Western Cape Appropriation Bill: Community Safety

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed the Members of the Standing Committee on Community Safety, Cultural Affairs and Sport in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, the Minister of Community Safety, Mr Reagan Allen, and the delegation. Acknowledgement was made for Adv Pillay and appreciation shown toward the Minister joining the meeting in person. He reminded the Members that the meeting was to deliberate on Vote 4: Community Safety in the Schedule to the Western Cape Appropriation Bill, 2023. The Members introduced themselves, as well as the Ministry and Head of Department, Adv Yashina Pillay. He asked the public attendees to indicate should they have any questions and said the budget document could be found on the Provincial Parliament's website.

Chairperson Opening Remarks
The Chairperson asked the Minister and HOD to begin with any brief opening remarks that they would have liked to make.

Minister's Opening Remarks
Mr Reagan Allen, Minister of Community Safety, thanked the Chairperson and said he was due to attend a MIN-MEC that had subsequently been cancelled. The Minister emphasised that he wanted to make every effort to ensure that the Standing Committee is prioritised, and the vital role of the Committee was recognised.

He mentioned that he had attended a National Assembly Portfolio Committee meeting for the South African Police Services, in which the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy was discussed, adopted by the National Cabinet and was noted to be squarely in line with what was seen in the Western Cape Safety Plan. He said he was looking forward to continued engagements with the National and via MIN-MECs, as soon as it was rescheduled.

He reminded the Committee that Vote 4 would be discussed and that prior to the meeting, he was part of a briefing with the SAPS on announcements of what could occur on 20 March 2023. He was delighted to announce that the operational plans that himself, the Premier and Minister Anton Bredell had been briefed by the SAPS on, would ensure that the Western Cape would be able to avert any acts of violence, looting, lawlessness and that law and order would be enforced. Against that backdrop, he said he firmly believed that Vote 4 would contribute toward ensuring that law and order were maintained.

He expressed that he was looking forward to the questions and engagement because the budget would outline several key priorities, and the continuation of the LEAP Programme that had been successful. He mentioned that there was a new allocation with regard to LEAP stations. There were several satellite offices across the Western Cape that had been decommissioned.

He mentioned the areas of Makhaza, Philippi and Browns Farm and assured the Committee that those would continue with safety tourism officers and the great work done in the mentioned spaces. The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) allocations would be highlighted, as well as the Chrysalis Academy, in which success was noted. He promised that the Members would be invited to the next graduation.

He mentioned the content on resourcing provided to the neighbourhood watchers and that the safety plan would be continued at a district level due to a 28% increase in crime outside of the City of Cape Town. Support had been furthered to the municipalities regarding K9-Units and resourcing rural units In Swartland and Overstrand local municipalities.

He mentioned that over the last ten months when Section 64 was implemented, there was additional capacity seen in liquor license officers who were able to help and assist, by ensuring that enforcement happened in the communities and on liquor license holders, hence funding was allocated to the Western Cape Liquor Authority.

He emphasised that he was looking forward to engaging in a manner that created safety across the province and that additional comments, input and questions would be interrogated.

Head of Department (HOD) Opening Remarks
Adv Yashina Pillay, HOD, Western Cape Department of Community Safety (WCDCS), mentioned that the WCDCS would continue to focus on the achievements of the Western Cape Safety Plan’s deliverables with the three pillars: law enforcement, violence prevention and urban design, and encouraged that other Western Cape departments, municipalities and communities served, would be worked closely with. She said the focused police oversight would be continued to improve service delivery. She shared the good news about the SAPS reporting a 20% reduction in murders in February 2023. She informed the Committee that the Chrysalis Graduation would be held on 6 April 2023, and it would be ensured that the Members received invitations.

The Chairperson thanked the HOD and Minister. He said that the discussion and deliberation on the report would be engaged with. Vote 4: Community Safety was tabled for discussion. He informed the Committee that they would start on pages: 131-140, for the first round of questions. Members were requested to engage.

Deliberation on Vote 4
Ms D Baartman (DA) mentioned that it was encouraging to note that the funding for LEAP would be for three financial years. Referring to page 134, she said R350 million had been set aside each year, and asked what was the category for the expenditure for the full R1 billion over the intake? She observed that it appeared to be quite scattered across the financials. On page 137, how many Chrysalis graduates were being planned for, for the current financial year, and how had that compared to the last financial year?

Ms A Bans (ANC) referred to page 131, under core functions and main services, which stated that the Department was mandated by Section 206 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa to Act 108 of the Constitution to exercise its oversight. How was the Department exercising its oversight over the municipal police? What were the details of all oversights that had been conducted over municipalities? She requested reports of that to be provided. Had the Ombudsman been given powers to investigate municipal police and law enforcement officers as well?

