the first quarter.
A training plan was developed and approved before the current financial year, but at the time of rolling out, IPID experienced difficulties because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Training will take place in the current financial year.

Mr Senna said on compensation of employees, the overspending was not due to payment of bonuses, but due to the implementation of section 23 in line with the court order.

Ms Z Majozi (IFP) welcomed the presentation and said the Committee was not happy with IPID’s performance. She referred to prioritised cases and wanted to know which cases were prioritised, how this was determined, and how severe the cases were. She asked which cases occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how far IPID is with the backlog.

Programme four deals with death in police custody, which indicated a R2 000 fine. She asked what the fine was for, and if it was for a police officer who killed someone in custody.  She wanted to know when the Committee can expect IPID to complete all its backlogged cases. It is difficult for someone to go to a police station and lodge a complaint against another police officer, because one knows this will not be allowed. There have been such cases where people do not want to go to the police station, because of not receiving any help. She asked for a clear indication of the way forward, and how IPID will fulfil its mandate.

Ms Ntlatseng noted Ms Majozi’s comments on her unhappiness with IPIDs performance, and said IPID will work on improving.

Mr Keafelakae said IPID acknowledges it has a shortage of personnel, and takes into cognisance its vastness, and the high intake of cases. The position the Department took is, there are other cases which are more serious and must be prioritised, such as death in police custody, death as a result of police action, and where death resulted from police using an official firearm. There are also cases of rape, corruption, and torture, as well as a high intake of assault cases. Given the low human resources, the cases of a serious nature such as murder and rape must be prioritised over assault. IPID acknowledges sometimes cases cannot be finalised, as it is dependent on other key stakeholders, such as the Health Department with post-mortems, histology, DNA, and toxicology reports. He said engagements with stakeholders are ongoing, and the Department was able to make inroads on many of the challenges it currently faces.

Mr Senna said due to underfunding, each year is begun with accruals which becomes the first charge against the budget. In most instances the budget is reduced at the start of the financial year. The national accommodation issue of offices was resolved, and the landlord confirmed by 4 December 2020, the new building will be fit for IPID to occupy.

Ms P Faku (ANC) welcomed the presentation and said it is important to note a high number of cases were reported. One must look at the positive in it, namely, cases were indeed reported. There is transparency. The Committee must acknowledge the case of the young boy who was 12 and was killed by police. Those police officers involved did not receive bail. IPID head launched a toll-free line which should be celebrated as it can be seen on social media, everyone is aware. Parliament communicated whenever there is police brutality, people need to report this.

As one moves toward the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we must be innovative. One must applaud the transparency of IPID. She said she was happy IPID is amending the Act. When this happens, it should include all police, such as the Metro police.

There is concern about investigators not being trained. She asked for clarity on this, and if it was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Investigators need proper and specialised training. If this does not happen, there will always be backlogs. There is a high number of legal services paid during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she asked why this is the case.

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) implementation plan never met its targets and she asked why.

The Chairperson asked for clarity on delays in purchasing vehicles; and the dependency on external stakeholders in implementing risk management strategies. He noted the hotline launched to deal with rogue elements within the police.

IPID: Quarter One 2020/21 Financial Year
The Deputy Minister said the implementation of section 23 of the IPID Act will remain a priority. The pension liability balance of R22.1 million and R20.7 million of backdated payments for level nine to 14 were paid.

Throughout the lockdown the Department operated and implemented measures to contain the spread of the virus, which amounted to R1.2 million spent on personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement.
 
The case intake in quarter one was 1 615, with 1 166 complaints related to assault. The total case workload by the end of quarter one was 9 122.

IPID, working in conjunction with the Civilian Secretariat for Police, is in the process of finalising the IPID Act Amendment Bill. An action plan was also developed to monitor the amendment process.

Budget and Expenditure Information
A total of R355 million was allocated, and the cumulative expenditure amounts to R106 million. The available budget is R249 million.

R242 million was budgeted for the Compensation of Employees, and R88 000 was spent, which is 36 percent of the budget.

Transfers and subsidies amount to R820 million.

Goods and services amount to R106 million, and R14 million was spent.

Household transfers amount to R110 million, and R90 million was spent.

Machinery and Equipment amounts to R5 million, of which R2 million was spent.

Mr Senna said the reported actual expenditure translates to 29.98 percent, against the target of 25.00 percent, which resulted in 4.98 percent overspending, mainly due implementation of section 23 of IPID.

In programme one, expenditure amounted to just over R18 million from the adjusted budget. The underspending on programme one was mainly due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

(See presentation for full details)

Operational Performance
Ms Letlape said IPID achieved 20 percent of its targets in Programme One - Administration.

8 percent of its target was achieved in Programme Two: Investigations and Information Management.  

100 percent of its target was achieved in Programme Three: Legal and Investigation Advisory Services.

25 percent of its target was achieved in Programme Four: Compliance Monitoring and Stakeholder Management.

The overall Departmental performance was at 27 percent.

