The following members of the Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security attended the meeting:

• The Honorable Ms M. Sotyu (Chairperson)
• The Honorable Ms A Van Wyk
• The Honorable Ms J E Sosibo
• The Honorable Mr FT Maserumule
• The Honorable Mr A N Maziya
• The Honorable Mr M S Booi
• The Honorable Mr R J King
• The Honorable Mr V B Ndlovu
• The Honorable Adv A H Gaum

The ICD was represented by:

• Ms E Verster: Acting Executive Director
• Mr E G Valoyi: Programme Manager, Administration
• Mr S Mahlangu: Programme Manager, Complaints Registry : Research & Development
• Mr S Mabona : Deputy Manager Communications

The Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security has scrutinised the Annual Report of the Independent Complaints Directorate for 2003/04, including the Report of the Auditor-General.

In terms of the Annual Report, the Portfolio Committee notes the following key issues:

• The increase in the number of cases reported to the ICD in 2003/04 in comparison to 2002/03, including an increase by 35% of the number of deaths in police custody or as a result of police action.
• The Committee notes the ICD target to investigate all cases reported to it by 2005/06.
• In order to ensure that the ICD fulfils its expanding mandate effectively, attention must be given to the speedy filling of vacant posts within the department, as well as to an appropriate retention strategy for existing staff.
• Training of investigators to ensure efficient and effective completion of cases is essential and the Committee looks forward to an evaluation of the cooperative training initiative with Scotland Yard which took place at the beginning of 2004, at the end of the 2004/05 financial year.
• Commends the ICD for the achievement of most targets for the 2003/04 and notes targets that were not achieved including:

• The 24-hour target for registration of cases.
• The target of updating 72% of registered cases.

In terms of the Report of the Auditor-General, the Portfolio Committee notes the following key issues:

• The Committee commends the ICD for receiving an unqualified Auditor-General Report.

The following successes were noted for 2003/04:

• The ICD focused on multi-skilling of staff to ensure maximum use of available human resources.
• The ICD focused on prioritising tasks in order to ensure that it maintained performance of its core functions.
• The ICD, in partnership with the British High Commission and with the assistance of Scotland Yard, embarked on a training programme for investigators. Four investigators from the ICD were trained as trainers and delivered the training to the rest of the staff. The training was delivered in January and February 2004 and the value of the training will be determined at the end of the 2004/05 financial year.
• During 2003, there was improved cooperation between the ICD and the SAPS especially in terms of improved cooperation from provincial commissioners in sensitive cases.
• The South African independent oversight model over policing is envied internationally and has received growing recognition from other African countries. In January 2004, the ICD hosted a conference on policing oversight in Africa in order to lobby for the extension of policing oversight in the continent. A resolution of the conference established an African Policing Oversight Forum (APCOF), the role and function of which is currently under consideration.

• The ICD achieved its targets for 2003/04 including finalisation of its Human Resource Plan and the Leave, Resettlement and Overtime Policies. The internal audit policy was finalised.
• A total of 207 employees were exposed to different training programmes and the skills audit commenced.
• Bursaries were awarded to 10 staff members in addition to those who are already studying. All applicants from previous years who failed or withdrew from their courses are refunding the ICD.
• There were 4 labour cases due to misconduct, 5 disputes and 2 grievances during 2003/04.

• During 2003/04, investigators managed to attend almost all the crime scenes which they were required to.
• All high profile cases were investigated during this period.

The following challenges were noted for 2003/04:

• The increasing number of complaints received by the ICD during this period, can be partially explained as a result of the increasing number of police employed by the SAPS. The growing number of police has not been reflected in the hiring of more ICD staff, which means that the caseloads of ICD investigators are increasing.
• There was an increase in the number of complaints against the Municipal Police Services during the period 2003/04.
• Refining Proactive Oversight to facilitate the analysis of trends and patterns and add value to collated research data by formulating and recommending practical solutions to the problems identified regarding police misconduct.

• Out of a total of 186 staff, there were 7 resignations during 2003/04 and 8 transfers. Most resignations were due to better job offers. While the vacancy rate within the ICD of 9.67% is slightly better then the general public service average rate of 10.6%, the ICD has still identified this as a concern. Some reasons for the delay in filling posts were that short listed candidates were in some cases unsuitable, candidates sometimes turned down offers of appointment often because these offers were made a long time after the interview process was completed and candidates had already found other employment. The delay in offers is sometimes as a result of the length of time that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) takes to do security vetting of candidates.
• The ICD needed to request an extension for implementation of the legislative requirements in terms of Supply Chain Management, as there was insufficient staff available during 2003/04 to implement the legislation timeously. They have been granted an extension until 31 October 2005.

