Minister of Police (incl IPID and CSPS) Budget Speech, response by ACDP, FF+, DA, IFP & Al Jama-Ah
Briefing
23 May 2023
Watch: Mini-Plenary (Debate on Vote 28, 24 & 21)
BUDGET VOTE 28, 24 & 21 PRESENTATION: DEPARTMENT OF POLICE, IPID AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE CIVILIAN SECRETARIAT FOR POLICE SERVICE; DELIVERED BY THE MINISTER OF POLICE, GENERAL BHEKI CELE (MP) ON TUESDAY 23 MAY 2023
Honourable Chairperson;
Honourable Ministers;
Honourable Deputy Ministers;
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police; Ms Tina Joemat - Peterson and members of the Portfolio Committee;
Honourable MECs;
Members of Parliament;
National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola;
National Head of DPCI, Dr Adv Lt General Godfrey Lebeya
Acting Secretary of Police, Mr Takalani Ramaru;
Executive Director of IPID, Ms Dikeledi Ntlatseng;
PSiRA CEO Mr Manabela Chauke;
The leadership of organized labour;
Ministry of Police;
Ladies and gentlemen.
Sanibonani, Dumelang, Molweni, Ndimadekwana, Avuxeni, Good Afternoon.
Honourable Members, Today I present to this august house, the Policing Budget of the Republic of South Africa; that responds decisively to the ongoing outcry and complaints from fellow South Africans on the State of Crime in our country.
Today our budget presentation simply says - WE HAVE HEARD YOUR CRY - Therefore going forward our policing direction is continuing to respond decisively and vigorously to our constitutional mandate as outlined in Section 205:
“To prevent, combat and investigate crime, maintain public order, protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property, and to uphold and enforce the law”.
Hence our theme this year says “Combating Crime through Decisive Police Action and Robust Community involvement”
Honourable Chairperson this is being achieved through the following 10 policing commands.
1. INCREASED CRIME PREVENTION AND COMBATTING ACTION PLAN
2. COMMUNITY MOBILISATION AND THE RESOURCING OF THE CPFS
3. SAPS RECRUITMENT AND EXPANSION INTERVENTIONS
4. CAPACITATION OF DETECTIVES, DPCI AND OTHER SPECIALISED OPERATIONAL UNITS
5. GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND FEMICIDE AND IMPROVEMENTS OF THE DNA PROCESSING
6. WELLNESS, DISCIPLINE AND IMPROVED POLICE MORALE
7. ENHANCED POLICING TECHNOLOGY AND 4IR
8. POLICE VISIBILITY, MOBILITY AND RAPID RESPONSE
9. BUILDING OF POLICE STATIONS
10. THE WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT AND WHOLE OF SOCIETY APPROACH IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME
1. INCREASED CRIME PREVENTION AND COMBATING ACTION PLAN
Honourable Members,
Crime Prevention and Combating are being immensely increased during this financial year going forward.
The SAPS management have adopted a vigorous action plan that’s ensuring the Streets and Highways of this country are saturated with ongoing weekly High Density Operations.
These operations will sweep the streets and sanitise communities from criminality.
Chairperson, The SAPS has unleashed a Nationwide disruptive armed intervetions called “OPERATION SHANELA”
This includes intelligence led disruptive operations, tracking and tracing of wanted suspects as well as the removal of illegal firearms.
This approach is being intensified over weekends as directed by the Crime trends and recording thereof.
Sihlalo, Yebo sicela umphakathi ubambisane namaphoyisa, ukuSHANELA bonke ubungebengu obuhlasele umzansi Afrika.
Provincial Commissioners ARE leading from the front, station commanders ARE leading from the front; and the National Management ARE joining forces on the ground.
This year we say, Action! Action! Action!
SHANELA Phoyisa!
SHANELA Mphakathi!
Phezu kwazo izigebengu Maphoyisa!
Let us ALL sweep away criminality by Combating crime through Decisive Police Action and Robust Community involvement.
In this regard, weekly meetings led by the executive are running concurrently to monitor progress of these operations and provide support and leadership to ensure that we respond accordingly to the outcry by the fellow citizens of this country.
Ø Provinces with the highest incidence of reported crime, have been prioritized in terms of the allocation of baseline budgets.This also ensures the prioritization and resourcing of the top 30 high contact crime stations in the country. An additional amount of R65 million is allocated to the provinces.