On page 134, Number 2: Review of current financial year 2022/23, stated that: the PNP remained one of the departmental strategic vehicles through which community voice was factored. She commented that those were the objectives of the PNP, including the influencing of policy decisions through making recommendations to decision-makers, that a disturbing trend had been noted: where the DA used PNPs to undermine and attack the National Government for the deployment of the police resource. That was wrong and untoward conduct that had to end.

How was the WCDCS and Provincial Government using the budget to respond to other findings of PNPs:  increasing GBV, femicide, gang violence, rising murder, substance abuse and dealings which were identified as crime generators? How was the whole of society and government’s approach used to accelerate the implementation of the recommendations of the PNPs to address the environmental design and layout of some areas that had poor access, poor road conditions, insufficient lighting, and needed CCTV hot spots?

On page 137: under the safer cities model- first paragraph: through oversight over the SAPS and Municipal Police, the WCDCS aimed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of policing. What percentage of the Department's budget was spent on police oversight to reduce crime and violence?

On page 135: under safer city models- paragraph 6: in line with Inter-Governmental Relations (IGR), the Joint District and Metro Approach (JDMA) and the Departmental Municipal Strategy, what progress had been made with regards to implementing the safer cities model in the province? Could updates be obtained for each municipality?

Mr F Christians (ACDP) asked about date “20 March 2023” which had been mentioned by the Minister in his opening remarks. Was there communication going out on a regular basis to assure the individuals and businesses that they would be safe to travel?

He mentioned his second attendance of the Chrysalis graduation and commended the programme, adding that it was small compared to the need. Could the Chrysalis programme be rolled out to a district level? The programme gave youngsters a meaningful role in society. What was the thinking around going forward with the limited available budget?

The Chairperson asked the Minister and Department to answer the questions asked by the members before the next round of questions would be asked.

MinisterAllen, on Mr Christians' question, answered that himself, the Premier, Minister Anton Bredell and SAPS management were in discussions on an operational plan. Any form of violence and looting would be met with swift action from the SAPS, via an integrated approach between Metro Police, law enforcement, and safety stakeholders (neighbourhood watchers and CPFs), who would act as eyes and ears to ensure that information was quickly dealt with. Threats were monitored online, on media outlets, and from comments made by senior political leaders. The District Commissioners played a role in ensuring that the national key points situated in the province, would be well covered. Disaster Management would ensure that any obstruction to a business or a society from functioning would be removed and arrests would be made. It was made clear that any person that was going to make themselves guilty of acting outside of the law, would be arrested regardless of whether the person held public office or not. Private security companies were engaged with, and an integrated approach was used.

Regarding the Chrysalis Programme, he was delighted that all graduates were placed in a work opportunity for better employability and a sustainable life over the last financial year. He boasted that 25 graduates were placed, from the graduation of the first Chrysalis community hub, recently.

He spoke about the expansion of the Chrysalis and gave a reminder about budget constraints. Political parties were encouraged to support further funding models to ensure that Chrysalis could be in every district. He said that the hubs were in priority areas: 13 within the City of Cape Town, with one located in each district.

The Atlantis hub's 25 graduates noted originated from Atlantis, but some from Malmesbury, Philadelphia, ensuring the safety of the community.

He asked the WCDCS to answer Ms Baartman's question on the number of graduates. On the LEAP funding, He informed the Committee, that the accountants would respond on the exact amounts relating to Ms Baartman's question.

On oversights, he emphasised that his response was against the backdrop of Judge Zondo's comments in 2020: oversight in South Africa did not work, had failed and the National Parliament, by extension, had failed in oversight, as a result of State Capture.

Since the Minister's appointment, he had hammered on putting measures in place so that the oversight led to better service delivery and explained that the aim was to strengthen the hand of the SAPS, not to tear down the SAPS. The dedicated officers were being fought for.

On the deployment, in 2018, there was an Equality Court Order via the Theoretical Human Resource Requirement, that found out that the SAPS discriminated against poorer areas. That was noted to be an ongoing case that the Minister had had engagement with SAPS on. He informed the Committee that the meeting had been postponed for the last 3 months and that he was eager to have the meeting as it would speak directly to the skewed allocations highlighted in the PNPs. Skewed allocations were born of the fact that the police-to-population ratio was known within the province. He gave an example of the area of Cloetesville: one officer for every 1100 people, Rondebosch: one for 320 people. The Theoretical Human Resource Requirement and how it was being implemented to ensure that the skewed allocations were addressed, formed part of the PNPs.

In terms of gang violence and how the approach of government and society was being addressed, that had been what the safety plan spoke to. The plan emphasised the governance framework across every department and the role each department had to play.

He said the HOD would answer on environmental design which spoke on the approach of governance framework. He mentioned that the needs were big, and the budget dealt with fulfilling the Department's mandate. He was eager to ensure that matters were addressed with the Local government, so that PNPs were not merely sent to the SAPS for action but sent to municipalities as well.

He asked the HOD to speak on the percentage of the budget that was allocated to safer city models and the Joint District and Metro Approach (JDMA).

