Draft White Paper on Safety & Security: discussion

Meeting report

SAFETY & SECURITY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE; SECURITY & JUSTICE SELECT COMMITTEE: JOINT MEETING
21 August 1998
DRAFT WHITE PAPER ON SAFETY & SECURITY: DISCUSSION

Document handed out:(See Appendix)

Draft White Paper on Safety & Security with proposals incorporated

Party position papers on the Draft White Paper on Safety & Security:

African National Congress (ANC) [Appendix 1]

Democratic Party (DP) [Appendix 2]

Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) [Appendix 3]

National Party (NP) [Appendix 4]

 

Ms Daniels, from the Secretariat of Safety and Security, presented a version of the draft White Paper which incorporated most of the proposals that were made by the public, including those made by political parties.

The floor was opened for discussions. Issues raised:
Mr Surty (ANC) said that there was no reference to organised crime in the Paper and that the White Paper needed to mention the need for regional and international support in combatting organised crime syndicates.

Mr Moosa (Chairperson of Security and Justice Select Committee) said that the relationship with the MECs and provincial commissioners needed to be strengthened. Also, Moosa criticised the urban bias in the Paper and stressed the need for an emphasis on security in rural areas and how crime should be combated. Furthermore, the Paper failed to mention in-house security and how that should be regulated and the control of arms and ammunition.

Mr Groenewald (FF) said there was a need for stability and that this needs to be reflected in the Paper. This, he argued, could be achieved through the co-ordination of other departments in assisting the police, e.g. the SANDF. Mr Groenewald further suggested that a tough approach to corruption within the police was needed. A structure independent from the police service would be required such as an FBI-type agency. He also suggested that the ICD should be come more independent of the Department of Safety and Security

Mr Molekane (Chairperson of Safety and Security Portfolio Committee) said that information technology within the police service had to be improved in the context of the Integrated Justice System and this had to be acknowledged in the White Paper.

Procedural points were made:
- Costing of the implementation of the White Paper
- Short, medium and long term plan for the implementation of the White Paper

Ms Daniels responded as follows to the issues raised:
Regarding implementation of the White Paper, within 6 months the short, medium and long term plan would be formulated by the Secretariat. Costing would also be done in the forthcoming months.

Concerning Mr Surty's suggestion, Ms Daniels said that the White Paper would reflect the need for regional and international support in combating organised crime.

With regard to stability, Ms Daniels said that the White Paper will mention that partnerships need to be solidified.

Ms Daniels continued by saying that the issue surrounding MECs was not clear in the ANC's submission. Hence the department was unable to reflect those sentiments in the document before the committee.

Regarding the independence of the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), it was stated that the ICD should remain the way it is.

Ms Daniels said that an audit was being done presently about in-house security.

National Assembly will debate the amended draft White Paper on 25 August and the two committees will finalise the draft White Paper on 31 August.

Appendix 1:

PRELIMENARY SUBMISSION OF THE ANC ON THE DRAFT WHITE PAPER ON SAFETY & SECURITY

The ANC welcomes the draft white paper on Safety & Security. This policy initiative comes at a time when our country is in great need for more lasting and resilient mechanisms to combat crime. We see the Draft White Paper as a another step in our war against crime, following as it does from the National Crime Prevention Strategy and the many legislative and programmatic interventions that our government have launched.

While we agree with the many provisions and the general outline and direction that the D.W.P takes there are a few issues that we want to highlight and hope that they should be included in the White Paper, these include the following:

· The Draft White Paper does not say anything about the Philosophy of Community Policing as was contained in the Green Paper. We believe that in the introduction this point must be highlighted - that this is the background/bedrock on which the entire DWP is based upon.

· The D.W.P does not say much about the policy environment outside the department of safety and security for example - the White Paper on Transformation of the Public Service and other such government policy documents that have a bearing on safety & security. We believe that these should be mentioned and their implications for this sector examined, once this is done then we can be able to look at Human Resources issues and representivity within SAPS from where we are to where we want to go.

