ATC130619: Report of the Select Committee for Security and Constitutional Development on the 2013/14 Annual Performance Plan, Strategic Plan and Budget of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, dated 19 June 2013
NCOP Security and Justice
REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE FOR SECURITY AND CONSTITUTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT ON THE 2013/14 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN, STRATEGIC PLAN AND BUDGET
OF THE INDEPENDENT POLICE INVESTIGATIVE DIRECTORATE, DATED 19 JUNE 2013
The Select Committee on Security and Constitutional
Development having considered the Annual Performance Plan, Strategic Plan and
the Budget Vote of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate reports as
follows
:
1. Introduction
The IPID derives its mandate from the Independent Police
Investigative Directorate Act (1 of 2011) that was enacted and came into effect
on 1 April 2012 to enable the IPID to shift from a complaints driven
institution to one that prioritizes the investigation of serious and priority
crimes allegedly committed by the South Police Service (SAPS) and the Municipal
Police Services (MPS). It also has a greater focus on systemic corruption.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID)
reported that it has begun implementing a number of commitments which it has listed
in the 2012/13 APP and
Stratplan
. It its report it
listed the progress with the implementation of the following commitments:
·
The development of training
manual for investigators
·
The development of Standard Operating
Procedures
·
The development of
investigation guidelines for investigators
·
Training of investigators
·
Renaming of ICD to IPID
·
The implementation of
expanded mandate
·
The Investigation of high
profile cases (e.g.
Marikana
& Cato Manor)
·
The MOU with SAPS
·
The establishment of new
components (e.g. Legal Services & Corporate Governance)
·
The Alignment of Strategic
Plan & APP with IPID Act
·
Devolution and delegation of
powers & functions to provinces
·
Team building &
stabilizing the Organization
·
Implementation of cost
saving measures
·
Establishment of
·
Stakeholder relations (e.g.
JCPS Cluster, SAPS, CS, SIU, PP)
The alignment of the
Stratplan
and
the APP with the new Act has seen the Department become part of the Justice,
Crime Prevention, Police and Security (JCPS) cluster. It has also established a
satellite office in
Strategic Outcomes
The high level Strategic Outcome of IPID is a police service
that is trusted by the Community and operates in line with the spirit of the
Constitution. In order to achieve that goal, the intermediate outcome is that
IPID is a strong, independent oversight body. Other intermediate outcomes are
that the police service is responsive to IPID recommendations, IPID is
accessible to the public, the performance management system operates optimally,
there is re-engineering and reorganisation, and lastly, IPID processes cases
efficiently.
The IPID reported that there were environmental factors that
prevented them from fully implementing all the focus areas. Some of these
included an increase in service delivery protests regulations that determine
that investigations must be completed in 90 days. This is not always practical
as there are complex and difficult investigations which could not be completed
within the stipulated time.
Challenges and risks in the environment include the
persistently high staff turnover at the lower levels of the organisation, long
distances that members have to travel, low skills levels of members with no
or
very little training for new
investigators. In addition the non-reporting by SAPS at the beginning of the
financial year places strain on IPID. Other areas that confronts IPID is its
expanded mandate which requires IPID to the issue of investigating systemic
corruption in SAPS which would be dealt with from this financial year, the need
to undertake defined training and capacity building, reorganisation and
re-engineering to place the organisation in a footing to implement the
provisions of the new IPID Act.
2. Focus areas
The IPID has the overarching goal of
ensuring a police service that is trusted by the community and operates
in line with the spirit of the Constitution. It hopes to attain this goal by
fighting corruption in the JCPS cluster and in the police in particular.
The strategic priorities for IPID for the 2013/14 year are
as follows:
·
Investigation of all S28 matters, including systemic
corruption
·
Strategic alignment of planning, budgeting & reporting
frameworks
·
Reengineering of systems, processes & structures
·
Reorganisation of functions, reporting lines, roles &
responsibilities
·
Strengthening management & leadership capacity
·
Increasing investigative capacity
·
Training & capacity building
·
Development of performance management systems
·
Development of reporting, monitoring & evaluation
systems
·
Strengthening & formalising stakeholder relations (NPA,
SIU, HRC & PP)
3. The IPID budget
The IPID budget allocation has increased by 7.7% to R217
million for the 2013/14 financial year and is expected to increase to R247.2
million by 2015/16. The IPID reported that the budget is aligned to the
National Development Plan and the governments 12 delivery outcomes and key
service delivery goals. The budget has seen a reprioritization from goods and
services to the compensation of employees which is the major budget economic
classification item.
4. Programme
Spending
The IPID originally had three programme areas which included
Administration, Investigations and Legal services programmes. It added a fourth
programme area for the 2013/14 financial year and rearranged its programme
structure to include Governance & Stakeholder Management, Corporate
Services, Investigations and Legal Services.
4.1
Governance and Administration (Programme
1)
The purpose of the programme is to
provide the overall management of the Independent Police Investigative
Directorate and support services, including strategic support to the
directorate.
The Administration programme has been allocated R88.4
million for the 2013/14, up from R86.5 million in the 2012/13 financial year.
