S A Police: Responses to budget questions, Divisional Training and Dog Services Unit Report, National Secretariat for Safety and Security: Responses & Independent Complaints Directorate: Strategic Plans and reports

Meeting report

South African Police Service (SAPS) Response to Budgetary issues
Comm Martha Stander, Deputy National Commissioner, SAPS, tabled the written responses requested by the Committee at the last meeting. She reported that for the 2004/5, 2005/6 and 2006/7 financial years SAPS had received unqualified reports from the Auditor-General but that the Auditor-General had yet to express an opinion on the 2007/8 financial year. On disciplinary interventions and suspensions due to fraud and corruption, she reported that in 2007/08 there had been 16 suspensions on full salary, and 171 suspensions without salary. The cost calculations had not been completed but the cost was estimated at R1,3 million. With regard to police killings, she outlined the measures taken to better train police for their own protection. Among these measures were the street survival programme, firearm proficiency training, situational awareness and personal safety equipment provision. She said training would enable SAPS to do effective crowd control in 2010. In regard to questions on promotions: posts were limited and  this was leading those who qualified becoming dissatisfied because they could not progress. She said the system was such that although it might not be possible to promote people in name, SAPS could allow them to progress up salary scales. According to provincial management the station commissioner of Calcutta police station at Bushbuckridge could be perceived as arrogant but had received a generally good report. A  follow-up would be conducted by national management.

In respect of questions around the high murder figures of the Matsulu station, she referred the committee to Annexure A and said that Matsulu was not a hotspot in Mpumalanga and had shown an actual decrease over the financial year. At Graskop, SAPS had spoken to the police commissioner and reported that the Detective Commander had been inspected. Subsequently, there was a request that he not be removed as the issue had been resolved. There was currently no problem with him but if the need arose, steps would be taken.

SAPS had received 546 617 applications for the renewal of licences, permits and authorization until 31 December 2007 of which a total of 228 420 applications had been approved and 6253 had been refused.

Comm Stander reported that action on the accommodation of detectives was determined by the provinces’ top ten priority lists. She said that the asset register was audited annually and that SAPS had to supply the Auditor General with a written confirmation of the accuracy of the asset register. Relations had improved with the Department of Public Works. Comm Stander said that the performance of provinces was a complex issue and SAPS had developed a management tool to assess provincial performance. According to this, Gauteng was doing the worst on crime, with Mpumalanga in second place. She said that SAPS would be able to present more detail on the performance management system in future. On the question of treatment of members of the public, Comm Stander said that there was an intervention whereby staff were trained to treat everyone equally no matter their sexual orientation or gender. A total of 663 female detectives had been trained during the 2007/8 year. That concluded the SAPS responses to questions from the previous sitting.

Discussion
Mr Z Ntuli (ANC; Kwazulu Natal) asked how SAPS decided who should be suspended and more specifically, who made the decision.

Commissioner Julius Phahlane, Divisional Commissioner Personnel Services, said that suspensions would be carried out according to the disciplinary code. He said a number of factors were taken into consideration in deciding whether to suspend with or without salary.

Mr F Van Heerden (FF+; Free State) wanted to know what happened when a person reached the upper end of a salary scale. This question pertained to the response on promotions.

Comm V Singh, Deputy National Police Commissioner responded that most personnel wanted and worked for promotions but that this was not possible within the hierarchy. Due to limitations of positions SAPS could not promote everyone as it would thin the production belt. She said there was a grade progress and cost of living increases. After the ceiling of the salary scale had been reached there was only a cost of living increase. All benefits after this point would be non-monetary, and were used to reward good performance.

Mr D Worth (DA; Free State) asked what was happening with firearm licences and if the situation was due to a backlog.

Comm Arno Lamoer, Divisional Commissioner: Operational Response Services, responded that renewals were handled on a provincial basis while new licences were a national concern. He added that the backlog was being continually worked off.

The Chairperson pointed out that the Calcutta station was close to where he lived and wanted further investigation into the situation there, as he did not think the report given was correct. He felt SAPS was being economic with the truth.

Comm Stander said SAPS had received the Calcutta report from the provincial management.

National Secretariat for Safety and Security (NSS): Responses to previous questions
Mr Themba Mathe, National Secretary for Safety and Security, tabled the written responses of the NSS to the Committee (see attached document). He read through this document.

The Chairperson thanked the Secretariat for this written responses. He said that he wanted the figure of R 1,7 million to be explained. He said that the Committee would accept the responses for now but would have to return as there were various expenditure questions such as R700 000 for strategic planning and R300 000 for photos that still needed to be clarified.