· The DWP does not say anything about crimes of greed/ white collar crimes, it only talks about law enforcement as a deterrent to these forms of crime and not how to prevent these. We believe that we must say something about Prevention of these crimes and not only talk social crime prevention.

· The DWP should also allude to the International nature of crime and indicate our role in its prevention and combating.

· We believe that in diagram 2 in column that deals with "who is responsible" under the criminal justice system we should include welfare and under social crime prevention we should include either CPF'S or Crime Prevention Forum or Criminal Justice Forum depending on which structure shall be agreed upon later

· On Policy Priority: Law Enforcement, we believe that something must be said about the present structural organisation and the reason why we want to achieve this goal, further more we want to emphasise the role of good reliable independent Crime Intelligence Component for the gathering, analysis and dissemination as our basis for good detective work and in itself a preventative measure.

· We believe that a separate Policy position should be developed to examine in more detail the role of local rural government policing in consultation with the department of Constitutional Affairs Local Government.

For the purposes of this Policy the local governments should be encouraged through their standing committee to participate jointly with either the area commissioner or local Station Commissioner to be a part of the policing structures and oversight structure as well. The establishment of Local Government Crime Prevention Forums its role, powers and composition is unclear especially in relation to CPF's. It does not take into account a lot of factors on the ground i.e. Local Government are not organized in the same way and do not cover same areas as police stations do, secondly in some areas there are LDF's that also look at crime prevention issues. There is need for further discussion on this.

Role of CPF'S

· The ANC believe that CPF'S play an important role in communities and that they have built the spirit of voluntarism and community participation in the war on crime.

· We believe that the absence of uniformity in application of guidelines in setting them up is a serious short-coming and should be rectified by introduction within Secretariats of a CPF monitoring and Assistance Directorate that will direct and assist CPF's.

· CPF's roles, function and powers should be strengthened to include issues of fundraising on behalf of stations and crime prevention programmes etc.

· We also believe that the responsibility of CPF's should be expanded to include oversight of the Courts and Correctional Services and Municipal Police where they exist.

Other Issues

· The DWP should also say something about the role and restructuring of the Reservist and about voluntarism

· It must also say something about the Private Security Companies

· It must also express an opinion about the Military role in maintaining law and order in support of the police it should say something about the Language Policy especially in training and communication.

· It must also say something about International Co-operation

· The issue of sharing of the burden need to be more carefully drafted and explained so that it is very clear and does not send wrong signals

· The DWP emphasise on visible policing is confined to the urban areas we believe that there should be some mention of rural areas and role of tribal police.

· The DWP should take into account the role of the victim and his/her needs especially when sentencing is done. At the same time Police as victims and the role that volunteers and internal systems can play for counseling should be made.

· In section 3, again the issue of prevention of White Collar/Crimes of greed is ignored as though it cannot be prevented and as though no conditions exist that invite people to commit such crimes.

· The Crime Prevention Unit as envisaged in the DWP is problematic. Firstly the name is misleading especially if it is a research unit of few individuals located in the Ministry and not part of the uniformed sector. Secondly, because it seek to be the continuation of the NCPS structure in the ministry. We believe that an appropriate name should be found for it or it should just be left as NCPS Directorate in the ministry, with the added functions as outlined in the DWP

· The input headed Provincial and local government is misplaced and does not make any sense and is not linked to the preceding chapter and it does not explain anything it should therefore be deleted/expunged.

Institutional Reform

We believe that the introduction to this chapter should be expanded to illustrate how the Police were politicized in the past, the absence of a civilian ministry and support staff and then make the point about the need To avoid politicizing uniformed sector of the department.

· The Crime Prevention unit should as said earlier be part of the Secretary's function and can be a directorate thereof

The Commissioner's role

In addition to the role stipulated we must also add those in the constitution and add the following under accountability

I. To account to the ministry and Parliament from time to time or as may be required

II. In the exercise of his/her management duties to take account of Affirmative Action and other Policy directives from the Minister.