He requested the assistance of Ms Bans with the legal opinion and confirmed that the Ombudsman would not be able to investigate Law Enforcement. He asked if Ms Bans had direct connection with the SAPS at a national level, so that she could motivate for the Western Cape Police Ombudsman to investigate Law Enforcement, and if that was the policy that the National Government could change, that it be taken up further.

Adv Pillay addressed Ms Baartman's question on R1 billion LEAP allocation which fell under Programme Three of the budget, and was not spread across other areas. She said there was an allocation in that financial year for LEAP deployment stations, which was spread across transfers and goods and services.

Regarding the number of Chrysalis graduates, the target for the current financial year was 690 graduates, compared to 600 in the previous year. There was a great demand for the programme, including a long waiting list.

On Ms Bans' question regarding oversight, Adv Pillay responded that Section 19 and Section 21 Oversight reports could be made available as a presentation to the Committee.

She said the Department was awaiting feedback from the City of Cape Town, on the indication of the location of its CCTV cameras, specifying which cameras were in working condition and which were not, and the priority areas in which they were in while awaiting that feedback.

It was confirmed, with legal opinion, that the Ombudsman's mandate had not extended to municipal police services. She said the national SAPS and other provinces were grappling with that, which also had the LEAP officers and Law Enforcement. Attempts were being made to address that on a national level, and a legal opinion was received at the national level stating that the oversight could not fall under the IPED.

Regarding PNPs, Adv Pillay agreed that greater advocacy and lobbying would be embarked on as a department to influence greater police resource allocation to the Western Cape, for National to be able to present how PNPs that had been very comprehensively done year-on-year, had been utilised. She said the PNPs had been used through an ongoing engagement with the National Minister of Police and the National Secretary for Police Service Department.

On issues such as GBV, substance abuse, etc, those were the Department's focus, linked to the deliverables of the Western Cape Safety Plan. Close work was being done with the Department of Social Development and other departments, all related to GBV. She said that a pilot would be launched in the area of Delft and other areas in the province that experience high levels of domestic violence. The Department was said to have continued monitoring the SAPS's compliance with the Domestic Violence Act. She said that the information relating to serving protection orders would be utilised to determine where the sites of high domestic violence were situated and used to address GBV in the province.

Regarding violence prevention initiatives and urban design interventions, together with law enforcement, those were to be rolled out by area-based teams (ABTs). The Department of Health coordinated those ABTs, however, the WCDCS played a big role as the lead of the Safety Plan. Government services would form part of the ATBs. Services by the community-based structures, spaces and municipalities would be included, determining what could be done in the communities to address those issues.

Police oversight comprised 70% of the budget, in relation to safer cities led by the City of Cape Town and the SAPS. The WCDCS played a role in leading some of those committees, and the Department would be able to provide an update in writing to the Committee.

Adv. Pillay agreed with Mr Christians on wanting to see the Chrysalis Academy replicated throughout the province. She said that they would be requesting funding for a feasibility study to be conducted, to replicate the academy, however, due to the cost of running the programme, community-based Chrysalis programmes had been created. A pilot programme was run in Atlantis, and its graduation was held on 4 March 2023, placing graduates in work opportunities as accredited Youth Development Officers after completion of their training. Areas such as Delft, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni and other priority areas were identified for implementing the programme at.

Ms R Windvogel (ANC) stated that her question pertained to page 135; second paragraph under the Court Watching Brief: what was the budget allocation for the programme that year? How many vacancies were in the programme, and how many staff were deployed to monitor GBV cases? Had the programme monitored any court cases against the Western Cape Government and city officers for crimes like sexual harassment, GBV, and corruption?

Under rural safety page 137, paragraph 4, what were the details of the Province’s Rural Safety Strategy and what was the percentage of the Department's budget that would be spent on rural safety?

Given the gradual increase of violence and murder in police boundaries outside the Metro, what was the plan to increase the budget allocation and the deployment of LEAP officers to rural municipalities?

Under GBV, on page 137; paragraph 7: how had the budget responded to the increase in violence against women and children, what was the total allocation to combat GBV for the year, did the safety plan have a detailed plan to tackle GBV, etc in the province?

What was the number of vacancies listed on page 137 in the last sentence, and how long had they been vacant for? What were the plans to fill the vacancies?

Ms A Cassiem (EFF) hoped that the effort put into the shutdown, meant to take place on 20 March 2023, could be done daily in gang-infested areas such as the Cape Flats. She said it was ridiculous that there was no urgency for deployment of police to those areas, or funding for resources for different police stations in gang-infested communities. The focus was constantly on poor black people that had voiced their struggle on issues that should have been provided for by the government.

How was the Department using the budget to deal with gang-infested communities? Which areas were the focus of the budget, and what was the breakdown of those which were gang infested communities?

Mr M Kama (ANC) welcomed responses from the Department. He stated that his questions would be on the Department's core functions: to capacitate, and core produce with community-based safety partners. He said it mentioned Community Policing Forums (CPFs): the neighbourhood watch.

