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ATC220923: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Police on the Addendum to the 2022/23 Annual Performance Plan (APP) of the Department of Police (SAPS), dated 28 September 2022.

Police

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Police on the Addendum to the 2022/23 Annual Performance Plan (APP) of the Department of Police (SAPS), dated 28 September 2022.

 

The Portfolio Committee on Police examined the Addendum to the 2022/23 Annual Performance Plan (APP) of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and reports as follows:

 

1.Introduction

 

On 19 July 2022, the Minister of Police tabled the Addendum to the Annual Performance Plan (APP) of the South African Police Service (SAPS) for 2022/23 (ATC No 105-2022), which was referred to the Portfolio Committee on Police for consideration and report on 21 July 2022 (ATC No 106-2022). The Portfolio Committee must, after consideration of the amended performance targets, adopt a report to be tabled in the National Assembly for adoption. 

 

The changed targets in the Visible Policing Programme (Crime Prevention Sub-programme) are based on the increase in contact crimes recorded in 2021/22, compared to the previous financial year (2020/21), including contact crimes (overall), contact crimes at the Top 30 High Crime Weight stations, contact crimes against women, and contact crimes against children. The target for the implementation of safer cities programme was reduced significantly (from 20 cities/towns to only three in 2022/23).

 

1.1.Structure

 

The Report provides an overview of the 2022/23 Budget Hearings of the Department of Police. The Report is structured as follows:

  • Section 1: Introduction. This section provides an introduction to this Report as well as a summary of meetings held during the hearings.

  • Section 2: Revised 2022/23 targets in the Visible Policing Programme. This section provides a summary of the revisions made to various targets in the Visible Policing Programme.

  • Section 3: Committee observations. This section provides a summary of the observations made by the Portfolio Committee on Police on the revised annual performance targets.

  • Section 4: Recommendations. This section summarises the recommendations made by the Portfolio Committee on Police, as well as the additional information requested from the Department of Police.

  • Section 5: Conclusion. This section provides concluding remarks.

 

1.2.Meetings held

 

The Committee met on 07 and 21 September 2022 to consider the Addendum to the SAPS 2022/23 APP.

 

2.Revised 2022/23 targets in the Visible Policing Programme   

 

The Visible Policing Programme has a total of 24 performance indicators in 2022/23, of which five targets are amended as per the 2022/23 APP Addendum.

 

The changed targets in contact crimes are based on a significant increase in contact crimes recorded in 2021/22, compared to the previous financial year (2020/21). The targets include:

  1. Contact crimes (overall);

  2. Contact crimes at the Top 30 High Contact Crime Weight Stations;

  3. Contact crimes against women; and

  4. Contact crimes against children.

 

In addition, SAPS reduced the target for the number of cities/town in which the Safer Cities programme will be implemented during 2022/23. The downward adjustment is due to “financial constraints that do not allow for the allocation of funding to initiatives that do not provide direct benefits to citizens.”

 

The table below provides the original targets at the start of the 2022/23 financial year and the changes made in the Addendum.

 

Table 2: 2022/23 Original and revised targets of the Crime Prevention sub-programme

Percentage reduction in the number of reported contact crimes: The target is set at a reduction of 8.95% to 595 485 in 2022/23.

 

 

 

The changed target is based on the increase of contact crimes by 13.5% from 535 869 in 2020/21 to 608 059 in 2021/22.

 

The revised target is set at a reduction of 9.21% to 552 057 in 2022/23.

 

Percentage reduction in the number of reported contact crimes at the Top 30 High Contact Crime Weight Stations: The target is set at a reduction of 8.75% to 81 432 in 2022/23.

 

The changed target is based on the increase of contact crimes at the Top 30 stations by 11.1% from 76 940 in 2020/21 to 85 510 in 2021/22.

 

The revised target is set at a reduction of 8.18% to 78 515 in 2022/23.

 

Percentage reduction in the number of reported contact crimes against women (18 years and above): The target is set at a reduction of 7.2% to 151 338 in 2022/23.

 

 

The changed target is based on the increase in contact crimes against women by 2.0% from 172 535 in 2020/21 to 176 033 in 2021/22.

 

The revised target is set at a reduction of 9.17% to 159 891 in 2022/23.

 

Percentage reduction in the number of reported contact crimes against children (below 18 years): The target is set at a reduction of 6.7% to 33 929 in 2022/23.

 

The changed target is based on the increase of contact crimes against children by 1.5% from 38 050 in 2020/21 to 38 622 in 2021/22.

 

The revised target is set at a reduction of 7.36% to 35 779 in 2022/23.

Number of cities and towns in which the implementation of the Safer Cities Framework has been initiated: The Framework will be implemented in 20 cities/towns during 2022/23. 

 

The revised target is set to implement Safer Cities at 3 identified towns/cities in 2022/23.