· The ICD to include the following:

· To investigate and compel Police Management to act on their findings

· We also believe that the diagram 3 should just be a Vertical line starting with Ministry followed by Secretariat and the National Commissioner and horizontal line between the Secretariat and National Commissioner to link the ICD

[Ed. note: diagram not included]

The Provincial level

· The DWP should outline what the current role has been of the Provinces and how it has been exercised and then re-affirm it. It must also go in some length explaining the role of MEC in relation to Provincial Commissioner and Crime Prevention. The role of provincial secretariats must also be spelled out especially in relation to the National Secretariat also for purposes of national guidelines.

The Role of Local Government

Up to now local government in the form of Councils and Councilors have not been an institutional part of local policing initiatives as part of or as a tier of government except for traffic control and in Durban and East London. What we have in most local authority in the cities especially are Private Security Companies employed by Councils and local business to do visible guarding and patrol of busy areas, in addition some councils have their own security guards who protect and guard local government assets and installations.

As for the councilors there is in most council an established standing Committee (sec 54) for traffic and security matters.

The situation in rural areas is different some TLC's have a similar arrangement as in cities others do not have same arrangements. These are areas that have tribal police, others have commandos that double up as reservists.

Appendix 2:

DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUBMISSION ON THE DRAFT WHITE PAPER ON SAFETY AND SECURITY

Introduction

The Democratic Party welcomes the opportunity to participate in the drafting of a white paper on safety and security. The DP is committed to making a positive contribution to public policy on crime prevention, as crime, coupled with unemployment, forms a vicious cycle which undermines South African society. Our focus on providing practical solutions is reflected in the recently-released series of policy documents aimed at closing the "seven open doors" of the criminal justice system.

The DP’s submission on safety and security includes those sections of our crime policy series which are relevant to the Department of Safety and Security: the documents "Closing the door on ineffective policing", "Restoring Justice to the Victims of Crime" and "Controlling Gun Violence in South Africa"; as well as a response to specific aspects of the draft White Paper on Safety and Security.

The draft White Paper deals with two aspects of policy, (1) identifying the two crime policy priorities: "law enforcement" and "crime prevention"; and (2) delineating the institutional reform needed at national, provincial and local level.

1. "Law enforcement" and "crime prevention"

The DP agrees with the White Paper’s view of crime policy consisting of, "two inter-locking components: that of policing or law enforcement, and that of crime prevention, and particularly social crime prevention, which is aimed at undercutting the causes of crime." It is agreed that "law enforcement and crime prevention1 are not mutually exclusive but reinforce each other" [page 12].

Our concern is that in translating this view into an institutional framework, by establishing the Crime Prevention Unit (CPU) parallel to the South African Police Service (SAPS) under the Department of Safety and Security, the White Paper sets up these two components in such a way that they compete for resources within the Safety and Security budget. This is done despite the acknowledgment that crime prevention is not the sole responsibility of the Department of Safety and Security, rather it requires interdepartmental co-ordination and co-operation at all three levels of government, as elaborated by the National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS).

While the White Paper states that the CPU "will continue the mandated work of the Department of Safety and Security in the NCPS" [p. 26], the danger is that this new institution could easily be misconstrued as a catch-all body, as it is also defined in the White Paper as being "responsible for both social crime prevention and facilitating improvements to the criminal justice system" [p. 26]. In other words, it could come to be regarded as responsible for the implementation of the National Crime Prevention Strategy in its entirety. This would defeat the purpose of the crime prevention strategy, which is to draw all of government into crime prevention. Responsibility for crime prevention could once again fall under the ambit of one over-stretched and under-resourced department.

The danger that the policing budget would be compromised by situating the CPU under Safety and Security is apparent in the following extract from the White Paper:

"While a basic standard of enforcement - well above the present level - is required, this must be balanced in the long term by measures that reduce the number of people entering the criminal justice system in the first place". [p. 17]

The word "balanced" implies that there is a trade-off between law enforcement and crime prevention in terms of expenditure. Rather, crime prevention measures need to be implemented in addition to achieving a high standard of law enforcement.

