Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety on its final 2023/2024 Policing Needs and Priorities Report

Meeting report

Briefing on the Policing Needs and Priorities Report
Ms Amanda Dissel, Director: Policy and Research, Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety, presented the Western Cape’s updated 2023/2024 Policing Needs and Priorities (PNP).

A legislative mandate of the Department of Community Safety and Police Oversight, the Report highlighted the fact that the overly centralised model of policing was not working, especially in light of continued failures to address critical resource shortages.

According to the Report, the national South African Police Service (SAPS) had lagged behind its recruitment targets across South Africa, to the extent that the national police services’ numbers are now twenty years behind where they should be. This meant that the national police-to-population ratio stood at one police officer for every 413 residents. The situation is even worse in the Western Cape’s 13 priority stations. Examples included Philippi at 1:674; Harare at 1:773; Delft at 1:784; Samora Machel at 1:838; Gugulethu at 1:874, and Cloetesville at 1: 1 242.

The Western Cape had suffered a 41.6% increase in murder between 2013/2014 and 2022/2023. However, there were some encouraging signs. The rate of increase for murder had slowed significantly within the province in the last financial year, and the proportion of murders which are related to gang activity has reached its lowest point for five years. Critically, given the fact that murder was often localised to certain precincts, five of the top 10 precincts showed a decrease in murder over the 2022/2023 financial year.

The Western Cape’s LEAP officers were deployed to all of these hotspot stations, where they have assisted SAPS in responding to habitual offenders and violent crime. The PNP noted that, from October to December 2022, LEAP made 2 422 arrests and confiscated 59 firearms. This was in line with the findings of the recently released Provincial Economic Review and Outlook, which observed a significant decline in reported crime in these areas in the 13 quarters after the LEAP Programme implementation.

While LEAP and the Western Cape Safety Plan have played their part in stemming the tide, the PNP makes it clear that SAPS must increase and improve resource allocation and expand specialist detachments such as the Anti-Gang Unit if there was any hope of making a meaningful change to safety in the province.

Remarks by the Minister
Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Mr Reagen Allen, said that the comments from the Standing Committee, SAPS, and the Metro Police would be included in the Priorities and Needs Report. This information would also be shared with the SAPS, as the Department felt it was important to share this information.

The Minister said he did not want his Department and the SAPS to miss each other. The PNP Report was ultimately a statutory requirement and also strengthened the hand of the police services. He said that these proposals should thus be seen within that particular light.

The Minister said that Members would recall that the skewed police station post allocations for the Western Cape had already been broached during parliamentary replies. The province was still awaiting 1 520 new police recruits after 2 600 had been committed. A total of 1 080 new recruits had arrived in December. The sole purpose of police oversight was geared towards better and more effective service delivery.

Members were also informed that 770 officers had left due to natural attrition and that practical proposals towards shift changes had been affected. These were especially evident in LEAP areas. Criminals in LEAP areas had become very sophisticated.

Regular inspections were also conducted during physical parades at 6 am as well as 6 pm daily. During the last financial year, 358 new police vehicles were promised, and only 254 were procured. “We see the impact”, the Minister added.

The Minister further informed that his Department saw a direct link between vehicles procured and those actually delivered in support of services rolled out.

The PNP Report, the Minister said, would also be shared with other stakeholders in the Western Cape Administration as the Premier had instructed.

He thanked Members for the opportunity and welcomed questions.

Discussion 

The Chairperson informed the attendants that the Standing Committee had extended an invitation to SAPS Western Cape to submit written submissions. This invitation was honoured, but the invitation to present their submissions during the meeting went unanswered. A PowerPoint presentation was also provided. The Chairperson had thought that the SAPS would have been present. The PNP Report has also been shared with the City of Cape Town's Law Enforcement Directorate.

Mr F Christians (ACDP) thanked the Department for the very good and comprehensive needs and priorities report.

The Member said he was alarmed with the state of firearms destruction in the Western Cape. He recalled that firearms were sent to Pretoria twice a year for destruction. He also said that he had no idea about the progress of the construction of the planned destruction site in the Western Cape.

The Member further said that one major concern that Ms Dissel had raised centred on the firearms theft that occurred in Mitchells Plain. He lamented the continued theft of firearms and wondered aloud about those that went unrecorded. He also recalled a recent police raid in Parklands where two illegal firearms as well as drugs were netted. He opined that if the proliferation of illegal firearms continued unabated, murders would persist. Gangs thrived on this firearms proliferation.

He also tried to get a sense of the amount of ammunition used by gangs. The Member recalled a recent oversight visit to Manenberg and having been told about the vast quantities of ammunition and illegal guns in that area alone.