Programme Two: Investigation and Information Management
Police stations and forensic science labs were temporarily closed due to the Covid lockdown. There will be planned engagement with SAPS, and provincial and national stakeholders, such as the Department of Health, on technical reports.

For the target on the number of investigations of discharge of an official firearm, which is decision-ready, the target was not achieved due to levels four and five of the lockdown restrictions. Interaction with complainants and stakeholders was disrupted. Technical reports could not be processes timeously, due to delays and backlogs at the respective laboratories. Deployment and redeployment of police officers also affected investigation progress.

The target on the number of investigations of rape while in police custody which are decision-ready, per year, was not achieved also due to level four and five of lockdown restrictions, backlogs, deployment, and redeployment.

The target on the percentage of disciplinary recommendations referred to SAPS and MPS within 30 days was 90 percent, and 67 percent was achieved. The targets were not achieved due to the temporary closure of some provincial offices for disinfection, including the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) offices. There is continuous engagement with the relevant stakeholders.

Total Negative and Positive Recommendations referred to SAPS
A total of 263 cases were referred across the various provinces.

(See presentation for full details)

172 were positive recommendations where disciplinary steps were not recommended.

91 recommendations were negative. Out of the 91, 22 disciplinary processes were initiated, but were not finalised by quarter one.

Dockets referred to the NPA
A total of 215 dockets were referred to the NPA. It decided to prosecute on three cases, it declined to prosecute on 63 cases, and a decision is awaited on 149 cases.
 
During the period under review, a total of 15 departmental convictions were secured for recommendations which were referred in the previous financial year.

One corrective counselling was secured, three suspensions, two final written warnings were issued, and nine written warnings were issued.

Two criminal convictions were secured for the period under review. The accused was given 20 years imprisonment for murder, and ten years for attempted murder, which will run concurrently. The sentence was ten years imprisonment for kidnapping, 12 years for assault (grievous bodily harm), 12 years for corruption, eight years for defeating the ends of justice, and ten years for intimidation. All sentences will run concurrently and the accused will serve 12 years.

Programme Three: Legal and Investigation Advisory Services
The target on the percentage of legal advice provided to investigators within two working days was 90 percent, and 100 percent of the target was achieved.
Written legal advice provided to the Department within 30 working days of request was 70 percent, and 80 percent of the target was achieved.
Litigation matters referred with instructions to the State Attorney within ten working days of receipt was 100 percent, and 100 percent of the target was achieved.
Contract/service level agreements finalised within 30 working days of request was 90 percent, and 100 percent of the target was achieved.

Programme Four: Compliance Monitoring and Stakeholder Management
The target on the number of community outreach events conducted per year was 40, and one was achieved.
Formal engagements held with key stakeholders per year was 34, and seven was achieved.
Station lecture awareness trainings per year was 14, and none was achieved.
Recommendations referred to SAPS and MPS are analysed per year, was 275, and 266 was achieved.

The targets were not achieved due to COVID-19 regulations and restrictions on travelling, which means meetings could not be held. There will be a focus on the media to conduct awareness sessions, for example, on community radio stations.

Challenges were also experienced with investigations. The number of recommendations referred was lower than the projected target. There will be engagement with SAPS to determine the accessibility of police stations and labs, as well as alternative ways of collecting witness statements without compromising witnesses’ health.

The target on criminal referrals forwarded to the NPA which are analysed was 375, and 211 was achieved.
Percentage of responses from SAPS and MPS which are analysed was 60 percent, and 82 percent was achieved.
Percentage of responses from the NPA which are analysed per year was 50 percent, and 125 was achieved.

The target on case docket inspections was five, and there is currently no target for quarter one. Targets were not achieved due to the number of criminal referrals which were referred, being less than the target. Challenges were experienced with investigations, and the number of recommendations referred was lower than projected. There will be engagement with the NPA. The majority of cases were also not analysed within the prescribed timeframe, and a directive was issued to ensure compliance.

Ms Ntlatseng said catch-up plans are in place to improve performance. The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) implementation plan was revised. An ICT operational committee was appointed to closely monitor implementation. Alternative ways will be used to conduct community outreach, such as through community radio. Station lectures will resume in quarter three, and the Department will continue to reprioritise limited resources to support service delivery. Backlog cases will be prioritised by hiring retired detectives. She said IPID is focused on reorganising the structure of the Department to ensure service delivery is improved. The Department will do its best to improve its performance.

Discussion
Ms Faku thanked the Deputy Minister for being on par with the entities. Most things raised are overlapping on the second presentation. To be fair on the entity and Ms Ntlatseng, the Committee has to acknowledge Ms Ntlatseng was not there for a long time, and the issues she is highlighting to transform the entity makes sense. This is why some targets were not met.

Regarding compliance and monitoring programmes, there was underspending of R950 000 against what was projected. Ms Faku asked the reason for this.

Mr Terblanche said the information received was overlapping with the fourth quarter. He said underspending on investigations is concerning. This can be attributed to vacant posts. 38 posts are vacant. There is a new Executive Director, and she must be given a chance to rectify things there, but this Committee will have to note the serious impact of IPIDs underperformance. He said at a later stage it must be decided how to move forward.