Combining law enforcement and crime prevention under one budget can obscure dire funding shortages within the SAPS. This has already happened with the 1998/99 budget. The public could be forgiven for thinking that the government had increased spending on policing this year, as the increase in the Safety and Security vote suggests. However, subtracting the National Crime Prevention Strategy allocation of R516 million from the current Safety and Security budget, and adjusting for inflation of 8%, reveals that the policing budget has decreased from R13, 265 billion in 1997/98 to R13, 192 billion in 1998/99.

What is lacking in the draft White Paper is explicit recognition that the two crime policy priorities, law enforcement and crime prevention, require intervention on different levels. Law enforcement can and should fall under one department: the Department of Safety and Security. Crime Prevention, by contrast, is an interdepartmental project, as was correctly defined by the NCPS. Institutional arrangements and budgeting for the crime prevention project must therefore stand outside of any one department, if it is to succeed at all. Instead of setting up the Crime Prevention Unit as one of two arms of Safety and Security, thereby competing for the Safety and Security budget vote with the other arm, the SAPS, the Crime Prevention Unit should be redesigned as an independent institution. Its funding should come directly from Parliament.

2. Further aspects of the White Paper

2.1 Institutional reform at national, provincial and local level

The centralised, bureaucratic structure of the SAPS is the root cause of many of its most serious problems. The SAPS is one of the largest centralised police in the world, and allows for very little local decision-making. This results in lack of concern for crime victims, because police officers are not accountable to local communities. It destroys morale in the service, because officers’ needs and problems are dealt with - or ignored - by a vast, faceless system. It creates huge inefficiencies and delays, such as the year-long lag between lifting the recruitment moratorium and actually appointing officers. Worst of all, it makes the police a slow-moving and unwieldy opponent for criminals, who outwit the SAPS at every turn.

2.1.1 National Level:

We agree with the proposal that the Secretary for Safety and Security should be the Accounting Officer of the Department of Safety and Security, as this will promote accountability and lead to a creative tension between the SAPS and the Secretariat.

Service delivery

The principle of performance agreements between the SAPS and the Minister, pioneered by the Minister of Transport is fully supported. We believe, however, that this principle must be extended inside the Secretariat to the Secretary and between the Secretary and the various section heads. Likewise, the performance contract signed by the National Commissioner with the Minister must be replicated throughout the police service, down to Station Commissioner level. It is vital, however, that such contract contain incentives for excellence and sanctions for breaches.

Departmental Structure

As far as the Independent Complaints Directorate is concerned, it is vital that this important element of monitoring and oversight is adequately funded. We propose that the South African Police Service Act be amended so as to make it incumbent upon parliament to fund the ICD adequately, so as to enable it to carry out its duties.

2.1.2 Provincial and local level:

The role of provincial government

Provincial Secretariats of Safety and Security are, generally speaking, not working properly as they have no executive powers under the Constitution, while provincial legislatures effectively lack legislation competence in policing. The Democratic Party has long argued that the Constitution should be amended to confer greater powers on provinces in relation to policing. Dealing, however, with the reality of the present legislative situation we seriously question whether tax payers are receiving value for the approximately R200 million spent annually on funding Provincial Secretariats. The Moerane Commission Report in Gauteng provides very strong support for the argument that Provincial Secretariats should be closed down and their funds allocated to a properly resourced Independent Complaints Directorate, with well resourced provincial offices. There can be little doubt that would ensure effective monitoring and oversight of the police service.

This argument, while attractive, is not sustainable in the absence of a constitutional amendment and, in any event, would undermine political accountability. In view of this, we propose that the present system, with all its defects, should be made to operate effectively accordingly. The Democratic Party recommends that the Premier of each province should be obliged by law to enter into a performance contract with the MEC for Safety and Security in the province and each MEC, in turn, with each Head of Department, so as to ensure that oversight and monitoring mechanisms are properly implemented at a provincial level.

Local government

The Democratic Party has long advocated municipal policing as an adjunct to the SAPS’s fight against crime. Although the relevant legislation to give effect to this will be passed this year, the reality is that no metropolitan authority, outside of Durban, which has had a city police service since the last century, will be able to afford a municipal police service, unless funding is made available by the national and provincial governments. The white paper really needs to address how municipal policing can become a reality, given the budgetary constraints on local government. Until this is addressed, municipal policing will, outside of Durban, be little more than a theoretical possibility.

