ATC170315: Report of the Select Committee on Security and Justice on an Oversight Visit to the Northern Cape Province to conduct oversight of the establishment of Community Police Fora and to determine the success of Community initiated neighborhood watch structures, held on 31 January 2017, report dated 15 March 2017

NCOP Security and Justice

Report of the Select Committee on Security and Justice on an Oversight Visit to the Northern Cape Province to conduct oversight of the establishment of Community Police Fora and to determine the success of Community initiated neighborhood watch structures, held on 31 January 2017, report dated 15 March 2017.
 

  1. Background:

The Select Committee on Security and Justice (the Committee), as part of its mandate to provide a national forum for the public consideration of issues affecting the provinces, conducted oversight over those issues raised in the Committee in relation to community safety, criminal rehabilitation and the distribution of benefits to military veterans in the Northern Cape.

 

  1. Community Police Fora and Community-established crime fighting initiatives

Within the South African Police Service, the Committee identified a need to oversee the establishment of Community Police Fora and to interact with the community-established crime fighting initiatives on their successes and challenges.

 

3.     Delegation:

3.1.   The oversight delegation was composed of the following members: 

Province

Political Party

Present

Eastern Cape

African National Congress

Hon T Wana

Free State

African National Congress

Hon Mr J Mohapi

KwaZulu-Natal

African National Congress

Hon JM Mthethwa

Democratic Alliance

Hon Mr M Chetty

Mpumalanga

African National Congress

Hon Mr MT Mhlanga

Northern Cape

African National Congress

Apology tendered.

North West

Economic Freedom Fighters

Hon Ms TJ Mokwele

Western Cape

African National Congress

Hon Mr DL Ximbi (Committee Chairperson)

 

The following parliamentary staff supported the Committee: Mr G Dixon – Committee Secretary, Ms A Van Der Burg – Content Advisor, and Mr B Mbalane – Committee Assistant.

 

  1. Community Police Fora and Community-Initiated Crime Fighting Initiatives:
    1. Presentation by Operation Wanya Tsotsi on their operations, successes and challenges.

The community of Galeshewe established Operation Wanya Tsotsi, a non-governmental organisation, in March 2015. The need for the initiative arose from the daily harassment of the community by gangsters, the raping of women and children and a continuous challenge within the community with drugs.

At the time, approximately 1000 people in the community came together to hunt for the gangsters. The initial anger of the community subsided but the core group remained in what is today established as the NGO, named ‘Operation Wanya Tsotsi’.

Operation Wanya Tsotsi members act as a neighbourhood watch and drive through the community performing stops and searches of any person on the street. Through this, they have confiscated many dangerous weapons and drugs and have been instrumental in preventing crime in their areas. One success mentioned was the lowering of the crime rate in the community of Richie. The schools in Richie were closed due to gang fights and lives were lost on a daily basis.  Operation Wanya Tsotsi took credit for lowering the crime rate in 2016 and for ensuring that normal school operations continued. The school itself achieved a 92% pass rate.

Operation Wanya Tsotsi suspended its operations on 2 January 2017 claiming that the SAPS was manufacturing charges against the NGO to halt its operations. The plea from Operation Wanya Tsotsi is that the SAPS and the community work together and to this end, they delivered a signed petition to the Northern Cape Provincial Premier, the MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison and the Northern Cape Secretariat for Police to request an intervention.

  1. Briefing by the Secretariat For Police
    1. Ms Catherine Nomokwezi-Jonkers, the Secretary for Police in the Northern Cape, briefed the Committee on the petition her office received from Operation Wanya Tsotsi.

The petition requested the:

  1. dropping of charges against members of Operation Wanya Tsotsi or an intervention to pursue the finalisation of the cases;
  2. recognition of Operation Wanya Tsotsi as a crime fighting organisation;
  3. police officers assigned on a permanent basis to Operation Wanya Tsotsi; and
  4. a request for the police to stop treating members of Operation Wanya Tsotsi in an unjust manner.

The Secretary for Police informed the delegation that, after meeting with the Northern Cape Provincial Premier and the MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, the following undertakings were agreed to:

 

  1. The Civilian Secretariat must engage with the community and the SAPS to ensure a closer working relationship.
  2. The SAPS could not drop the charges laid against Operation Wanya Tsotsi members by other community members as individual persons had laid the charges. The solution might be to arrange a meeting with the aggrieved persons to resolve the matter amicably.
  3. The legalities were explained to Operation Wanya Tsotsi and the SAPS indicated that while they do not have a problem with Operation Wanya Tsotsi, it was necessary for both parties to enter into a written and signed agreement.
  4. SAPS indicated they could not assign police to Operation Wanya Tsotsi but the working agreement could establish a working arrangement. This must be done through the Community Police Forum and could lead to a pilot project to initiate the work of community patrollers in the Northern Cape.
  5. The SAPS must establish training in evidence collection for Operation Wanya Tsotsi members.

