Question NW2666 to the Minister of Police

Reply:

(a) (i)The television show is a communication platform between the SAPS and the communities. This platform has enabled the SAPS to engage, and most importantly, educate South Africans on the relevance of the SAPS in their day to day life, which will ultimately improve their understanding. Using this show, we are able to answer questions such as “what is the role of the SAPS in a democratic and developing state” and also in addressing the crime situation facing all South Africans. The programme produces crime awareness campaigns with the purpose of eliciting maximum response from the members of the general public, in order to assist the SAPS with its investigations of criminal activities. When Duty Calls gives visual support to the communication objectives of the police through the episodes produced on;

• crime patterns,
• serious and violent incidents crimes,
• Crime prevention hints,
• profiling the most wanted suspects and missing persons,
• feedback to the public on current investigations, investigative successes,
• as well as highlighting the various units and components of the SAPS- how they operate and how the general public can access their services.

(ii) Through the various segments within the programme, we have been able to communicate some much welcomed successes of the work done by ordinary members of the SAPS. The viewing audiences normally appreciate the feedback they receive each week when watching the programme. The police fight crime every minute, they are arresting suspects every day, and only a small fraction makes headline news. When Duty Calls serves as that additional platform to document the less talked about stories and arrests. Its effectiveness is also measured on the feedback we receive from the viewers (the general public) each week, on the arrests the Police make on a daily basis, but also on the citizens appreciating the often thankless job that the men and women in blue do each and every day. Through the When Duty Calls programme, we have also been able to get tip-off’s from the viewers on the whereabouts of the numerous wanted suspects, sometimes leading to the arrests and/or convictions of said individuals. Another way of measuring the programme’s effectiveness is the percentage share of the audience ratings that we continue to meet every week, based on the number of viewers watching TV during the time slot.

(b) When the television show was incepted in 2000, there was an agreement with the state broadcaster, SABC, that the South African Police Service shall provide the show’s content while the SABC will provide airtime at no cost to the SAPS.

The SAPS is not carrying any costs for the broadcasting of the show on SABC 2 but is responsible for the production of the show at its own studios.

Production costs are borne by the SAPS through the employment of permanent production staff consisting of professionals including an Executive Producer, Content Producers, Scriptwriters, Researchers, Video Editors as well as Camera Operators.

The SAPS supplies 48 programmes per year to the SABC.

The programme has repeats on Soweto TV, Bay TV, and KZN TV at no cost.