The draft White Paper takes the wrong approach by confirming the constraints contained in the proposed legislation for municipal police services which will cause tem to be tightly regulated and subject to exacting conditions. Municipal police services should not be regulated by provincial and national government to an excessive extent, nor should not be regulated by provincial and national government to an excessive extent, nor should they be subjected to excessive national standards which will prohibit smaller and financially weaker municipalities from complying with them.2

The draft White Paper appears to have very detailed plans for institutional tinkering at national level, while concrete plans to decentralise decision-making power within the SAPS are under-emphasised. The DP recommends that the draft White Paper consider proposals made in our policy document, "Closing the door on ineffective policing".

2.2 Providing adequate service for victims

The DP has taken the initiative in shifting the focus of the criminal justice system towards the victims of crime. Two private member’s bills were submitted to Parliament in this regard and a number of practical proposals are contained in the policy document "Restoring Justice to the Victims of Crime". We welcome the inclusion of point 3 of section II of the draft White Paper, and offer the DP proposals to augment this section of the White Paper.

2.3 Improving criminal investigations

The DP has persistently argued for the need to improve the quality of SAPS personnel, through improved recruitment, training and management of police officers. The White Paper’s emphasis on improving the quality of criminal investigations by increasing the number of detectives, and improving detective training and management is therefore encouraging. The DP policy document "Closing the door on ineffective policing" contains a number of proposals which could contribute to this aspect of White Paper.

Although specialised investigation units can play a role in dealing with complex crimes, it is our impression that there are too many of these in the SAPS and our direct experience of one of them - the anti-hijacking unit - indicates that SAPS management often creates units in response to public pressure, without adequate planning and proper funding.

Appendix 3:

Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)

DRAFT WHITE PAPER: IN SERVICE OF SAFETY, 1998-2003

IFP RESPONSE

DISCUSSION DOCUMENT MAY1998

INTRODUCTION

1. There should be more honesty in the introduction about the source of the problems faced in Safety and Security. The problems do not derive only from the apartheid era, but also from the climate of lawlessness which was encouraged during the democratic struggle, when the law and order system was routinely represented as being oppressive and criminal actions were encouraged in order to promote the downfall of the old order. It must be recognised that the country was deliberately made ungovernable and the present levels of crime are a reflection of that situation

2. The introduction should also be more realistic about the extent and nature of the present problems in law and order maintenance, including the demoralisation of the police and public lack of confidence in the criminal-justice system.

3. Reference to the Bill of Rights should make allowances for the fact that the police are also entitled to protection under that legislation. If human rights violations have occurred at the cost of policemen and women, their plight is of equal concern to the community. There has developed a tendency to regards the rights of criminals as superior to those of ordinary citizens and of the police. The white paper should clear this matter up.

4. Under the heading of "Policing in a democratic South Africa" there ought to be more emphasis on transformation and on affirmative action. The police will not become efficient in their performance until they are fully integrated in the main body of the population. However, affirmative action can only be effectively carried out if

the very highest standards are demanded of the police. This means that resources must be spent on selection and training.

5. Crime in the rural areas has largely been neglected in the white paper. This is unfortunate since the bulk of the population lives in the rural areas. Criminals have recognised that as the commission of crimes in the urban areas becomes more risky, the rural areas have become soft targets because of neglect. This goes a long way to explaining attacks on farms by groups that are nothing short of armed bandits. Unless this problem is tackled, the rural areas will become further denuded, and urban concentrations will increase with all the attendant social and economic problems.

SECTION 1

CONFRONTING CRIME IN DEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA

1. Awaiting trial prisoners should not be treated as criminals. They should appear before a Court within 48 hours of their arrest or be discharged.

2. The Department of Correctional Services cannot continue to be overburdened with awaiting trial prisoners. Other arrangements should be made for holding them. They should not be imprisoned with hardened criminals. Only awaiting trial prisoners should be accorded favourable treatment, e.g. access to television, telephones, etc. Those serving sentences should be made to feel the discomforts of imprisonment, should enjoy no privileges and should pay for their crimes.