He wanted to bring in the context of the Community Safety Act: Section 3; CDEF: which spoke on the Provincial Minister's responsibility to promote good relations between the police and the community, identify the causes of any breakdown in relations, and facilitate proper functioning of CPFs.

Section 5 of the same Act in the Western Cape stated that the HOD could assist the CPFs. The Department had an APP programme used to fund CPF's which had since been discontinued. How was the Department funding CPF's and what model was used? The Department had used the EPP on one of the mechanisms that showed accountability that was used to fund the CPF's. 73 CPF's had been funded in 2022/23 Financial Year to the value of R600 000. 99 CPF's were funded to the value of R495 000, which was less in the 2021/22 Financial Year. How was the Department ensuring there was a fair way of the distribution of resources to the various CPF's? Had all CPF's that exist in all priority areas, been funded? He requested a list of all funded CPF's and the amounts with which they had been funded.

What resources, funding or training would the Department be providing to CPFs and to what amount specifically? On page 134: R6 million was allocated to professionalise neighbourhood watches in that Financial Year. What amount was funded to the CPFs which were sighted in the Community Safety Act, understanding the bigger role that the CPFs played as a body founded as per the SAPSs Act and the Western Cape Community Safety Act?

Mr G Pretorius (DA) said that if the synergy alluded to by the Minister, between the Western Cape and National Government, held true, that was heartening. How ready were the municipalities for the intervention of the Development of Integrated Strategies? Had the intervention been taking place, what were the results? Did those include the existing Rural Safety Structures and CPFs?

On a recent oversight visit to Kannaland, a great briefing by the police took place at Calitzdorp and Ladysmith. He said that it was observed that most of the police officers in attendance were older. Was there succession planning within the province?

In programmes 1, 2 and 3, cuts in transport equipment and other machinery equipment were noted and Mr Pretorius requested the details of what the cuts entailed.

Minister Allen informed the Committee that the HOD would answer the question on the Court Watching Brief and provide the relevant quarterly updates on it. He placed on record that the Court Watching Brief unit, via communication from the National Government, had been adopted by the other provinces, due to the successes seen, and the instruction for the adoption had been signed by the National Minister of Police.

The HOD would be answering the question on rural safety.

Minister Allen said the priority areas had been identified as areas of high crime, where LEAP officers were directly placed in priority areas to add additional resources.

In response to the march, it was saddening when resources had to be taken from other areas to be deployed at the march, which would starve the SAPS of already limited resources. Other priority areas would be starved of resources, with load shedding adding to the increase in crime.

On CPFs, Minister Allen requested the HOD to answer the question in the following context: on CPF funding in previous years and how funding was allocated via the programme when the CPFs undertook certain tasks and responsibilities. He asked the HOD to take the Committee into confidence by stating very clearly what transpired during that time and how the WCDCS had to make sure that matters that arose during that time could never happen again. He said that many of the undertakings by CPFs in the province were conducted by the SAPS themselves. Those particular programmes were not in the spirit or interest of what they had been intended for, but various matters were then not properly dealt with in the years gone by. Minister Allen asked the HOD to answer the question in a more diplomatic way than himself.

Regarding the fair distribution of funding and support to CPFs and neighbourhood watches, Minister Allen requested the HOD to respond on that, and on how ready the municipalities were in terms of the district safety plans, capacity and resources that were provided as support to the districts.

The Chairperson remarked that he was delighted to have had the rural safety plans in every district, which were specific and localised. He said the Department played a key role in ensuring safety plans aligned with the Western Cape Safety Plan.

Minister Allen requested the HOD to answer the questions on funding and budgets, which could also be responded to in writing.

Adv Pillay stated that there were currently 23 vacancies, that the Department was in the process of filing the vacancies and had currently been in the short-listing stage.

GBV cases were monitored by the Department, especially in priority areas, based on compliance to the Domestic Violence Act, which guided the work of the Court Watching Briefs. She explained the Court Watching Briefs have started post-monitoring engagements, whereas in the past, monitoring would occur, and the cases struck off the court roll would be noted. She said that the information was provided to the SAPS, who were given time frames to respond before the report was submitted to the Standing Committee, along with a response from the SAPS.

Adv Pillay confirmed that the Department was also willing to present the quarterly reports to the Standing Committee. Regarding the Court Watching Briefs related to officials of the other departments, the focus of the Department was the priority areas, or as requested.

R26 million was the rural safety strategy budget, used for interventions such as the K9-units in the City of Cape Town, Swartland, Overstrand and Mossel Bay. Neighbourhood watches were supported and prioritised in the rural space.

The LEAP project was limited to the City of Cape Town, because it was directly linked to the areas with the highest rate of murder. The rural safety units were law enforcement units piloted in other areas to support the other municipalities. Municipalities were worked with in partnership, and were eager to take on additional capabilities, because at times, their law enforcement personnel had a very low number, but the Department worked with them, so it was a partnership, not just funding them.