Ø The strengthening and capacitation of Tactical Response Teams (TRT) at high crime stations are being prioritised with the objective of policing high-crime areas and providing a rapid response capability to local crime fighting capabilities.
The intervetion of the TRT at local level, has been demanded by communities and the SAPS is responding accordingly with a thousand members being trained.
Ø Specialised tracking teams are enhanced and members trained further at provincial and district level to effectively track and apprehend offenders.
Ø The SAPS adopted the National Policing Strategy (NPS) in 2022–2023 in an effort to combat the country's identified crime threats. This includes threats to the authority of the state, territorial integrity, the economy, and the well-being of South Africans.
Ø Specific emphasis is placed on the stabilisation of crime in identified high-crime areas, tackling murders, police murders, corruption, extortion, kidnapping, illegal mining, illicit economy, economic sabotage and damage to critical infrastructure.
Part of the Combating pillar of the action plan is the reduction of Murder and attempted murder. The proliferation of firearms in the country remains a challenge, hence the response plan is aimed at addressing the challenges within the Central Firearms Registry and tracing illegal firearms.
The police are finalising a plan to tighten its internal controls and electronically tag all state issued arms.
Ø R20 million is allocated in addition for activities regarding firearm licensing, compliance and enforcement of the Firearms Control Act.
At the beginning of the 2022/2023 financial year, there were 74 633 applications for firearm licences that had been carried over from the 2021/2022 financial year.
The backlog of new firearm licensing applications decreased by 88.41% from 74 633 in the fourth quarter of the 2021/2022 fiscal year to 8,646 in the fourth quarter of the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
Over the current Medium Term Expenditure Framework period (2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years), the SAPS total expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 3,9%.
This is from R102.6 billion in the 2022/23 financial year to R114,9 billion in the 2025/26 financial year.
This is mainly due to the allocation of additional funding of R5,8 billion over the MTEF period to fund the carry through costs of the previous year’s salary adjustments. R7, 8 billion for strengthening capacity at police stations.
This funding also provides for costs associated with training, operational equipment, and the payment of monthly stipends to trainees and their salaries once they are absorbed.
The Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) has ushered in various rigorous and robust enforcement compliance strategies, this includes the promotion of better firearms management by security companies. There is no doubt, this reduces the proliferation of firearms in line with the Africa Agenda 2063 to reduce the flow of guns in Africa.
Ø PSiRA has established a Firearm Enforcement Unit responsible for investigating cases of non-compliance with the PSiRA Act and Firearm Control Act within the private security industry.
Ø To this effect, PSiRA seeks to enforce compliance of all withdrawn or liquidated security companies licensed to possess firearms.
2. COMMUNITY MOBILISATION AND THE RESOURCING OF CPF
In realising the theme for this year of “Combating Crime through Decisive Police Action and Robust Community involvement”
Policing Communities and Policing WITH Communities, remains the backbone of our policing direction going forward.
We therefore call upon communities to embrace and throw their full weight behind the police, to turn the tide of crime and create safer communities.
Honourable chairperson, to this end, R70 million is allocated to the provinces to support Community Police Forums in terms of resource requirements.
This funding is assisting the CPFs with resources such as vehicles, laptops, torches, reflective jackets and other tools of trade.
In addition to the above, R5 million is also provided for community interaction in terms of Izimbizo, awareness campaigns, summits and conferences.
In this regard, the Police have concluded a three-day CPF Policing Indaba hosted in Pretoria last week, where a significant way forward and program of action was adopted to strengthen community participation in the fight againt crime.
3. SAPS RECRUITMENT AND EXPANSION INTERVENTIONS
Honourable Members, During the 2022 MTEF budget, additional funding of R 5,7 billion was allocated to SAPS that allowed the Department to enlist 12 000 employees to maintain the staff establishment at 179 502 employees in total.
A total of 10 000 police trainees have been enlisted in the 2023/24 financial year with the additional funds allocated in the previous and current budget allocation to SAPS. A total of 10 000 police trainees will be recruited annually for the next two financial years which will bring a total of 30 000 new police recruits in the MTSF period.