3. Convicted criminals should be made to serve their full sentences without the possibility of remission.

4. Minors should be handled with particular circumspection, and be entrusted to the Department of Welfare rather than to Correctional Services.

5. The situation should be avoided by whatever means possible that the police are required to expend their resources in recapturing prisoners who are either released too early or escape from custody. A system should be established for determining whether prisoners are wanted for questioning on crimes other than those for which they have been convicted before they are released.

6. Prisoners should be required to work productively as part of their sentences and their victims should be compensated from the products of their work.

SECTION 2

POLICY PRIORITY: LAW ENFORCEMENT IN A DEMOCRACY

1. The ratio of the police in a particular area must be proportional to the demographics of the area and sufficient equipment must be supplied to them to carry out their jobs effectively and efficiently.

2. Police must be visible to the community at all times and be seen to be effective in dealing with crime and with criminals.

3. It is not the function of the police to care for the victims of crime, and their resources should not be expended on such actions. Though consideration for the victims must at all times be practised, care of victims should fall under the appropriate other departments such as Welfare, Health, or the appropriate NGOs.

4. The IFP believes that the security industry has a valuable role to play in the maintenance of security and in helping to reduce crime. It supports the efforts of the security industry to become more closely integrated with the SAPS and awaits eagerly the White Paper on this question. The security has access to huge resources in the fight against crime in South Africa and is effectively already indispensable.

SECTION 3

POLICY PRIORITY: ENSURING EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION

1. To establish the neutrality of the police there must be an effort on the part of all parties to depoliticize local government.

2. The representatives of local government working in the Community Police Forums should make these forums conducive for non-partisan participation by members of the community. Community based organisations and NGOs, with the co-operation of the station commissioner should ensure the political neutrality of the Community Police Forums. The Area Board should monitor, on a continuing basis, the political impartiality of the CPFs.

3. The White Paper should provide clarity on the functions of the provincial government secretariats mentioned in the White Paper. What are their powers?

4. The position of the MEC's, metropolitan mayors, TLC's in the urban areas, and in the rural areas should be clarified. What is the function of the chairpersons of the regional/district councils and traditional councilors? These should be clear and unambiguous. The paper does not set out the political line function on the political side with regard to regional and district councils.

SECTION 4

INSTITUTIONAL REFORM AT NATIONAL LEVEL

1. The role of the National and provincial commissioner should be clarified.

2. The Secretariat should remain within the department of the minister. The 1995 Safety and Security Act accords the Minister a Secretary within his department . The IFP is opposed to the Secretary being made a Director General in a separate department. The National Commissioner should remain the responsible accounting officer of the SAPS.

3. The structure of the NCPS should be clearly set out in the White Paper, which should show what the purpose and the aim of the NCPS is.

4. The Department of Safety and Security should be directly under the control of the National Commissioner who falls under the control of the Minister

SECTION 5

INSTITUTIONAL REFORM AT PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL LEVEL

1. There is no clear indication of who is responsible for the National Crime Prevention Strategy

2. There should be co-ordination between the rural and urban structures. Diagram no.4 should be redesigned to include provincial government and the relationship between area commissioners and provincial commissioners. Urban and rural structures must be differentiated and must be clearly set out in

diagramatic form. The autonomy of station commissioners should be emphasised

3. There is a gap between the provincial and the local government and also in the link between both structures and the national government.

4. The Crime Prevention Units activities should be extended to the rural areas. This should be indicated in the diagram 4.

5. The reference to social crime prevention overlooks the fact that a wide variety of factors must be taken into account when assessing the causes of crime. This reference should be dropped.

SECTION 6

IMPLEMENTATION 1998 - 2003

1. The SAPS must obtain greater resources, especially human resources, so that the safety of citizens can be assured. Special attention should be given to the safety of tourists, who are an important economic resource

2. Accurate statistics should be maintained of all crimes including white collar crimes.

3. The chairpersons that are appointed to the Police Community Forums should be the respected people in the community. It is hoped that over the longer term we expect the chairpersons of the CPF's could be elected as sheriffs are in other countries. Committees must work hand in hand with the station commissioners, It is hoped that within ten years police will be as visible in all sections of the community, including rural areas farms, pen-urban areas as they are in the urban areas today.