On anti-gang strategy: the WCDCS, co-led the Anti-Gang Priority Committee, which reported to the Prof joined together with the SAPS. Gang-infested communities were being focused on: Manenberg, Hanover Park, Bishop Lavis, Mitchells Plain, Delft and Elsies River. 18 departments across Western Cape Government worked with National, where anti-gang interventions were to be prioritised and implemented in those areas, to be assessed. Adv Pillay advised that that would be a data-led and evidence-informed approach.

She informed the Committee that the Department terminated the Expanded Partnership Programme (EPP) due to the majority of the CPFs not being in favour of the programme. Other options to fund the CPFs were looked at, where the current CPF model was explained as needing to qualify for R10 000 funding.111 applications for project funding were received by the Department, funding 73 CPFs to date. Most CPFs were funded by project funding as opposed to the EPP. CPFs were encouraged to work closely with accredited neighbourhood watches and other community-based structures. Training was provided to CPFs on safety plan compliance and implementation, governance training, capacity building training, etc.

Adv Pillay stated that if the Department was called to assist CPFs with role clarification or support, their assistance was provided as requested.

On the reduction in operational costs, she explained that the Department’s expenditure was re-looked at and had been re-prioritised, to ensure that within the Department's limited budget, additional funds went into service delivery. She gave the example of the K9-Unit in Mossel Bay being prioritised for funding over the need for funds, earmarked for computer equipment from the previous year's budget.

Minister Allen informed the Committee that the HOD was not physically present because she had contracted COVID and was recovering to illustrate the dedication of the Department.

The Chairperson asked Mr Allen to expand on the total budget for LEAP allocated for the next three years, and to provide the Committee with a breakdown of how those funds would be used. The Chairperson informed the Committee that pages 141-151 would be deliberated on next.

Ms Windvogel stated that she was not satisfied with how the Department answered the question on PNPs and asked how they responded to PNP findings. What was the total spent on GBV, did Court Watching Briefs monitor cases against government officials in the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town and what were the vacancies within the Court Watching Brief?

The Chairperson said that he heard the HOD state that the Department was in the process of filing the vacancies within the Court Watching Brief.

Ms Cassiem asked Minister Allen to be more specific in his response in saying there were “safety programmes” specifically in rural areas. She asked Mr Allen to name or list those communities or rural areas.

Was there a break down on funding for different areas in the province? In the Cape metro, how much was being spent in poorer areas when it came to safety compared to the amount that was being spent in areas where there were no drugs or gang activity? She requested the report and breakdown.

Mr Christians asked if it was in the LEAP funding 3-year budget forecast capacity to ensure that the current LEAP officers were permanently employed. He said that he had a problem with the R10 000 yearly allocation that neighbourhood watches received, as needs differed in different communities. Was there death cover for neighbourhood watchers if the main breadwinner of a household died?

The Chairperson asked on Mr Kama's behalf, how much was budgeted for CPFs as he had stated he had not received an answer to his question.

Adv Pillay answered that R350 million was budgeted for the LEAP programme over the duration of three years. She said that in terms of the safety plan via regional, the budget allocation was R1 billion. She elaborated that the province provided for 75% of the funding and then the City of Cape Town contributed 25%. The safety plan's objective was clarified to decrease the murder rate by 50%, and that all murder stations were the areas with the highest rate of murder within the City of Cape Town's metro.

She said that the PNPs, as part of the Department's oversight mandate, needed to conclude the PNP process, submit the report to other departments and have engagements at municipal level. Other departments were invited to participate, and the action plans were formed in break-away groups with other departments, where commitments were made. She informed the Committee that the Department was in the process of finalising PNP reports for the engagements that were conducted, and those would be shared with the Standing Committee.

She informed the Committee that on GBV, the Department's mandate was linked to oversight. She said that the Department did not have a direct GBV mandate, as would be, for example, the Department of Social Development. She said that GBV did inform the Department's oversight.

On police inspections, she said compliance with the Domestic Violence Act, and the assessment of victim-friendly rooms, was the role of the Department. The information was used to guide the interventions of other departments and interventions rolled out by ABTs, etc.

She stated that the SAPS's compliance with the Domestic Violence Act, serving of protection orders, etc, was monitored by the Department. She said that if the Department encountered a matter that required its intervention, the Department would step in to provide support and guidance, contact SAPS, refer certain matters to Department of Social Development, and do whatever was necessary to support individuals affected in the community.

She restated that the Department monitored matters regarding the Western Cape Government Departments as per the requests because that was not part of the oversight core mandate and related to the police or Domestic Violence Act. The Department had helped when asked to follow up on cases that other departmental staff were involved in.

The Department would provide the breakdown of funding and support provided to the municipalities outside the City of Cape Town, all neighbourhood watchers that the Department had supported, funding and training CPFs, funded safety plans, K9 units, rural safety units, etc. She said the bulk of the budget lay in LEAP funding, which had increased the budget due to allocation to priority areas.