We are calling on all South Africans from all walks of life to join the SAPS. The Police service remains an organisationcof choice for all South Africans, regardless of colour race or creed.
4. CAPACITATION OF DETECTIVES, DPCI AND OTHER SPECIALISED OPERATIONAL UNITS
Chairperson, the Detective environment remains critical in the investigation of crime and overall improvement within the Criminal Justice System of this country.
In this regard the action plan rigorously addresses the state of the Detectives to improve the detection rate and finalisation of the caseload per detective at station level.
This includes a progressive retention and promotional strategy in this regard.
A significant portion of more than 20% of the overall police budget is allocated to the detective services. While, 28.8% or 2 880 of the 10 000 new police trainees are intended to capacitate detective services in SAPS.
To further boost the investigative capacity of the SAPS, the police management is re-enlisting and inviting back experienced members of the service in good standing, who can contribute to the detective service, following the necessary three months training.
Capacitation of Crime Intelligence remains a priority; while the strengthening of functionalities pertaining to cybercrime and specialised multi-disciplinary units, are equally prioritised.
In our efforts to continue with the implementation of the Farlam Commission recommendation tabled, funding has been set aside to continue to capacitate the existing Public Order Policing units (POP).
To date, an additional 4000 POP members have been trained and deployed to various provinces, to address crowd management.
Honourable members, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) baseline allocation is sustained during this financial year.
Strengthening the capacity of the DPCI continues to yield positive results in the investigation of high profile cases.
Currently, there are initiatives to address the deficiencies that were identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that are aimed at accelerating the implementation of FATF standards and methodologies within SAPS.
The FATF recommendations place emphasis on attending to money laundering and terror financing. The DPCI in consultation with key role players which are;
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA),
Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), and
State Security Agency (SSA), have compiled an action plan for implementation in the first quarter of 2023/2024 to deal with the recommendations of FATF.
Meanwhile, The DPCI have 51 case dockets and Enquiries on hand from which 26 arrests relating to the State Capture were effected.
While the cases emanating from July unrest have not yet been concluded in court, 65 accused are being considered for additional charge of Terrorism.
The DPCI is working with detectives, Crime Intelligence and the National Prosecuting Authority to bring the cases to their logical conclusion.
Moreover, of the 149 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases investigated by contracted former police officers.
81 inquests have been enrolled while 15 dockets have been sent to the NPA for decision, three criminal cases are in court and the rest have been finalised.
The Hawks’ National Head Office established a National Clean Audit Task Team (NCATT) to specifically deal with fraud, corruption, money laundering, and contraventions of the Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003, in identified municipalities.
During the investigations, more that R54 million of asset restraint and recoveries have been effected with a total of 81 individuals and a total of nine entities arrested in provinces.
Chairperson, The Hawks continues to make serious inroads in dismantling of drug syndicates. To this end, the Serious Organised Crime Investigation registered 20 projects which saw 27 drug laboratories discovered and dismantled and 45 individuals arrested. They also registered five projects to deal with illegal mining where property worth R13 million was preserved.
In the last financial year , the Hawks arrested 339 suspects for precious metals and diamonds. They also secured convictions on 92 accused persons. As an example, I shall reflect on the following three cases:
TWENTY ONE (21) ILLEGAL MINERS ARRESTED
In October 2022 at a mine shaft in Stilfontein.
15 AK47s, 6 hunting rifles, shotguns and an R5 rifle, thousands of ammunition, explosives and cash were seized. The accused are appearing in court again on 31 May 2023.
EIGHTY SEVEN (87) ILLEGAL MINERS SENTENCED –
During the operation in Orkney , a shoot-out between the police and the illegal miners ensued, resulting in six illegal miners being fatally wounded and eight injured.
All the accused remained in custody since their arrest. In March 2023, they were sentenced to a six hundred and ninety six (696) years imprisonment by the Stilfontein Regional Court.
KINGPINS ARRESTED FOR ILLEGAL MINING ACTIVITIES,
In Khutsong and Carltonville, Gauteng, The seven suspects alleged to have been buying gold bearing materials from the Zama Zamas, process it and sell it to the next level in the hierarchy. The case is still at court.
5. GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND FEMICIDE AND IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DNA PROCESSING
Honourable members, the status of the historic DNA backlog was at 241 152 cases in the first quarter of the 2021/2022 financial year.