Mr Christians further decried the lack of a police presence during shift changes and said this remained a grey area. He added that the SAPS took time to train their members and that the issues at hand were simple issues which required simple responses. He charged that it was simply a case of bad planning. “We need to overcome that, because, with good planning, there would be police on the streets”, he added. If the practical things proposed by the Department could be enforced and the basics were seen too, only then could resources be considered.

Ms A. Cassiem (EFF) noted that the 10111 were out of commission during load shedding. She wanted to ascertain how this challenge was addressed. Load shedding has impacted crime in the country.

Ms Cassiem also asked whether a full audit by the Department on Community Police Forums (CPFs) had been conducted.

There were about a 151 CPFs in the province, and many of these were curious to know how the Department's budget had been spent. They claimed they had not received any of these funds, especially since many utilised their own funds to procure equipment for their operations.

Ms Cassiem further stated that these CPFs also had no knowledge of the increased budget discussed in recent media articles. Many CPF members across the province had also recently stepped down from their positions. Police corruption and inertia to investigate certain cases have all contributed to this state of affairs.

Ms Cassiem also wanted to ascertain the 15 firearms stolen in Mitchells Plain and what had been done thus far to investigate this matter. She pointed out that Mitchells Plain had about 100 police vans as well as a multitude of detectives, yet it took forever for police vans to be dispatched to certain crime areas.

She wanted to know whether there was a report that indicated where these vehicles were at a specific time. She also wanted to know why crime had proliferated in Mitchells Plain when it had the necessary detective capability.

Replies by the Department
Minister Allen confirmed that, since his appointment, a site visit to a potential destruction site had been undertaken. Consequently, his Department had then submitted a request to the National Minister of Police for authorisation.

Having a destruction site for illegal firearms in the Western Cape would save costs and mitigate the risk of firearms being stolen. He recalled a meeting with SAPS Western Cape where an invitation to National to accompany him to a potential site had been extended. This visit to the yet-classified potential site was undertaken and consensus was reached on the matter. He then forwarded another letter to the National Minister. His Department still awaited an answer. The Minister said that he viewed it as a very important matter and that he was well aware that firearms had become the weapon of choice.

In the Western Cape, LEAP officers and rural safety structures had done what they could, but crime intelligence remained a national competency.

On police van deployments in the Mitchells Plain area, Minister Allen advised Ms Cassiem of the following: Members of Parliament enjoyed certain privileges such as question time. Ms Cassiem could further utilise this route, or an official request from the Standing Committee would also suffice. Should such a request be received, his Department would request the necessary information.

Minister Allen further recounted that Ms Amanda Dissel had spoken about the evidence-based approach during her presentation.

The Department partnered with a precinct in the Mitchells Plain that allowed vans to be tracked via the Automated Vehicle Location system. Plans were afoot to roll this out to other areas. The Department already tracked LEAP vehicles in the same manner. All of these matters would be raised again at the MINMEC.

Members were further informed that the Minister had intended to undertake a visit to the provincial 10111 call centre. Minister Allen had received information after a parliamentary reply. He had signed off on the reply and could provide it to the Standing Committee. He also extended an invitation to Members to accompany him to the site visit.

Minister Allen further noted that only the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were funding recipients for community police forums. These were funded through two streams, one being allocations from the provincial budget and the other from the Civilian Police Secretariat on a national level.

An amount to the value of R32 million had been allocated to the Civilian Police Secretariat for this purpose. This information could be made available to the Standing Committee as well.

He also informed the Committee that he had discussed the recent spate of resignations of community police forum members with the provincial chairperson of the community police forums. She had undertaken to provide a report on this matter. An additional process was also underway under the leadership of an Advocate as well. Minister Allen requested the HOD to provide the additional information to the Standing Committee.

Minister Allen reiterated that the 10111 matter had been resolved but there was more information to be shared.

The Chairperson asked that all information be sent to the Clerk of the Papers.

Adv Yashina Pillay, Head of Department Police Oversight & Community Safety, said that her Department would locate and send the relevant documentation through.

The HOD further informed that R12 million of the R32 million had been allocated from the National Civilian Police Secretariat to Western Cape CPFs. Her Department had also allocated additional funding to CPFs when they partnered with neighbourhood watches. The Department had tried its best to support these structures, despite limited budgets and it being a national competency. Training on technical expertise was also provided.

Follow-up discussion
The Chairperson asked the Department to elaborate on the whole-of-society approach and the contribution of provincial departments such as Health, Education and Social Development.