 

Note: Implementation of the Safer Cities Framework is a MTSF Target

 

Source: SAPS 2022/23 APP and APP Addendum

 

3.Committee Observations

 

The Committee made the following observations during the consideration of the Addendum to the 2022/23 APP of the SAPS:

 

Members expressed concern that the revised target to implement the Safer Cities Framework in three cities will not be achieved even though it has been reduced significantly (from an original target of ten cities to three cities) in the Addendum and questioned the budget that has been allocated to the implementation of the Safer Cities Framework. In response, the SAPS indicated that the Framework was identified for implementation by the previous National Commissioner and during a review and reflection on the target (that took place on 19 April 2022), the SAPS decided to rather focus on a smaller number of cities to ensure the effective implementation of the Framework. The SAPS indicated that they are facing significant financial constraints and challenges with dependencies on other departments to implement the Framework.

 

Members raised concern about the possible neglect of rural police stations through the focus on cities in the Safer Cities Framework. Specific reference was made to the proliferation of firearms in rural areas and that policing is not visible enough in rural areas. Members referred to firearms being discharged at funerals and in taverns in rural areas and that these cases are not investigated.  In response, the SAPS stated that the Safer Cities Framework is implemented at District level and that rural stations located in the Districts also benefit from the interventions made through the Framework. The SAPS further stated that various interventions, specifically aimed at rural stations, are in place. The Minister of Police convened a Rural Safety Summit earlier this year (2022) in Parys, Free State Province. During the Summit, various stakeholders engaged on the implementation of the Rural Safety Strategy and raised policing challenges experienced in rural areas. Flowing from the Summit, an Integrated Committee was established to ensure the implementation of the Rural Safety Strategy and that it yields the necessary results. The Integrated Resource Management Strategy further ensures that rural police stations are adequately resourced. The SAPS has also put in place various initiates to address crime, including the identification of the National Top 30 and Provincial Top 20 police stations contributing to crime (especially contact crime), which included urban, rural and urban/rural mix police stations. Another initiative highlighted is visits to rural police stations by the Committee of Ministers and Members of the Executive Council of Provinces (MINMEC). During each such visit, approximately nine rural stations are visited to identify rural policing challenges. To date, these visits were done in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga. The SAPS indicated that this will also be rolled-out in other provinces.

 

Members raised concern about a reluctance or refusal at some police stations to register reported crimes, especially in terms of contact crime and sexual offences, in an effort to artificially show a reduction in the number of crimes registered. Members requested the SAPS to indicate what steps are taken to ensure that all crimes are registered, and correctly registered, to provide a truthful reflection of crime in South Africa.

 

In response, the SAPS stated that the correct reflection of recorded crime is ensured through the Department’s Combined Assurance approach and that partners, like the SAPS Inspectorate, Duty Officers and the Crime Registrar (amongst others) conduct regular inspections at police stations to ensure compliance. If any contraventions are found, serious disciplinary steps are taken against responsible police members. The SAPS indicated that specific initiatives to prevent repeat findings by the Auditor-General on contact crimes have been implemented, in which samples are selected to ensure that the case was correctly captured and registered at all levels, including Provincial and Station level.

 

The SAPS further indicated that there is ongoing training for various components including data capturing to ensure that cases and data are correctly captured. From a strategic perspective, it was mentioned that there have been various debates on the use of crime statistics to measure police performance and that this can lead to possible unintended consequences in the effort to reduce crime through the manipulation of crime statistics, rather than effective policing. Organisations such as the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), have suggested that the police should rather use the resolving of crime as a measure of success in reducing crime. The SAPS indicated that while instances do occur where cases are not captured at all, or incorrectly captured, there are reporting mechanisms to address these challenges. It was stated that data integrity and police integrity are very important to the Strategic Management Division of the SAPS and an offer was extended to Members (and the public) to report all such alleged manipulation/abuse directly the Office of the Head: Strategic Management.

 

 

4.Recommendations

 

The Portfolio Committee makes the following recommendations:

 

  1. The Committee recommends that the impact of the Safer Cities Framework must be measured and reported to the Committee.  

  2. The Committee recommends that the SAPS must continue to prioritise the specific policing needs in rural areas, especially the proliferation of firearms in these areas, and improve visible policing.

  3. The Committee recommends that the SAPS should consider the inclusion of outcome-based indicators to measure policing performance and not rely solely on crime statistics that are vulnerable to manipulation.

 

The SAPS must report progress on the implementation of the recommendations by 07 October 2022.

 

5.Conclusion

 

The Committee is grateful for the interaction with the Minister, the Deputy National Minister and the National Commissioner and his team to bring the required co-operation in this time and their contributions are valued.

 

The Committee will continue to monitor the SAPS implementation of its APP, and revised targets together with its budget spending. The Portfolio Committee on Police supports revised targets of the 2022/23 APP and recommends that it be adopted.

 

Political parties reserved rights with respect to the adoption of the report.

 

Report to be considered

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