As of today the DNA backlog is at 636 which is a reduction of 99.70%.
The Biology environment of the SAPS received and registered 398 439 new case exhibits and finalised 525 538 case exhibits during the 2022/23 financial year.
The finalisation rate has increased progressively from 21% in the 2021/22 financial year to over 131% at the end of the 2022/23 financial year.
The SAPS is also implementing similar measures and turnaround strategies to tackle delays in processing of Ballistic and Chemistry samples.
Since the establishment of the project, in conjunction with the NPA in July 2021, a total of 31 259 Gender Based Violence and Femicide related court ready cases have been successfully enrolled.
In order to further increase SAPS’ forensic investigation footprint, in the country, a newly refurbished and expanded Forensic Laboratory is to be opened by his Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa in Gqeberha soon.
The investigtaive footprint is resulting in the revamping of the Forensic Laboratory to a world class lab in the KwaZulu-Natal province.
An action plan has been developed that aims to respond to crimes related to GBVF, vulnerable groups and sexual offences. This plan also focuses on the resourcing of FCS units, both at national and provincial level with a total of R1,3 billion for both proactive and reactive responses to these crimes;
An additional amount of R100 million is allocated to provinces, for prioritization of GBVF response and the strengthening of FCS units.
6. WELLNESS DISCIPLINE AND IMPROVED POLICE MORALE
Honourable members, Improving the police service through skills development is being prioritised.
The Department is putting in place a number of interventions in addition to the annual cost-of-living adjustment to enhance the working conditions for employees.
Employees are having the chance to advance in their careers and increase their earning potential, thanks to promotions and grade progression.
To enhance the overall compensation package for the impacted employees, allowances in particular environments are also reviewed.
The multi-year SSSBC agreement signed with organised labour in 2018 on the backlog of employees to qualify for grade progression, was honoured and concluded in 2022.
Since then, more than 58 000 employees; Constable, Sergeant and Warrant Officer levels were promoted in terms of this grade progression process.
SAPS has reprioritised funding and human resource activities in order to fund an increase in the service allowance.
The SAPS service allowance has therefore increased from R400 per month to R700 per month.
Honourable Members, this increase is a major shift from the service allowance which had remained unchanged since the dawn of democracy.
Now more funding is prioritised from the current baselineand this will be reviewed on a regular basis in consultation with labour.
Furthermore, Discipline remains crucial in maintaining the decorum, founding principles and values of policing, that is entrenched in the discipline regulations and the Code of Conduct.
The SAPS officers involved in corruption are subjected to enhanced disciplinary measures to ensure that they are held accountable for their actions and to prevent any further corruption within the SAPS.
In order to effectively manage disciplinary processes, awareness-raising measures are put into place and specialised disciplinary units are established at the national and provincial levels.
Honourable Members, in advancing efforts of institutionalising discipline in the police - equally, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) remains a significant oversight body as mandated by Section 206 (6) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
The existence of IPID aims to ensure that the police execute their mandate within the ambits of the law. The IPID continues to operate independently while ensuring that their approach in executing their mandate, is corrective and not punitive.
The amendment of the IPID Act is underway and the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS) led by the Ministry, ensures that the process of the passing of the Act is concluded before the end of the 6th administration.
Meanwhile, consequence management is implemented decisively to managers that are not fit for purpose.
We call on the National Commissioner to be firm and decisive on senior police members and officers at all levels, who are compromising and undermining concerted efforts to fight crime.
This includes the weakest links in the service delivery value chain, at all levels.
7. ENHANCED POLICING TECHNOLOGY AND 4IR
The SAPS continues to invest in the acquisition of appropriate technology for the use in crime prevention, criminal investigation and intelligence.
This includes the purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and body-worn camerasnas well as Shot Spotters in high density crime areas.
To date, the SAPS is training more officers to be licensed to fly drones and including the recruitment of pilot interns, to fully capacitate the environment.
Honourable members - allow me to take this opportunity and thank Parliament for passing the relevant legislation on the usage of Interception and surveillance devices that have been gazzetted.
Private Sector Partnerships aimed at improving policing is also being intensified as part of the response plan to prevent and combat crime. The existing collaboration in other provinces is yielding positive results.