SAPS Briefing on Divisional Training
Comm V Singh, Deputy National Commissioner: SAPS, briefed the Committee on divisional training. Her presentation focused on the consolidation of training function, setting of standards and human resources. She reviewed the various national training institutions and outputs in terms of learner capacity. The key focus areas for delivery were the ideal classroom, shooting ranges and trainer capacity. She highlighted that this was the setting of standards for all institutions. SAPS hoped that four more shooting ranges would be added but was still in negotiations over this. The areas of provisioning were basic training, in-service training and management and leadership training. The basic training learning programme was outlined. The in-service and specialised skills training components were mentioned. The learning paths for detectives within SAPS were explained and the new organised crime course was mentioned. SAPS had prioritised Gauteng for the Detective Commanders’ programme. The On-The-Job Training (OJT) was an attempt to fill the gap between the classroom and the realities of the job. The focus areas for OJT, the street survival course and the three-day tactical techniques were reviewed.  The formalised training for personnel at ports of entry was mentioned. Management training was integrated at various levels and was focused on management training or other resources. The duration of the middle management learning programme was five weeks and it consisted of six modules. The Officers’ programme targeted Captains who had not been to a management programme. All programmes would be outcomes based and would get credits toward a tertiary qualification. She concluded by outlining outcomes based learning programmes and quality management and assurance.

Comm Singh then briefed the Committee on the  allocation and distribution of entry level personnel. She reviewed the establishment targets for 2002 to 2011 and noted that they were growing at an average of 10% per year. She said that SAPS had achieved their targets for personnel intake for the past two years. With reference to the enlistment programme, she reported that 12 000 members were budgeted for. She explained the rationale behind the SAPS enlistment programme. SAPS had undertaken a significant expansion of capacity. The historical and projected figures and percentages were allocated according to the Resource Allocation Guideline (RAG). She reviewed the assessment criteria for this allocation, and highlighted the section on compilation of equity profiles for business units to perform recruitment. The allocation objective for the 2008/9 financial year was to fully address the demand of the operational divisions to optimise specialised HR capacity in provinces. The coming years’ priorities would include presidential stations, priority stations, Public Service Act personnel, and detective services. She reviewed the figure for the operational divisions, allocations to provinces, and allocations to divisions. Finally she highlighted the ratios of police officials to population. She reported that all provinces had a reduction in this ratio. She noted the high ratio in Limpopo and said SAPS was trying to reduce this figure.

Comm Phahlane then briefed the Committee on the strengthening of Police Stations. He reviewed the background, the measures to strengthen police stations, the interim placement strategy and the interim redeployment of personnel.

SAPS Dog Services Unit briefing
Comm Lamoer briefed the committee on the SAPS Dog Services Unit.  He broadly outlined the primary functions of police dogs, disciplines of police dogs, capacity of the SAPS dog services, provincial capacity and their successes from April 2007 to April 2008 (see attached document). He noted that the dog units were deployed for crime prevention, including roadblocks, narcotics investigations and visible patrols. They were used also in crime combating at serious scenes, including apprehending fleeing suspects, crime investigation and searches. He set out the training periods for each of the disciplines. There were 91 dog units and 1 265 handlers for 1 099 dogs. He noted that SAPS had dog units at the ports of entry. They had made 63 215 arrests and the numbers of searches and recoveries were also tabled. He said that the challenges included lack of capacity, the challenges to be found in the Confederations and FIFA World Cups, training, and animal health risk. There were no dedicated units for major events. SAPS would like to ensure that every cluster had a dog unit and there was a need to expand animal hospitals in all nine provinces.

Discussion
The Committee put their questions and requested written responses within seven days.

Mr S Shiceka (ANC; Gauteng) said that Mpumalanga was a concern. There was no leadership and something needed to be done at leadership level. He asked if the training and qualifications went hand in hand with promotions. He said that strategic training was needed, as strategy was lacking in many stations. He added that SAPS was good at operations but lacking strategic focus at management level. He said people must be trained in communications. Managers in particular needed dispute resolution training and this did not seem to be at the centre of training. He asked the Secretariat if policies were costed properly so that resources could be allocated to them. He also asked if the personnel requirements had been costed, as this was a very prominent issue.

Mr N Mack (ANC; Western Cape) asked what the criteria for recruitment were. He asked if there was assistance with course choices during training. He commented that visible policing had been lacking in response to presentation on strengthening police stations. He asked if there were too few staff for sector policies. He asked if there were problems with people refusing to be redeployed. He asked how SAPS got their dogs and what happened to them when they were too old to work.

Mr Z Ntuli (ANC; Kwazulu-Natal) asked about the delays in obtaining forensic results and what caused these delays. He also wanted to know how many laboratories there were in South Africa.
Mr Ntuli asked what technology was used by police. He said that it seemed that the SAPS capacity for protecting high profile people and protecting poor communities was different. He asked why there were such differences in response times. Mr Ntuli also asked why the apartheid demarcations were still in place, when would these be corrected and when would police stations be strengthened. He asked if the community safety plan was linked to sector policing and why it was not well known to the police station commissioners.

Mr A Moseki (ANC;North West)  referred to stock theft and asked why it was not receiving the same attention in his North West constituency. He gave an example of a recent meeting with farmers and traditional leaders in his area. He said that stock theft was prevalent and that farmers were critical of the way this was being policed. The police stations were 60 or kilometres away from farms, response time was three to four hours and it was common for cases simply to disappear. This was a very serious concern. He added that he was mindful of the comment that the Stock Theft Unit could not be everywhere, but in areas where there were many farmers and stock theft, he queried why they did not have a better presence.

