Question NW677 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
31 March 2022 - NW677
Van Minnen, Ms BM to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
In view of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dealing with the referral process from the Special Investigating Unit to the National Prosecuting Authority that is still in a draft format, and in light of the fact that the SA Police Service (SAPS) and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI) need to be included in the final MOU which still stands to be completed, (a) what are the reasons that the SAPS and the DPCI have not yet been included in the MOU and (b) on what date does he envisage the process will be completed?
Reply:
a) Although the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dealing with the referral process, which was signed during 2017, is between the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), efforts to amend same with the view to include the South African Police Service (SAPS) were undertaken by the NPA since 2020. A draft MoU to this effect was submitted by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI) to the SAPS National Commissioner to sanction, as it was envisaged that the less complex criminal investigations emanating from the SIU referrals would have to be conducted by the SAPS General Detectives.
In a communication dated 19 February 2021, the National Commissioner, in response to the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP)’s formal communication, requesting that the process of the signing of the MoU should be fast tracked, advised that because of “the lack of clarity in respect of the mandate between the various investigative capacities, command and control, criteria for the referral of the cases to the SAPS and the DPCI, and proper process flow/case referral mechanisms, the draft MoU could not be signed in its current form, as it could not be translated into an actionable implementation plan”.
The National Commissioner further advised that he directed that the “SAPS ought to first work on the draft MoU, to ensure that the views of the SAPS, inclusive of the DPCI, are aligned and translated into a practical working document”. In addition, that “all parties to the MoU would only meet as a collective for a workshop, in order to draft an agreement that addresses the needs and objectives of all parties concerned, once the process is finalised”.
The NPA has, on a number of occasions, enquired from the DPCI on the progress of the process as outlined above, the latest of which was on 15 February 2022. The response received is that there are no new developments, and that the mandates of DPCI and Detective Service must still be clarified.
b) On what date does he envisage the process will be completed?
The NPA is unable to commit to a date during which the process will be completed, as that is dependent on the SAPS’ process as outlined above.