Chairperson, Police Stations remain our critical point of service delivery and therefore improvements in this area is being prioritised. In this regard, we are pleased to announce the new innovation championed by SAPS Western Cape called ‘RATE OUR SERVICE’
This initiative is being rolled out nationally during this financial year. Going forward we want to hear about your experience at police stations through a digital client satisfaction survey, ‘Rate our Service’.
The results from the survey are to be used to enhance service delivery and to ensure that the public receives the best possible experience at our police stations.
Additionlly, R25 million is also allocated to the provinces for the enhancements to safeguard police stations.
We call on police to be more vigilant as police attacks and killings are on the increase. We also urge communities to support police safety initiatives.
8.POLICE VISIBILITY, MOBILITY AND RAPID RESPONSE
Chairperson, Departmental spending over the medium term is in relation to the core programmes with Visible Policing consisting of more than 51% of the total Vote in 2023/24.
The SAPS has been allocated more than R1,8 billion for the procurement of transport assets, such as vehicles, trucks, buses, depending on the availability in the market.
Meanwhile, another area to contribute to improved service delivery is the Rapid Response capacity and accessibility of policing services.
To address this challenge the Capacitation of frontline services also includes bolstering operations at 10111 call centres.
During the State of Nation Address, on 10 February 2023, His Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa, issued a call to action noting that we use our competitiveness in Call Centre operations to support the proper functioning of the 10111 Command Centres, partnering with the private sector.”
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has therefore, through the announcement of the President, engaged with the Office of the Presidency to explore the opportunities that Operation Vulindlela can provide, in addressing some of the implementation reforms.
Developing appropriate solutions requires a multi-stakeholder approach, therefore a team, consisting of officials from Operation Vulindlela, the SAPS, and Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA), are in the process of addressing the challenges regarding the 10111 Command Centres.
A proposal has already been approved, which consists of three phases and work is already underway to improve the functioning of the 10111 command centres.
Ø Phase 1- Diagnostic -Assess the extent of IT system challenges, and prescribe world class solutions to addressing them
Ø Phase 2- Planning- Approve and plan for implementing recommendations made in the diagnostic
Ø Phase 3 - Implementation -Roll out approved plan and monitor its execution.
SAPS has prioritised the 10111 centres and capacitating the centres with 98 supervisory posts that were advertised and filled on 1 June 2022 and by directing 535 of the 10 000 new police trainees to this function.
In order to enhance effectiveness of the SAPS garages, the function has been decentralised to provinces to ensure management and interventions on local level and not from a national level.
This can ensure a quick turn around time in the fixing of police vehicles, that contribute effectively towards police visibility; with more vehicles on patrol.
9. BUILDING OF POLICE STATIONS
More than R1 billion is allocated for the construction and upgrading of police stations. In addition to that, R30 million is allocated for the procurement and conversion of vehicles to ensure that more mobile Community Service Centres are available to the community.
Malunga ahloniphekile ephalamende.
During this financial year, we aim to embark on a programme of handing over to communities; the newly built police stations in the following areas:
1. Moeka Vuma - North West
2. Mabeskraal - North West
3. Zeerust - North West
4. Chatty - Eastern Cape
5. Qhasa - Eastern Cape
6. Osuthu - KwaZulu - Natal
7. Gamalakhe - KwaZulu - Natal
8. Donnybrook - KwaZulu - Natal
9. Melmoth - KwaZulu - Natal
10. Sawoti - KwaZulu - Natal
11. Emanguzi - KwaZulu - Natal
12. Mphephu (Dzanani) - Limpopo
13. Reimvasmaak - Northern Cape
Sihlalo, Sibuyisela okwabantu kubantu …
10. THE WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT AND WHOLE OF SOCIETY APPROACH IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME
Honourable members - Fighting crime must be intensfied through government cluster work, facilitating legislative reform to strengthen law and order.
This speaks to the “WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT AND WHOLE OF SOCIETY” approach to crime and violence prevention in the country; as championed by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service.
The Cabinet-approved Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy (ICVPS) continues to play a fundamental role in directing our efforts in this regard.
The strategy rests on 6 pillars:
1. Effective Criminal Justice System.
2. Early Intervention
3. Victim support
4. Effective and intergrated service delivery for safety security and violence prevention
5. Safety through environmental design
6. Active public and community participation.
To this end, we call upon national, provincial and local governments to address the needs of the citizens of this country.