The Chairperson also recalled that the SAPS had noted that weakened policing was a perception issue. He wanted to establish what other empirical data the Department had at its disposal besides the two-day workshop that was conducted.

The Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Safety, J.P Smith, had noted that Cape Town had no access to SAPS Six information. Why was this the case, he had asked. He also wanted to establish why the Morpho Biometric System had been continued. This system contained all the relevant information on outstanding warrants.
On the computer-aided dispatch system, the Chairperson said the EPIC system had worked quite well. He wondered whether all these systems could be integrated.

The Chairperson also asked why the SAPS stolen vehicles register was not updated. He also requested clarity on how the City of Cape Town's bylaws had impacted the CAS system and the nature of collaboration between the Department and the Cape Metro.

Members were also informed that the SAPS had noted discrepancies in the PNP Report. He had assumed that the Department utilised SAPS data for the PNP Report.

HOD Pillay replied that the Western Cape's Safety Plan rested on three pillars; well-being, safety and jobs. Implicated departments were Social Development, Health, and Education.

In conjunction with the Department of Health, the Department co-chaired the safety component and specifically focused on violence prevention and law enforcement. Regular meetings on both political and official levels were held. This ensured that the necessary goals were met.

The Department also convened a provincial Safety Steering Committee in partnership with the Cape Metro, other relevant structures, and five structures outside of the Cape Metro. “It is in that space that we are building the bridge as we walk it", the HOD added.

The deployment of LEAP officers under the command and control of the SAPS to crime hotspots had seen a gradual decrease in crime. Anti-violence measures, however, had to be fast-tracked. The deployment of LEAP officers was not the silver bullet and more needs to be done to stem violent crime in the province.

Regarding crime-fighting measures in Cape Metro, the HOD informed Members that a Safer City Model had been established. It was being led by the Cape Metro and the SAPS. The Department had partnered with the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) on the Evidence-Based Approach Policing Model. Good results in Mitchells Plain had been yielded. The model would also be implemented in Delft, Nyanga, and Khayelitsha. All the relevant stakeholders had committed themselves to this action.

The HOD further proposed that a follow-up meeting be held with the Cape Metro and other municipalities with the SAPS being present. It was very difficult for the Department to respond on behalf of the SAPS.

About the PNP Report, the HOD informed Members that the compilation process included both physical engagements as well as the paper exercise.

Mr Bheki Sinethemba, Director: Monitoring and Evaluation, Department, said that the question on the various systems was much broader. The Department had no access to these SAPS systems. A request for information on the SAPS SIX had to be filed with the SAPS.

He added that it was unsure why the Morpho Touch System had been discontinued. This question once again highlighted the need for a meeting with the SAPS as they were the only ones who could respond on this matter.

The EPIC system was Cape Metro-based, and an invitation to the SAPS was extended. This invitation had not yet been honoured.

Ms Dissel added that the SAPS responses had been taken into account. 

The only comment that had not been taken into account was the one on a weakened policing service. This determination was derived from the 2022 PNP Report and rested upon detection and clearance factors.

On crime stats accuracy, she added that these figures had been revised. The Department had used quarterly aggregates for that period. It chose this option as the crime statistics for the 2021/2022 and the 2022/2023 periods were only released in December 2023. The Department had revised the statistics accordingly.

The Chairperson agreed that the SAPS, the Cape Metro, and the District Municipalities should be invited to a follow-up meeting.

The Chairperson recalled that Cape Metro had lamented the lack of measurables regarding the Safer City Model.

The HOD replied that the Safer City Model and the Evidence-based Approach Policing Model were two separate programmes.

The Cape Metro and the SAPS led the Safer City Model Programme, whereas the Department coordinated the Evidence-based Approach Policing Model with the support of ISS. Funding for this purpose had been made available by a civil society organisation.
The Minister said that his Department was committed to creating a safer province. Intergovernmental relations were key to bringing about this reality. The PNP Report was widely consulted on and strengthened the hand of the police. One murder was one murder too many.

The Minister concluded that Delft had become a success story of some sort. During April-June 2023, Delft had experienced an 11% increase in murders. From July-September, it saw a 13% increase.

The Department deployed an additional 75 LEAP officers on top of the 92 already stationed in Delft. This had reduced violent crimes by 41% during January 2024. The Minister concluded that he wanted all stakeholders to work closely together.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister and his team for the engagement, and released them from the meeting.

He then called on Members to indicate whether they had any resolutions or recommendations.

There were none.

The Committee then considered and adopted the draft Committee Report on the Policing Needs and Priorities Report for 2023/2024.

The Chairperson thanked Members for their attendance.

The meeting was adjourned.