Ms Ntlatseng said IPID acknowledged there was an underspending on the vacancy rate, but due to the lockdown, nothing could be done. Most members were not around and adverts could not be sent out. By quarter three this will be advertised. Posts should not be advertised to simply fill gaps. After visiting nine provinces, IPID realised less people are on the ground. IPID needs administrative clerks. Its existing system of uploading cases is challenging, and it will work on changing this with SITA. Complaints were received on the existing system.
Ms Ntlatseng said IPID wants to advertise posts to add value, and abolish some posts, because it does not add value. More posts should be available at an administration level to beef up IPIDs structure.

IPID cannot continue to have cases turned down for prosecution. There was a directive from DPSA saying IPID needs to place filling vacant posts on hold during the lockdown. Ms Ntlatseng asked for an opportunity to consider the catch-up plans. She visited nine provinces to see why it underperforms.

On Thursday and Friday, IPID will hold a meeting to review its plans. IPID managed to secure a panel of pathologists to assist speeding up the post-mortem results and ballistic reports. IPID is engaging universities to use its labs. She urged the Committee to wait for Quarter Three’s performance to see an improvement. 

Ms M Molekwa (ANC) said it was understandable in the instances where IPID under-performed given the national Lockdown. She asked about community outreach programmes and whether it has yielded a positive response.

Ms Ntlatseng said engagements could not be done due to the lockdown and alternative ways to achieve this will be considered. Community radios will be used and media briefs have been written. YouTube was also used to engage the community.

Mr K Maphatsoe (ANC) asked about overspending on the Legal Advisory Service programme at the end of the first quarter.

An official from the IPID said there were various reasons for litigation costs. The population is becoming aware of its rights and are enforcing this. It led to an increase in the number of cases presented to IPID. There is a perception the state has a bottomless bag of money from which the general public and attorneys can benefit. This is why IPID is inundated with legal claims. Some cases are lodged against the Department, but are never finalised. It caused liability to soar. The contingent liability is currently at over R72 million. Some matters were removed from the contingent liability. If someone lodged a claim in 2009 and it was not finalised by 2020, the claimant has either lost interest in the matter or can see there is no prospect of success. The Department does not have control over how many matters it receives, or how people react to the conduct of the investigators and the Department in its entirety. IPID can mitigate losses by training police and investigators, and ensuring it abides by the constitutional mandate.  

Mr Shembeni asked when IPID was declared to be an essential service. Inspection of case dockets is very important. If inspection is not done, the work cannot be weighed. Investigators play around and will write anything in the docket. The executive should make sure inspections on dockets are done regularly, and instructions are followed. He asked what measures will be put in place to ensure proper inspections are done on case dockets.

An official from IPID said IPID was declared an essential service at the start of the lockdown. IPID consulted with the Ministry after noticing it was not declared as an essential service. The ideal would be to do inspection of dockets in all nine provinces, but due to resource limitations, this was not possible for the current financial year. IPID will only be doing five docket inspections in five provinces. When integrity-strengthening officials reach each province, the officials are given all dockets which were completed and samples. Officials sample given the capacity as officials cannot go through all documents.

Sampling is compared to standard operating procedures to check for compliance. Officials may find cases where cases are not properly closed and ethics are not adhered to. There will be follow-ups with such investigators.

The Chairperson asked about the process of enlisting former SAPS investigators. She asked if there is a budget for this; in which provinces this will take place; and if the process will go out for tender.

Ms Ntlatseng said the current vacancy rate savings was considered, and this money will be utilised. IPID will pilot the process in four hotspot provinces, which are Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, and Western Cape. This is where there are more cases coming in. The budget is being considered. It will be piloted for a year to see if it makes an impact. 

Mr Shembeni asked about the enlisting of retired detectives and if there was an age limit on this.

Ms Ntlatseng said IPID was considering retired detectives between the ages of 60 and 65 years. These detectives are still strong and able to assist as these detectives have experience. There will not be many of these detectives, as there are only four provinces where the detectives will be needed.

The Chairperson asked Ms Ntlatseng if she had any closing remarks.

Ms Ntlatseng said she wanted to assure the Committee, IPIDs performance would improve in Quarter Three, and targets will be achieved.
 
The Chairperson asked the Deputy Minister if he had any comments.
 
He thanked the Committee for giving the Department its input and guidance, and noted the concerns highlighted. He said everyone would work together to improve the situation. It was a productive engagement. He thanked all involved for the efforts.

In closing remarks, the Chairperson said there is more energy and a new energy coming into IPID. The Committee gets a sense there is direction. IPID was leaderless for a very long time. There is a willingness to perform. She remarked the Deputy Minister has the political will, and has shown the Committee he does perform oversight on the entities. The reports were very well presented. She asked the team to convey the Committee’s gratitude to the National Minister. The Committee will await the annual reports.

She thanked Members for participation, saying the Committee functioned well, and she was pleased with the type of questions asked. This showed it was not a Committee which rubber stamps anything it received. She thanked the support staff and researchers for the hard work.

The meeting was adjourned. 


 

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