4. The employment of psychologists in working at the side of the police is important to attend to their well-being and morale of the police. South Africa needs more involvement of psychologists in addressing family killings and other abnormal social crimes. Traumatized victims of crime ought to be handled by the psychologists.

5. The tendency to exhibit violence in theatres and on television should be restrained and violent films should not be exhibited at times when young people are likely to be watching television.

6. The participation of police reservists must be encouraged in the communities.

Appendix 4:

COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT WHITE PAPER FOR SAFETY AND SECURITY BY THE NATIONAL PARTY

INTRODUTION

While the DWP is a policy document the absence of specifics on funding, accountability and fixed goal (objectives) linked to a time frame is a very serious shortcoming. The document does not portray a sense of urgency and does not provide for short term, medium and long term objectives and mechanisms to implement monitor and evaluate progress or otherwise.

SECTION 1: CONFRONTING CRIME IN DEMOCPATIC SOUTH AFRICA

While the DWP admits to high crime levels -which brings insecurity, undermines economic and social development and effects quality of living - the DWP fails to address the eroded public confidence in the state's ability to investigate, apprehend and prosecute offenders.

While striving to build a legitimate and effective law enforcement organization, poor working conditions, low morale, insufficient training, a capacity shortage and limited resources have seriously hampered the ability of the SA Police Service to provide citizens with the necessary levels of safety and security.

The DWP acknowledges the need for sophisticated government responses to counter sophisticated and highly organized criminals, but it does not say how this should be done. This is also not reflected in the government budget priorities. The DWP does not send out a deterrent message to criminals and it does not give confidence to the public in the government's stated commitment to ensure sufficient levels of safely and security within the next few years.

Although the DWP mentions "a basic standard of enforcement" it does not clarify what such a basic standard of enforcement would be.

The NCPS is a good policy but it lacks practical implementation, proper co-ordination and a commitment by the different departments involved to make a success thereof. There is nothing in the White Paper which sets out how the NCPS can be more successfully implemented. There should be a mechanism by which the different departments can be held accountable. It seems that new legislation is required in this regard. The departments should also report progress to Parliament on a more regular basis.

SECTION 2 POLICE PRIORITY LAW ENFORCEMENT IN A DEMOCRACY

The intention to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of criminal investigations is welcomed. How this is to be achieved and funded and under what time frames is however not addressed. We agree that the number of personnel involved in investigations should be increased to improve the ability of the Police Service to deal efficiently and effectively with the case load, that there should be a more extensive and practical training program for investigators, that the detective management must be enhanced and that the effective use of crime intelligence is fundamental to law enforcement. All these should however be properly budgeted for. No mention is however made of the dire need for sophisticated technology for example the automated finger print identification system which will in itself make a major difference in the improvement of investigations. Neither is mention made of the need for sophisticated co-ordinated computer systems and trained personnel so that proper crime pattern analysis can be done.

Prosecutors should be involved at the investigation stage and should be used to direct investigations.

VISIBLE POLICING

We strongly agree with the notion that where visible policing programs are vigorously implemented and offenders arrested, crime and the fear of crime decrease. We also agree that high density policing in areas experiencing high levels of crime is effective. The White Paper does however not say how this will be achieved taking into account the reduced numbers in the SAPS. Reliance cannot be placed on Municipal Police as most Local Authorities will not be in a position to have an effective Municipal Police service due to a lack of sufficient funding. While accepting the primary role of SAPS in safety and security, the White Paper does not make any mention of the secondary role of the SANDF.

PRIVATE COMMERCIAL SECURITY INDUSTRY

The Draft White Paper on Safety and Security is silent on the question of the role which the private commercial security industry can play in assisting the security forces and especially SAPS to implement the policy of the Government relating to law enforcement and crime prevention. This lacuna was referred to by several role players who gave evidence before the Joint Committee.