Fix the potholes, build habitable human settlements, provide water, electricity and sanitation.
Invest in proper environmental design and let us work together with our communities In Combating Crime through Decisive Police Action and Robust Community involvement”
The National Development Plan, Vision 2030, sets out a vision for safer communities, recognising the need to address the drivers of crime and violence, such as alcohol, illegal firearms, drugs and gangsterism - and acknowledging that crime and violence prevention is not the sole responsibility of the SAPS.
This multidisciplinary approach must involve all sectors of society, including, inter alia, key business industries, such as, the banking, transportation and consumer goods industries, led by an effective Criminal Justice System, which must deliver quality and professional services in an integrated, coordinated, effective and efficient manner.
Chairperson,
I present to you the South African Police Service Budget Vote 28 for the financial year 2023/24 to the amount of R102, 137 billion;
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate Budget Vote 24 to the amount of R357 million
The Department of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service Budget Vote 21 to the amount of R 150, 489 million.
CONCLUSION
Lastly, may I take this opportunity to thank the Deputy Minister of Police Mr Cassel Mathale, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ms Tina Joemat-Peterson and members of the Portfolio Committee, the National Commissioner of the SAPS General Fannie Masemola, his management team and all SAPS members, the Ministry of Police – Chief of Staff Ms Nonkululeko Phokane and her team, Acting Secretary of Police Mr Takalani Ramaru and his team. The Executive Director of IPID Ms Dikeledi Ntlatseng and her team, the CEO of PSIRA Mr Manabela Chauke and his team, the National Head of DPCI Dr/ Lt General Godfrey Lebeya and his team, The Acting Chairperson of the DNA Board Mr Raymond Sono and the team, the Chairperson of the Firearms Appeals Board Ms Lungelo Shandu and her team and most importantly, my lovely wife Mrs Thembeka Cele and our family for the unwavering support in executing my duties in this portfolio.
I THANK YOU.
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Input of the Deputy Minister of Police, Honourable Cassel Mathale at the occasion of Budget Vote Debate 2023/2024 National Assembly, Cape Town 23 May 2023
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Honourable Chairperson; Minister of Police, Honourable Bheki Cele Honourable Ministers in attendance; Honourable Deputy Ministers; Chairperson of the portfolio committee on police and members of the Portfolio Committee; Honourable MECs present; Members of Parliament; Senior Managers of the South African Police Service Heads of entities; Ministry of Police; Distinguished guests; Ladies and gentlemen; Thanks for this opportunity to deliver this inputs to our budget vote, which is taking place in the midst of our continued efforts to find new and innovative interventions to discharge our enormous responsibility of keeping our nation safe. We remain fully aware of the pressing obligation to continue pursuing every effort that will realise a crime-free South Africa, where the populace and everyone within our borders will live without fear of being attacked or becoming victim of criminality, where our women and children do not live in fear of falling victim to Gender-Based violence and Femicide. Honourable Members; This year’s budget vote is held post the stormiest years of our recent history. Just as we thought we were emerging from the devastating consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic and the commensurate lockdown that affected not only the economy but the nature and focus of policing, we found some provinces of the country engulfed by floods, civil unrest and many other unexpected turn of events. As a result of several unexpected turn of events that are usually out of our control, we find ourselves in a predicament of multi-chalenges as a country, aggravated by the impact of the electricity crisis on the economy and on the safety of our communities. The underlying paradox of it all is that irrespective of the nature of these challenges, the inability to adequately address them from a socio-economic perspective, results in these ultimately becoming a safety and security problem in one way or another. This complexity requires that our approaches and interventions - to enhance policing and promote safety in communities be intensified, multi-pronged, and intergrated. Effective policing always requires the involvement and collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including the security industry, the business sector, all government institutions and most importantly, our communities. I must indicate that community and stakeholder engagement in crime prevention and combating are not new concepts within government or the Police environment. We have over the years belaboured the point that we need all hands on deck if we are to win the battle against crime – and we have seen that within the areas where communities are actively collaborating with the police, crime reduces considerably. We are continuing to encourage intensified involvement of the community, with the plea that you cannot sit with information that will make your own community safer and ensure that your children can enjoy all the rights and privileges bestowed upon them by the Constitution. Honourable Members, Crime has a severe impact on the quality of life of all South Africans, particularly the poor. High levels of crime also affect efforts to stimulate growth, increase investment and reduce poverty. As you are all aware, investment