In terms of Mr Christians’ questions, she said yes, she was expecting it when he said he had asked it before. The LEAP officers were contractually employed, but the Department desired to have the LEAP budget form part of the baseline budget, un-earmarked to ensure effective utilisation in priority areas. She said should there be a displacement of crime, the Department would be able to be responsive to that.

She advised that LEAP officers had to get appointed into permanent law enforcement positions within the City of Cape Town and encouraged that the Chrysalis graduates were considered, and that law enforcement officers would become trained Metro Police Officers in the future.

Regarding the stipend for the neighbourhood watchers, she stated that it would be difficult and made an example of a cost of R816 million, if every neighbourhood watch member was paid, which was more than the Department's budget. She said the need, unemployment and poverty was acknowledged and that the Department was trying its best to empower neighbourhood watches with training.

Concerning GBV, she said the Department piloted the training of the neighbourhood watch members, to be able to be of assistance, should there be an incidence of domestic violence in the communities.

Minister Allen expressed that the R4.76 billion had been budgeted over the three-year mid-term expenditure framework, to ensure that the citizens felt safe in their communities. He stressed that GBV was taken seriously and gave the example of a particular station that saw 51% rate of all protection orders served, as an example of a direct intervention that the Department was monitoring the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act and had made several recommendations. He explained that part of the recommendations that had been adopted, was to ensure that a senior officer at station level was responsible from the SAPS’s side, to ensure the Domestic Violence Act was implemented.

On stakeholders mentioned, on page 131, he said the Department's main services were to lead the delivery of Western Cape Safety Plan. He clarified that the Western Cape Safety Plan was a 3-pronged approach: law enforcement, urban design and how violence prevention was addressed.

The Chairperson instructed the Standing Committee to engage with pages 141-151.

Ms Cassiem requested that the Department provide full responses to her question on the names of the rural areas being serviced with safety programmes. She said she had asked for the breakdown of the funding in poor areas as compared to the areas where others lived more comfortable lives.

Minister Allen stated that the HOD had indicated that a written response would be provided to that question.

Ms Baartman encouraged the Members to attend all budget meetings as many questions related to Community Safety were answered in a budget committee meeting on the trends across the province, held the previous day.

She asked if the EPWP incentive grant for provinces, stipulated on page 142, fell into LEAP or Chrysalis. What would the money be spent on? She asked to be directed to the respective page, should that have fallen in the Vote.

How would the R10 million for LEAP stations on page 149, understood to be separate from LEAP funding in Ms Baartman's understanding, be implemented specifically?

Ms Bans asked how the Liquor Authority responded to PNPs’ findings, on page 143; under table 8.3: Summary of Departmental Transfers. What were the plans to increase budgets for rehab centres and alternative liquor creation?

On page 147: expenditure trends analysis: what informed the shifting of the social sector EPWP incentive grant to programme three and what would it be used for? She said that the programme showed a decrease of 6.86% from 2022/23 revised estimate of R79 million.

On page 149; under table 9.3: summary of payments: under the Western Cape Police Ombudsman, what were the reasons for the over 18% increase in the budget? What progress had been made to finalise the 162 complaints that the Ombudsman's office was dealing with, and what were the details of such investigations?

Mr Pretorius asked for a breakdown and for an explanation of the funds made available for liquor enforcement capacity within the Western Cape Liquor Authority, on page 144.

Mr Christians referred to pages 140; 141, and asked if the Youth Cafés were still ongoing, had they stopped, and where were their locations. Was the R10 million especially erected for LEAP stations? Did the LEAP officers work from the LEAP stations only? Were certain areas able to be linked with SAPS and Metro Police? How many LEAP stations would be erected additionally?

Mr Kama stated that other Committee Members should not be told to attend additional budget meetings as the Committee was in the right place asking questions and had no responsibility to defend the government.
He said it was interesting to note “the diplomatic response” on why the Department stopped the EPP programme. How was the funding received split between neighbourhood watchers and CPFs, considering that their needs were different?

He asked how much would be spent in each priority area to ensure the priority area was not conducive to crime. How would the decrease in budget for programme two impact the Department's ability to conduct effective police oversights? On page 150, what were LEAP stations and why were they established? He suggested that it could be more efficient to support the efforts of the SAPS and to create programmes to ensure that LEAPs also had stations to house LEAP officers, and law enforcement to gather in one place for a shared briefing.

What were the details of tourism safety and where was it coordinated? Regarding the R350 million allocated for LEAP, he said that reiterated the demand for more oversight as a Committee on LEAP.

Minister Allen categorically stated that CPFs could not do the job of the Department. The Department had a mandate in terms of Section 206 on oversight. He said the programme Mr Kama referenced, was implemented by the previous HOD where CPFs previously undertook oversight exercises and activities that the Department had to be doing. He confirmed that it was the role of the Department to exercise oversight in terms of its legal obligations and the Constitution. He mentioned that the SAPS had filled out the documentation on behalf of a CPF, which was not its job to perform.