The 1997 legislation on Security Officers envisages a comprehensive redrafting of the law during 1999. The Draft White Paper should specifically state this fact. The NP therefore supports the view of the Security Association of South Africa that a short reference to this aspect of national policy on Safety and Security should be added to the paragraph dealing with "The Changing Policy Environment" in the White Paper:

SASS suggestion is: "The potential role of the private commercial security industry in solving the problems of capacity and achieving the policy priorities set out below can not be underestimated. It is envisaged that this role will be developed through legislation provided for in the Security Officers Act. Given the nature and scope of the private commercial security industry, this legislation should be preceded by an all-inclusive process of consultation and contribution by all stakeholders."

3. CRIME PREVENTION

We agree that there should be a social crime prevention unit. It is however unclear how this unit will succeed in properly co-ordinating and mobilizing the other government departments which have a role to play in crime prevention initiatives unless it has the necessary authority to do so. More clarity should be given to this aspect. The effectiveness of crime prevention projects should also be monitored on a provincial level.

4. INSTITUTIONAL REFORM AT NATIONAL LEVEL

In the light of the fact that the proposal contained in the DWP in its current form is unacceptable to the SAPS this section should receive further attention.

We strongly agree with the idea of performance agreements.

INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS DIRECTORATE

It is extremely important that the independent complaints directorate is adequately funded.

The ICD should be functionally more independent and should report directly to Parliament and not the Minister of Safety and Security.

SECTION 5 INSTITUTIONAL REFORM AT PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL LEVEL

The future role of the Provincial Secretariats it unclear and this should be clarified in the DWP.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

We support the fact that local police services at local government level should be Instituted as soon as possible as a principle We are however aware of the dire financial situation in which most of these institutions find themselves. It is therefore a fallacy to believe such services will in the near future be instituted in many municipalities. The White Paper therefore should address how municipal policing can become a reality.

COMMUNITY POLICE FORUMS

We agree that local government has an important role to ploy in community police forums but not in a way where it can "direct the activities of and monitor the composition of CPF'S" and therefore be in a position where it con effectively control CPF'S. This will be counter productive.

Provision should also be made for the proper funding of CPF'S.

OTHER MATTERS THAT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED AND GENERAL REMARKS

lMPLEMENTATION OF INITIATIVES

There is a need for a formulation in broad terms of how the initiatives in the DWP will be implemented.

NO SPECIFIC POLICING PHILOSOPHY

There is no specific policing philosophy (e.g. the zero tolerance approach) which it clearly stated in the DWP as a framework guideline.

POLICING IN TRIBAL AUTHORITY AREAS

There is no mention in the DWP of policing in tribal authority areas.

UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION FOR THE PROTECTlON OF VICTIMS

The provisions hereof should be adopted in the DWP.

OUTSOURCING

The possibilities of outsourcing certain functions and duties of the SAPS should be addressed in the DWP.

POLICE AS VICTIMS

It should be acknowledged that Police themselves are victims of crime, stress, trauma and murder. A holistic approach to victim support for members themselves should be incorporated into the DWP and also how it would be implemented and managed.

BUILDING MORALE

There should be an acceptance in the DWP of the problem of low morale. There should be a dedicated and specific approach along accept management principles in the DWP to deal with the issue of low morale. Derogatory remark; in the DWP about the previous Police Service should be avoided as this can only contribute to existing problems.

RESEARCH NEEDS

There is a need for a dedicated research capacity as referred to in the submission of the Technicon SA, which should receive attention in the DWP. This can also be done in collaboration with academic institutions, research organisations and NGO's.

COMMUNICATION

There is a lack of a proper communication strategy to make the DWP accessible to all role players.

BOUNDARIES

The geographical boundaries of the departments in the criminal justice system e.g. Magisterial district, police precinct and municipal boundaries should be co-ordinated.

CORRUPTION IN POLICE

Corruption in the Police is not addressed in the DWP. In our opinion it should be addressed.

MEETING OF COMMITTEES ON 21 AUGUST 1998

We will possibly make further comments at the aforesaid meeting tomorrow,

P A MATTHEE MP

20 AUGUST 1998