• The number of cases reported to the ICD increased in comparison with the previous year (2002/03) by 32.9%. The number of reported cases of deaths increased by 35%.
• A total of 714 deaths in police custody or as a result of police action were reported, the highest number of which were reported in KwaZulu Natal (28.7) followed by Gauteng (20.7%). The lowest numbers were reported in the Northern Cape. Of these 714 cases, the police were cleared in 346 of the incidents and were thus accountable in 368 cases.
• A total of 1 473 Class III offences were reported to the ICD. The highest number of reported criminal offence cases were reported in Gauteng (27.4%) followed by the Western Cape (20.8%).
• A total of 3 716 cases of police misconduct were reported to the ICD. Once again, Gauteng reported the highest number of cases (29.1), followed by the Western Cape (24.5%).
• The database management system improved during this period but there was a lack of fulltime data capturers to insert the information timeously into the database.
• The increasing number of complaints meant that investigators needed to attend court regularly. This constrained their ability to investigate new cases promptly.
• The processing and registration of new cases within the 24-hour target improved during 2003/04, though most cases were registered within 48 hours in 2003/04.

The ICD spent R36 991 million of its allocated budget of R37 043

million, resulting in an under-spending of R53 000 which was returned to Treasury.

The ICD received R500 000 from the European Union to host the Policing Oversight in Africa Conference. The increase in administration expenditure by more than R1 million was largely to cover the travel and accommodation costs of the 23 speakers at this conference and to provide training for investigators and other staff during the year.

The ICD moved from a Financial Management Systems (FMS) to a Basic Administration system (BAS). There are a number of concerns around BAS including the fact that it costs more than the FMS and thus results in a monthly increase in expenditure. In addition, it is not working perfectly and in the last two months of the 2003/04 financial year there was a lot of downtime, which meant that transactions could not be processed. In fact, at the end of 2003/04 the ICD closed its books with a R3 million overdraft as they had requested a transfer of these funds but the system was down and they therefore closed their books with this overdraft reflected.

In addition to the saving (under-spending) of R53 000, R1 000 was over budgeted to the Poslec Seta and R1 000 was overpaid to SARS which will be recovered in 2004/05.

There were no qualifications to the Report for 2003/04. However, with regard to the internal audit, it was emphasised that the effectiveness of the audit was compromised due to a lack of resources which resulted in:

• Internal audit reports being issued after the financial year.
• Quarterly internal audit reports were not submitted to the audit committee.

Committee members raised the following concerns with regard to the annual report and financial statements of the ICD for 2003/04:

Measures to reduce vacancies and concern over working conditions: According to the ICD, the vacancy rate is not high in comparison to other public service departments. One of the reasons why people leave the ICD is because it is a small department and there are not many opportunities for internal career advancement and promotion. Many people leave for better positions and higher salaries, often to other departments. In an attempt to begin addressing this problem, level 3 posts were abolished and upgraded to level 4. However, the fact is that unless the ICD grows, there is little opportunity for advancement. Currently there are only 2 chief director posts and 11 director posts in the ICD.

Vetting: The ICD has met with the NIA to discuss delays in the vetting process for applicants to the ICD. It can take up to 2 months for NIA to complete the vetting and give the results to the ICD. In addition, when the NIA is busy with national security issues, further delays may occur. The ICD is not allowed to do its own security vetting.

Level of grievances: The grievances for 2003/04 related to fraud, internal vying for posts and overtime payment issues and were thus not specifically related to working conditions. The ICD stated that while it is taking measures to reduce grievances, it is satisfied that the level of grievances within the department is of a relatively low level.

Increase in cases reported to the ICD: The increase in cases reported to the ICD may be the result of an increasing number of police as well as improved awareness of the role of the ICD.

High reports of deaths in custody in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng: The ICD stated that within these provinces there are specific ‘hotspots’ which lead to an increase in the statistics for these provinces. For example, the dynamics in Hillbrow in Gauteng and Kwa Mashu in Kwa Zulu Natal are cause for concern in this regard. The ICD reiterated that the ICD made recommendations that the police should be held accountable for only 47% of the deaths while in police custody or as a result of police action.

High profile cases: The ICD stated that they have service delivery standards which guide their actions in all reported cases. The reality is however, that there are cases which receive high profile media attention. These situations pose a challenge to the ICD in terms of access to information and the increased expectation from the public for timeous resolution of the case. The ICD may require the assistance of senior police officials in these cases to ensure access to information.

The Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security has scrutinised the Annual Report of the Independent Complaints Directorate and the Auditor-General’s Report on the Financial Statements for 2003/04. The Committee commends the Department of Independent Complaints Directorate on successes attained during the 2003/04 financial year and recommends that concrete steps are taken to address areas, which have been identified as challenges.

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