He was delighted that the Youth Cafés were mentioned by Mr Christians, although the role did not sit within the Committee, but rather in social development. He stated that young people had the opportunity to up-skill themselves, complete job-readiness training, remain safe, get assistance with their CVs, and make communities feel safer. He would direct the HOD to request the relevant information on the location of each Youth Café to be shared with the Committee.

In terms of the LEAP stations, what the Department had undertaken was making the Commitment to ensure that resources were spent effectively and spoke to the need of the community, earmarking the R10 million toward LEAP stations. Three areas were identified, with partnerships made between new organisations and existing organisations in the communities.

There was a LEAP deployment coming from a particular NGO in Delft, ensuring extra visibility in that part of the Delft area, and not only at the SAPS stations. Philippi East would be a priority area, where a base station could be located to ensure greater visibility. Browns Farm was a satellite office located on PRASA land. The office was non-functional after the community marched and made every effort to close the station down. Approval was written to have that office fixed and operational.

He said the Department wanted to deliver on the R10 million, so that the Committee could motivate that more innovative approaches were needed to deal with deep constraints within the infrastructure development programme. He requested that the infrastructure development programme report, received in October 2022, be circulated, which showed the apparent need in the communities.

Adv Pillay informed the Committee that the Western Cape Liquor Authority, the WCDCS, other departments and stakeholders, had been attending all the PNP engagements in terms of their role as it related to the PNP process and findings. The focus was on reducing alcohol arms, which the Department had been in the process of finalising amendments to the Liquor Act. This was said to cover greater efficiencies to the Liquor Authority Operations, which would include looking at trading hours and minimum unit pricing for alcohol.

Adv. Pillay confirmed that the Liquor Authority operations were aligned with the Department's strategic objectives and the objectives of the Western Cape Safety Plan. She said that the implementation of the operations was linked to the ABT which were focused interventions in priority areas.

Rehabilitation was within the domain of the Department of Social Development. The increase was noted, with the Department funding R9.1 million to the Liquor Authority in previous years, for additional liquor inspectors to focus on operations in the priority areas to further enhance the law enforcement response of the SAPS. The additional allocation had been made by the Provincial Treasury and related to the revenue increase that the Liquor Authority had been able to collect.

The EPWP grant was for the payment of stipends which were in the main for Chrysalis graduates, some peace officers who were mainly trained for rural municipalities, the safer festive season project where rural municipalities were supported with deployment in those areas during the festive season, and Youth Hub Ambassadors of the Chrysalis academy. She said there was the conditional grant and the department had allocated additional funding to pay the stipends that were mentioned.

The increase to the Western Cape Police Ombudsman was due to the cost of employment in relation to filling five vacancies within the Ombudsman's office. As to when the Ombudsman's investigations would be finalised, that would need a request to be sent for the Ombudsman to provide feedback to the Committee.

The reduction of budgeting in programme two was due to the EPWP stipend or grant being moved to programme three.

The SAPS resources in a particular area, and their ability to respond was considered regarding the question on LEAP deployment stations.

The Tourist Safety Officers was a pilot run with the Department of Economic Development. They had been successful in their placement, namely: Table Mountain, Bo-Kaap, etc., to ensure tourist and local safety. A reduction was seen in those areas.

Adv Pillay recalled that input made surrounding LEAP officers taken in as law enforcement and stated that the sustainability of the LEAP programme would be paramount. The City of Cape Town was encouraged to take on Chrysalis graduates to provide them with further experience and exposure, with the potential of permanency.

She said that the Department was in discussions with the City of Cape Town on the implications of LEAP officers becoming law enforcement officers and to ensure the training of officers took place, so that there would be more than 1000 LEAP officers at any given point. The last count yielded 1 300 LEAP officers and the Department wanted the City of Cape Town to fill gaps in training and appointment certificates.

Mr Kama followed up on the HOD's last comment about the creation of employment. He stated that there was a commitment that had been, which aimed to help reduce the murder rate in ten years through the Safety Plan, yet resources were continuously being poured into the LEAP programme.

On the issue of LEAP stations, Mr Kama wondered about prioritising limited funds, which might have had a greater impact in the effort to prevent crime. He said that stations were not needed if officers reported to one parade, under one command, and would be deployed in other areas for the visibility of law enforcement agencies, recognising that the LEAP as a force multiplier toward the effort that the SAPS had on the ground. He said the Department was supposed to create a community that was safe and perform police oversight.

Ms Bans asked whether it was within the Ombud, within the province, to build a police station, was not the building of police stations at the national prerogative? What would be the function of the police station that the Minister mentioned as not being “fully fledged”. She said that she agreed that R10 million was a large amount of money, that rural areas were being neglected, and asked why the money was not being shifted to areas that were in need.