Mr FVan Heerden (FF+, Free State) queried the 10111 number and referred to instances where there was no response. He asked if a breakdown was possible. With reference to divisional training and the course on evidence to be completed by a detective, he asked what the course content was. He queried evidence gathered by the dog unit and asked how this evidence would be proven in Court. He viewed the value of goods recovered by the dog unit as amazing and commended SAPS on this, adding that he thought it should be made public. He also asked what kinds of searches the dog did as a matter of curiosity.

Comm Singh responded that 10111 received and dispatched complaints.

Mr Van Heerden said he was satisfied with that response.

Mr J Le Roux (DA, Eastern Cape) congratulated SAPS on their professional presentation. He asked how the training was linked with universities and whether staff were encouraged to further their studies. He commented that the number of staff lost to the private sector was a problem. He raised an issue of stock theft moving to cattle and game theft, and he said that this was a problem in terms of food security. He noted the success of the dog unit and asked what was standing in the way of expansion.

Mr D Worth (DA; Free State) asked about the priority stations and wanted to know if this was based on the level of crime, personnel shortage or performance. He asked what provinces or stations these priority stations were. He wanted to know how the figures for stock theft were distributed across the provinces. He asked for the figures in relation to the Crime Combating Unit, and for a comparison between the current and previous year. He finally enquired where staff came from for the interim deployment of personnel.

Mr Shiceka asked what level deployment was at and what the levels of transformation were in the SAPS.

Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) Strategic plan and budget briefing
Mr Patrick Mongwe, Acting Executive Director, ICD, commented on the many difficulties the ICD faced but stated that it would continue to work for improvement. He reported on the five new satellite offices and said that ICD was in the process of finalising complaints, and that details would be available in the Annual Report. He discussed the negotiations with the National Treasury (NT) for increased funding for remuneration, and the focus on the Asset Management Unit owing to the qualification received in the previous Auditor-General's report. There was a drive to market the ICD through electronic media to raise public awareness of ICD's services. The difficulties included the suspension of the restructuring process and the problems with opening a satellite office in Richard's Bay. ICD invested energy into overcoming these issues. He further reported that the ICD had managed to correct all comments given in the Auditor-General's report and that he was confident that the ICD would not receive a qualification in this financial year. He commented on lack of capacity of staff. The full staff complement for ICD was 270, when it should have been 535. He lamented this and asked the Committee to help to get these posts funded. He asked the Committee for assistance on the SAPS Act, particularly on disciplinary steps. He said police must report back when they cannot implement ICD recommendations and this would stop the ICD from being seen as a toothless bulldog.

Ms Noluthando Sihlezana, Information Management and Research Programme Manager, ICD  presented on the information management and research programme. The ICD had managed to capture and process new cases within 48 hours and had reduced feedback time from 30 days to 7 days. For communication and marketing, she reported on media responses, ICD marketing activities, newspaper inserts, post office adverts, radio and television adverts and corporate gifts. She provided figures on the community outreach programmes. She explained the research rationale and findings of Proactive Oversight 2008/9. The findings on femicide were highlighted and it was reported that the number of police killing their partners on a national level was clearly a problem. Other research topics were the production of a workshop, station audits and the monitoring of the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act. She outlined the Information Management System with reference to improving feedback to complainants as well as an overview of cases registered for April 2007 to December 2007 according to 8 tables. Also reviewed were deaths in police custody, deaths as result of police action and a suicide figures breakdown. On the suicide figure she noted that ICD raised questions on supervision and handling. It could be assumed that police neglected to check basics prior to detention. There was an urgent need to implement training as 47% of deaths took place in cells. She concluded by reviewing the programme's priorities and challenges.

Mr Tommy Tshabalala, Registration, Programme Manager: Investigation and Monitoring of Complaints, :ICD gave a presentation on his programme. Gauteng had the highest total workload.  He set out the closed cases figures and reported that the backlog in completed and closed cases was carried forward. There were cases that had been put to one side – the so-called “cold cases” - due to ICD’s inability to solve them. Reporting them as open created a bad impression, hence the change in terminology to “carried forward”. He reviewed the cases finalised for April 2007 to December 2007 giving the totals and percentages, scenes attended, reasons for non attendance and post- mortems attended. He outlined the recommendations to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and recommendations to the SAPS. He highlighted the need to know and report on which recommendations were accepted or rejected. and would provide this report at the next meeting with the Committee. He noted the low attendance of cases in criminal court and disciplinary hearings and said this was due to the SAPS not always making provision for calling the ICD. He briefly discussed the outcomes of cases. He highlighted a case of murder in Wolmaransstad, which had resulted in 20 years imprisonment for the perpetrator, as well as the Milnerton case.  He concluded by reviewing the achievements and challenges in programme 2 (see attached document)

The Chairperson noted that there was no further time, and after discussing the matter the Committee agreed to invite the ICD to  return at a later date for further engagement.

 The meeting was adjourned.