and growth require a safe, stable and crime-free environment. Most importantly, it is fundamental to the aspirations of all people to live in security, peace comfort and prosperity. It is with this in mind that police visibility, effective training and better resourcing of police stations are government’s priorities. Let me at this point applaud President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visionary decision to continue to direct significant resources and effort to fight crime and keep communities around the country safe, despite the shrinking government purse. This will indeed go a long way in increasing police visibility on our streets and thereby act as a further deterrent to criminal activities, especially in crime hotspots. Minister has spoken to the 12 000 new police trainees that have been recruited to ensure that the South African Police Service (SAPS) urgently gets the capacity it needs. This additional personnel will assist SAPS to, in addition to the priorities that Minister mentioned earlier, strengthen its response to the growing problem of criminal groups that extort money from construction and other businesses. Of late, there has been a growing outcry of these extortion groups demanding protection fees even from people letting their own back rooms as a source of livelihood. We are determined not to allow these to disrupt the lives of South African citizens, hence there has been, amongst others, collaborative efforts between the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority directed at combating these crimes of economic disruption. Pursuant to Cabinet intervention and having realised the extent to which crime and inadequate security contributed to Eskom challenges, the Government has implemented the following interventions:
These planned operations and executed actions are focussed on combatting crime incidents at ESKOM sites and other associated electrical infrastructure in an attempt to secure the power grid. A total of 461 ESKOM case dockets were opened related to illegal and unregulated coal and fuel-yards, in Partnership with the Departments of Fisheries, Forestry and Environmental Affairs (DFFE) and Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). The SAPS Organised Crime Unit and the DPCI jointly reported a total of 120 dockets that were registered, which resulted in 98 arrests from January this year to date. Honourable Members; Despite all our efforts to reduce crime in South Africa, it remains a challenge and keeps changing form. Criminals have no prescripts to adhere to and can change their modus operandi as their situations demand. This therefore implores the SAPS to develop more versatile modes of operation as well, including exploring and exploiting technology that can assist us. As the leadership of SAPS we have taken a decisive action to ensure that we procure the necessary technology that will improve policing in general. POLICE KILLINGS As our committed and dedicated police officers continue to execute their duties with vigour and diligence, they face the reality that they may leave their homes and never return. Our men and women in blue continue to lose their lives to unscrupulous criminals, leaving behind a trail of broken hearts, broken homes and broken children. In the financial year ending on 31 March, instant, a total of 92 police officers were murdered on and off duty. Although this is a decrease from the previous year, which saw 110 police officers killed, it is still an unacceptably high number and shows a very serious disregard of our law enforcement efforts. We cannot allow criminals to undermine government without serious repercussions. We have also seen a total of seven police stations that were attacked during the 2022/23 financial year. Again there is a decrease of one compared to the previous year but it is still not acceptable. In this regard, a comprehensive Police Safety Strategy has been developed and is being implemented nationally through a multidisciplinary approach in order to mitigate the risk of police attacks and killings as well as the attacks on police stations. In addition, a National Police Safety Committee has been established at national level to monitor the implementation of the Police Safety Strategy. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION TO FIGHT CRIME We have of-course, long heeded the President’s call to enhance the functioning of Community Policing Forums (CPFs) in a manner that will allow our citizens to trust and rely on the protection of the State. Last year, we reported on the directive for both the CSPS and the SAPS to work together and prioritise the development of a model that will provide relevant resources to better equip the CPFs to carry out their activities as a key crime combatting resource on the ground. As you have been informed by the Minister, this has yielded positive results and about R70 million rand has been made available for the resourcing of CPFs. We are aware that this will not be sufficient for the payment of stipends and other necessities but it is a step in the right direction. Allow me at this point to applaud the great work that is done by members of the CPFs in different areas. In some communities, you find CPF Members who wake up every morning to walk community members to and from their transportation stops to prevent them from being attacked. They do this, without any compensation. The goal is to intensify efforts to improve community policing, focussing on the mobilisation of the community in order to improve visibility particularly in high crime areas. We remain resolute to achieve our target. Last week, we had a Community Policing Indaba held in Pretoria over a period of 3 days, where we critically assessed the working and challenges of the CPF. The Indaba resolved that there is a need to strengthen CPFs and its collaboration with other legitimate crime fighting structures. The need to ensure that CPFs are properly resourced was also raised sharply. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMMES (IZIMBIZO) As a government of the people by the people for the people, we continue to listen to our people that have entrusted us with the mandate to lead them. We are therefore continuing to strengthen our outreach programmes in partnership with the CSPS and other stakeholders, under the stewardship of the SAPS Visible Policing. Our direct interaction with our people through Izimbizo affords us an opportunity to understand various difficulties and challenges affecting our communities, while allowing them to also share their proposed solutions to their challenges. We do not want these engagements to be mere talk shows, therefore we are ensuring that issues raised by community members are correctly recorded and followed-up. We have ensured regular meetings to monitor progress made on issues raised by the community members until closure of each case. We are also revamping the format of Izimbizo by also including career expositions, “public education” on the processes and functioning of the criminal justice system as a whole, as well as bringing other government services to our communities, especially in far-flung areas. Recently during our Imbizo in Ga-Mothiba in Limpopo held 2 days ago, we partnered with the Reserve Bank in the endeavour to educate the public on the new banknotes to ensure that they are not subjected to fake notes. In consideration of the increasing incidents of crime and violence amongst our youth, and as part of our School and Campus Safety Strategy, we are intensifying our safety and security interventions, especially in Institutions of Higher Learning, in partnership with the Department of Higher Education and Training. Training will be provided to the institutions management and student structure. We will also establish safety structures and student care centres to support students who are victims of crime, especially Gender-Based Violence. As we keep to this year’s theme of “Combating Crime through Decisive Police Action and Robust Community involvement”, we are getting hard at work. Policies and strategies are in place, work of rebuilding our country through improving and strengthening our service delivery mechanisms has already started, but we know a lot still awaits us. We can comfortably stand in front of you today and state with certainty that we know what lies ahead and as the Ministry and the family of the South African Police Service, we are ready for the task at hand and we further invite everyone to join in our determination to fight crime. OVERSIGHT INSTITUTIONS Chairperson; As we chart forward with our continued efforts to improve the safety and security of our communities, we do not take lightly the contributions of our internal and independent structures intended to ensure checks and balances. We remain alert to the need for us to continue to rebuild our police service and restore trust and pride in the service. By its nature, the policing or law enforcement environment lends itself to an imbalanced exercise or execution of power. Necessary as this maybe, it needs to be balanced in one way or the other. We have therefore ensured that we establish internal oversight institutions, which are part of the SAPS family but are tasked with independently maintaining oversight, checks and balances over SAPS as well as ensuring monitoring and evaluation of its interventions and impact. These institutions are aimed at providing the Ministry and SAPS Management with independent, objective assurance, advice and evaluation designed to add value to and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our interventions and operations. These internal institutions include the SAPS Inspectorate, the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS) and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), amongst others. All of these need proper resourcing to function optimally. We acknowledge the high vacancy rate within the IPID and we have urged the management to urgently address the issue. DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT MODEL The President introduced the District Development Model (DDM) to bring all three spheres of government together with other social partners in every district to grow inclusive local economies and improve the lives of citizens. In particular, the DDM facilitates integrated planning and budgeting across spheres of government and improves integration of national projects at a district level. SAPS has received this concept positively and has understood its value-add. To this date, over and above appointing District Commissioners, a National Steering Committee has been established to coordinate and drive SAPS participation in all DDMs. We are fighting and pushing back criminals in order to protect our people and their respective properties. People must be discouraged to leave this country because of criminals. Instead, we must jointly assist each other in fighting these criminals for we have no option but to win. South Africa will never become a lawless country, never. As I conclude, allow me to express my sincere gratitude to the effervescent and ever-ready Portfolio Committee for their guidance as well as constructive criticism and contribution to our work. I would also like to thank Minister Bheki Cele who is forever steadfast in pursuing criminality and crime in our country. My gratitude also goes to the staff in my office, the IPID, CSPS, the DNA Board, management of PSIRA, the SAPS Management and finally my wife. Thanks. |