 

  1. Issues of concern raised by the SAPS:
    1. Operation Wanya Tsotsi not falling under the authority of the Community Police Forum

The SAPS noted that it was difficult to endorse the activities of Operation Wanya Tsotsi as they refused to fall under the Community Police Forum (CPF). This placed Operation Wanya Tsotsi at odds with SAPS regulations in that they were acting as a vigilante group.

Operation Wanya Tsotsi acknowledged that they had discussions with the SAPS regarding the CPF meetings but they maintained that the CPF meetings have never borne fruit and failed to address the community concerns.  For instance, the response time of the SAPS was a concern at the CPF meetings but the response times remained the same. The community received an immediate response from Operation Wanya Tsotsi further entrenching the position of Operation Wanya Tsotsi as a solution to the community’s needs.

  1. Operation Wanya Tsotsi contravening sections of the Criminal Procedure Act[1]

The SAPS informed the delegation that the Wanya Tsotsi search and seizure operations contravenes section 21 of the Criminal Procedure Act which provides for seizures by means of a warrant and by means of a police official. The SAPS informed Operation Wanya Tsotsi that they could not stop and search people and confiscate drugs and knives as it amounted to robbery. Although Operation Wanya Tsotsi brought the evidence to the police station, in reality, merely being in possession of drugs was also a criminal offence and placed members of Operation Wanya Tsotsi at odds with the law. Furthermore, the SAPS noted the prosecution of an offender was difficult as the evidentiary chain was contaminated. This contamination also related to crime scenes that Operation Wanya Tsotsi arrived at first.

Operation Wanya Tsotsi, however, noted that the reality on the ground was at odds with the law and as much as the law sought to administer the passage of justice, it allowed the criminal to operate with impunity until caught. Operation Wanya Tsotsi argued that the community had to live with the scourge of crime at the behest of the law and suffered under it. This very situation led to the formation of Operation Wanya Tsotsi.

The SAPS informed the Committee that certain community members who had possessions confiscated and who had experienced rough treatment form Operation Wanya Tsotsi had laid charges against the NGO.

Operation Wanya Tsotsi also complained that they require a vehicle from SAPS in order to do their work effectively.

 

  1. Police Presentation on Community Police Fora, Challenges and Successes

 

  1. There are currently five clusters of community police forums established in Kimberley. SAPS indicated their willingness to provide a vehicle where SAPS is available to arrest a suspect and confiscate illegal items. Various meetings were held to try to incorporate Operation Wanya Tsotsi into the Community Policing Forums, however the NGO has disrupted meetings in Roodepan. It is clear that at this stage Operation Wanya Tsotsi does not wish to form part of the Community Police Forum. SAPS raised the concern that the NGO exercises mob justice on the communities, which the CPF serves.

SAPS suggested that a good way forward would be to regulate the operations of Wanya Tsotsi through a Memorandum of Understanding.

                                        

  1. DELEGATION ENGAGEMENT:
    1. The Member of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature and Chairperson of the Transport, Safety and Liaison Committee, Hon G Oliphant, indicated that she lives in the community where Operation Wanya Tsotsi operates and that during the Christmas weekend period, she found the hospital was empty of injured patients. This was never the case before due to the many incidents of robberies and gang related offences and the hospital staff attributed the decline to Operation Wanya Tsotsi patrols.
    2. Hon Nyakama, a member of the Committee on Transport, Safety and Liaison indicated that he would have a problem supporting Operation Wanya Tsotsi if they never acknowledged the police. He questioned how many people Operation Wanya Tsotsi hurt but at the same time noted that if they were strict on fighting crime they would be supported.  Operation Wanya Tsotsi needed to operate under the law and there must be structure, form and communication.
    3. The members thanked the police, Operation Wanya Tsotsi and the community for attending the meeting. The parliamentary delegation noted that all the parties had one goal, to fight crime, but that this must be done in an orderly manner. The delegation explained that the Constitution and other legislation bound and directed South Africa in respect to the manner in which crime should be dealt with and establishes a protocol for the police to follow to ensure successful prosecutions.

 

  1. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS:
    1. The delegation acknowledged the apology tendered by the MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison but did not accept the apology and advised that the situation required a meeting with the MEC to clarify the matters raised in the meeting.
    2. The delegation requested the MEC’s office to submit a report to the Committee within 14 days on the achievements and challenges with crime in the area as well as the way forward to resolve the matter between the SAPS and Operation Wanya Tsotsi.
    3. The meeting with the MEC must resolve how to legitimise Operation Wanya Tsotsi, and to create a model that allows for an effective working relationship between the SAPS and Operation Wanya Tsotsi in respect of the CPF structures.
    4. The delegation advised the Civilian Secretariat to ensure that the police are resourced and that reaction times are minimised and to take into consideration the fact that the sector-policing model requires that there should be one vehicle per sector.
    5. The delegation advised Operation Wanya Tsotsi and the SAPS to resolve their differences and work together to develop a Memorandum of Understanding.

 

Report to be considered.

 

 

 

 


[1] Criminal Procedure Act No 51 of 1977 as amended.

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