This amount increases to R96.3 million in 2014/15 and R101.9 million for the
2015/16 financial year. Compensation of employees shows an increase of 13.2%
and increases from R37 million in 2012/13 to R 41.9 million in 2013/14.
The second biggest line item is the goods and
services budget with spending showing a decrease of 6% from The Annual
Performance Plan (APP) includes 60 media statements from R48.3 million in
2011/12 to R45.5 million in 2013/14. This programme consists of five
sub-programmes: Executive Support, Corporate, Internal Audit, Finance and
Corporate Management Services.
4.2.
Executive Support
This programme provides executive strategic and
administrative support to the Executive Director of the IPID. Liaison between
the Ministers office, parliamentary committees and other stakeholders are
co-ordinated through this programme.
4.3
Corporate Governance
This programme is responsible for performance monitoring and
evaluation and reporting on the attainment of strategic objectives.
4.4
Internal Audit
The component provides internal audit services by conducting
compliance and performance audits and facilitating forensic
investigations.
4.5
Security Management Services
The provision of security management and development of
security policy falls under this component. The component is responsible for a
number of functions including access control, physical security, and monitors
the implementation of information technology.
5.
Corporate Services (Programme 2)
The purpose of this programme is to provide administrative
and logistical support through providing corporate management services;
information technology communication and marketing services; auxiliary
services; human resources management and development services to the
Directorate.
It consists of the
following sub-programmes:
Information
Communication Technology, Communication and Marketing Services, Auxiliary
Services and Human Resource Management & Development Services. The
strategic objective of this programme is the development & maintenance of
performance management systems.
The
2013-16 outputs and strategic objectives are directly linked to the following
three strategic outcomes oriented goals: IPID is accessible to the public, the
performance management system operations optimally, and re-engineering and
re-organization of the IPID.
6.
Investigation
and Information Management (Programme 3)
The
purpose of this programme is to coordinate and facilitate the
IPIDs
investigative processes, and develop policy
frameworks that guide investigations. It consists of the following
sub-components: Investigations, Information management and Policy development
& provincial coordination. The 2013-2016 output and strategic objectives
are directly linked to the following strategic outcomes oriented goals 3 and 12
as identified by Cabinet in 2010. One of the strategic goals of this programme
is that IPID process cases effectively.
7.
Committee
Observations/Findings
The
Committee was concerned that the investigations strategy was not up to scratch.
It was noted that the there are massive backlogs and the Committee wanted to
know how they would make up the backlog. According to IPID, systemic corruption
made up 20% of reported cases. The Committee was also concerned about the non
implementation of the Domestic Violence Act recommendations.
Other
concerns related to the performance of the IPID when the police appear not to
be taking the organisation seriously. Members reported that police officers,
(especially the TRT Response Team) do not wear name badges and the IPID has not
been able to assist with changing this culture. Members noted that for things
to change, the relationship between the IPID and SAPS must be fixed.
There
was instability in the management echelon of the organisation because of the
provincial directors were appointed and everyone including the executive
director was in an acting capacity.
IPID was
suffering from high turnover figures of lower level staff members. This has not
improved since the last few years and appears to recurring for the last few
years and the management have not addressed how to stop it.
One of
the Members reported seven cases against members of the Directorate for
Priority Crimes Investigation (HAWKS) and asked that they be investigated. The
overriding concern expressed by the Committee is that the levels of police
brutality have increased with members of SAPS becoming involved in more and
more incidents of brutality. Some Members pointed out that members of the Hawks
have been removing firearms after shooting scenes, the TRT beat up anybody who
disagrees with them and the Crime Intelligence component conduct operations
using balaclavas to hide their faces.
The
Committee was concerned about the numbers of police officers that have become
involved in criminality. In this respect, the
Cator
Manor DPCI unit was mentioned as a case in point and the expectation of the
Committee was that the IPID would chart a new direction with the new Act
through its
APPs
and Strategic Plan. It appeared
that the report was more of the same and Members noted that they felt that it
was a cut and paste job. In this sense, the IPID has set unrealistic and
unattainable targets as they were not even commenting on how they will police
the Metropolitan Police Services.
The
Committee also questioned why IPID was not charging witnesses who refuse to
co-operate with it and suggested that they should begin to charge such
witnesses in order to make an impact.
Lastly,
IPIDs
public briefings on cases should be held at least
once a month so that members of the public can have the confidence to report to
the institution.
Recommendations
1.
IPID must eliminate the backlog of cases it
is investigating. In particular there should be more pressure exerted on SAPS
to implement the Domestic Violence Act recommendations.
2.
IPID should have a meeting with the SAPS
management to deal with the issues of co-operation between members of SAPS and
IPID.
3.
The Committee is very concerned about the
vacancies that exist in the IPID management structure and notes that it should
be filled within a reasonable period. IPID should investigate the Directorate
of Priority Crimes Investigation (DPCI) cases presented to the Committee and
submit quarterly progress reports to the Committee.
4.
IPID should develop a strategy that
specifically addresses increasing police brutality.
5.
IPID should hold media and public briefings
on its investigations at least once a month to give the public an update of its
progress.
Report to be considered.
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