Minister Allen trusted that the procedural officer would re-circulate the Infrastructure Development Programme presentation, which painted a bleak of infrastructure needs within the province. He expressed his shock at hearing Mr Kama say there was no need for a station. He used Makhaza as an example of why a station was necessary, explaining that the closest station for Makhaza residents to go to was in Tafelsig. He also explained to the Committee that one of the stations in the rural areas, which R380 million was spent on, was sinking into the ground due to improper land it was built on. He agreed with Mr Kama in saying that the LEAP officers did work under the command of the SAPS, and that when an individual was arrested, they were taken to the relevant SAPS station and not the LEAP station or the base.

He explained that the creation of stations would be for visibility and that the infrastructure and development programme was lacking. He reminded the Committee that once the LEAP programme was slammed in the same rural areas that they were being requested to be deployed to.

Mr Kama clarified that the focus of the Department had to be on creating an environment conducive to policing crime, not LEAP stations.

The Chairperson recounted a conversation he had around a police station being closed due to loadshedding, prompting the need to have called the 10-111 number which was reported to ring for 45 minutes, after which the public emergency centre number was called instead, to assist an individual that was being followed. The Chairperson proposed in the resolution, that an oversight visit to the LEAP base in Bishop Lavis had to be done, and how CPFs could be engaged with, linking to a previous visit to Mossel Bay.

The Chairperson instructed the Committee to engage with pages 152-169.

Ms Bans asked what the reasons were for the high increase in the budget for travel and subsistence, on page 157: table 8.2.1? On Page 159: under table 8.2.3, what were the reasons for the advertising budget to be increased? What type of contractors warranted a high increase in the budget for the programme?

Ms Cassiem asked what support was given to the CPFs and if there were plans to increase the amount given to them.

Adv Pillay answered on the increase in travel and subsistence, saying that was due to a census that counted every police station. She answered that advertising expenses resulted from the Ombudsman's office budget increase and that the contractors mentioned were in relation to the LEAP stations.

Adv Pillay confirmed that the CPFs funding models included the Western Cape Community Safety Act. She said that accredited neighbourhood watchers were accredited by the Department, after receiving once-off funding, in which qualification for funding occurred every two years. She made the distinction that CPF funding was for projects that occurred annually and confirmed that the Department had not received an additional allocation from Provincial Treasury. Adv Pillay restated that the Department had re-prioritised its own internal spending to ensure more money for service delivery and to support other organisations.

Minister Allen took the Committee into confidence and informed them that at the rescheduled Min-MEC that would take place, the funding model for CPFs would be discussed as an urgent agenda item.

The Chairperson asked for the Committee to engage on pages 152-169.

Ms Cassiem requested a written response to all the political parties on the breakdown of the earlier question: how much was being spent in each zone and area?

Ms Bans stated that she remembered that she had previously received a written response on CPFs and how much had been spent. She mentioned that from 2019 to date, R600 000 had been spent on CPFs. Was it in the interest of the Department to spend as much on neighbourhood watchers if the funding was supposed to be spent equally?

Minister Allen said there were 151 CPFs and 17 500 members in the neighbourhood watches, comprising roughly 700 neighbourhood watchers. He said the number of CPFs and neighbourhood watches needed to be considered when wanting the funding to be equal. It would be easier if there were equal numbers of CPFs and neighbourhood watches.

Mr Kama wanted to latch onto what Ms Bans and the MEC had raised: that the CPFs were funded for projects and the distinction between neighbourhood watches and CPFs. He asked what was important to achieve set targets around decreasing crime in priority areas. He stated that there was no direct approach to ensuring community safety was on the ground, having interventions to ensure that the crime rate in the Western Cape had changed.

Adv Pillay said that the R1 million budget was allocated to CPFs and neighbourhood watches equally, which the Minister emphasised to include CPFs and neighbourhood watches that did not apply for funding.

The Chairperson asked whether the members of the public wanted to ask any questions and encouraged them to do so. He asked that Members submit additional questions to the Minister and the Minister to provide a written response.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister, HOD and Department and requested closing remarks to be made.

Minister Allen thanked the Chairperson and the Standing Committee and stated that where the Committee felt that a particular question was not answered, the Department would provide information via a request for information from the procedural officer or via parliamentary questions.

Adv Pillay thanked the Chairperson and the Standing Committee for the opportunity to present and the patience shown toward her health state.

The Chairperson wished the HOD a speedy recovery.

Committee Budget Vote report
Ms Baartman supported the Vote.

Mr Pretorius supported the Vote.

Ms Bans said that according to Rule 90, the ANC wished to express its minority view not to support the Vote.

The Standing Committee on Community Safety Cultural Affairs and Sports, having deliberated about the Vote for Community Safety in the Schedule to the Western Cape Appropriation Bill [B2-2023], referred to the Committee per Standing Rule 188, reported that it supported the Vote. In accordance with Rule 90, the African National Congress expressed its minority view no to support the Vote.

Committee minutes were considered and adopted.

The meeting was adjourned.