Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and
Constitutional Development on the 2006/07 Annual Report of the National
Prosecuting Authority, dated 18 February 2009
The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development,
having considered 2006/07 Annual Report of the National Prosecuting Authority,
reports as follows:
1.
Introduction
2.1.
The
briefings on the 2006/07 annual report of the National Prosecuting Authority
(NPA) took place on 20 and 26 February 2008.
2.2.
Those
who appeared before the Committee for the briefings on the annual report
included: Adv A Ackermann; Mr R Adams; Adv R de Kock; Mr
B Graham; Adv MN Humphreys; Mr W Hofmeyer; Adv SC Jordaan; Adv T Matzke; Adv L
McCarthy; Adv M Mopp; Adv A Mngwengwe; Adv M Mpshe; Ms M Muller; Adv D Mvelase;
Adv S Mzinyathi; Adv M Nadason-Govender; Adv B Pithey; Ms M Potgieter; Adv M
Ramoorthy; Dr S Ramaite; Mr D Schmidt; Mr J Schutte; Ms B Simelane; Mr K Singh;
and Ms K van Rensberg.
2.3.
The NPA is established in terms of the
section 179 of the Constitution with the power to institute criminal
proceedings on behalf of the State, and to carry out any necessary functions
that are incidental to instituting criminal proceedings. The services that it
renders are carried out by its operational units consisting of the National
Prosecuting Service (NPS), the Priority Crimes Litigation Unit (PCLU), the
Specialised Commercial Crime Unit (SCCU), the Sexual Offences and Community
Affairs Unit (SOCA), the Witness Protection Unit (WPU), the Directorate of
Special Operations (DSO) and the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU). Corporate
Services provides the necessary support to the NPA’s operations.
2.4.
This
report should be seen against the background of a very busy and somewhat
shortened parliamentary year. As such, the Committee has had to be realistic
about what it can accomplish in terms of oversight in the time it has available
to it before Parliament rises. Certainly, the Committee did not have enough
time to give rigorous attention to the NPA Report, and our responses to the
Report are not as considered and thorough as they might otherwise have been.
2.5.
Our
main concern is to assess how the NPA has performed, especially when measured
against its Strategic Plan and the specific targets it set for itself for the
2006/07 financial year under review. While the Committee engaged with each of
the NPA’s operational units, its concerns relating to the Directorate of
Special Operations (DSO) tended to dominate the discussions. To some extent the
Committee’s responses reflects this preoccupation.
2.6.
The
approach of this report is to first give a brief summary of the presentations
made by the National Prosecuting Authority to the Committee and then to offer
our response to them in section 6 of this report.
2.
Overview by Acting National Director
of Public Prosecutions
2.7.
The
Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Mokotedi Mpshe,
provided an overview of the NPA’s activities and performance for 2006/07. While
he referred to the performance of the NPA’s operational units, these details
are not mentioned here but are instead covered in section 3.
2.8.
By
performing its prosecutorial functions effectively and efficiently, the NPA is
able to assist in reducing national crime levels.
2.9.
As
its contribution to the making of a safer and more secure South Africa cannot
occur in isolation, the NPA has continued to invest in strengthening its
partnerships with stakeholders, such as the South African Police Service
(SAPS), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Department of Correctional Services
(DCS), the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the State Information
Technology Agency (SITA). For example, a stakeholder conference was held in
March 2007, and the intention is to build on this type of engagement in the
future.
2.10.
A
number of achievements in the year under review were highlighted:
·
The
NPA’s Strategy 2020 was adopted in February 2006 and launched at the
Stakeholder Conference in March 2007. It aims at building and maintaining a
world-class prosecuting authority that is able to not only stem the tide of
crime, but also play an active and strategic role in reducing it to acceptable
levels. Accordingly, Strategy 2020 sets out standards of excellence for all the
NPA’s operations. Flowing from this, each operational unit has developed detailed
annual plans that set out their focus areas for the year ahead. Individual
performance contracts and mechanisms for evaluation are closely linked to these
annual plans. Each section presents quarterly reports based on its annual plans
to the NPA’s Executive Committee, which also provides feedback allowing for
corrective action if necessary.
·
Significant
progress has been with respect to risk management: A risk management framework
was introduced and key persons have been identified to monitor and manage risks
in their areas.
2.6.
The
NPA faces a number of challenges, including:
·
The
retention and recruitment of appropriately skilled personnel remains an
enormous challenge to the NPA. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that
vacancies tend to be filled by internal applicants with the result that its
overall vacancy rate has not declined. Also, the NPA’s inability to offer
sufficiently competitive salaries creates difficulties in retaining staff.
·
There
is a perception within the NPA that it is under attack, and this has had a
negative effect on morale. The NPA has been criticised for leaking information
to the media in high profile cases. These allegations have been taken very
seriously and for some time measures have been put in place to deal with the problem.
In the past few months, the NPA has put in place further measures to prevent
the leaking of information. There is also the suggestion that the NPA is being
used for political purposes but this has not been put directly to the NPA,
which has made it difficult for it to state its case. In this regard, the NPA
requested the support of the Committee as it feels that it is not particularly
well placed to participate in the political debates that involve it.
·
The
uncertainty surrounding possible organizational restructuring as a result of
the proposed disbanding of the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO) requires
careful management.
·
The
suspension of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Pikoli, as
well as the absence of certain other senior officials has also had a negative
impact on performance.
·
On
the issue of corporate branding, the NPA has in the past tended to operate in
silos and certain of its operational units have been extremely successful in
developing a corporate identity that is immediately recognisable to the public.
Since 2005, however, there has been a concerted effort to develop a single
brand that immediately identifies the NPA to the public. This, however, remains
work in progress.
3.
Performance of the NPA’s operational
units
2.11.
National Prosecuting Service (NPS)
3.1.1.
The
Head of the National Prosecuting Service (NPS), Advocate Mpshe, presented on
the NPS’s performance as follows:
3.1.2.
The
NPS aims to prosecute criminal cases efficiently and effectively; contribute to
better crime investigations, as well as to crime prevention and community
justice; and ensure joint problem-solving and co-operation with partners and
stakeholders.
3.1.3.
The
NPS has a number of projects, including:
·
The
Community Prosecutions Project, which began in March 2006. The Project seeks to
define the NPA’s role in crime prevention by exploring ways of dealing with
crime and resolving conflict through alternative law enforcement mechanisms.
Pilot sites have been established in each of the provinces and community
prosecutors were deployed to explore the NPA’s role in crime prevention.
·
The
Organised Crime Initiative is a joint anti-organised crime initiative
established in August 2006 with the AFU and the SAPS and uses the
prosecution-guided investigative methodology. 68 posts for specialised
prosecutors have been created within all provinces.
·
Specialist
Tax Units were established in 2003. In 2006/07, these Units finalised 458 cases
with a conviction rate of 95%. They play an important role in the NPS’
organised crime operations, and work in close partnership with the South
African Revenue Service (SARS).
·
Project
Clean-up mandated prosecutors to work on Saturdays on an overtime basis between
November 2006 and March 2007, the purpose of which was to prepare cases and
take care of administrative tasks that prevented cases from proceeding.
·
The
Court Preparation Programme assists victims of crime and children. 68 Court
Preparation Officials were employed, while a further 69 are to be employed from
1 March 2007.
·
The
Restorative Justice Project seeks to extend the use of diversion as an
alternative method of delivering justice. A National Conference was hosted in
which prosecutors engaged with the concept and application of restorative
justice in
·
The
Awaiting Trial Detainee Project seeks to decrease the number of awaiting trial
detainees. Awaiting Trial Detainee Guidelines were compiled and distributed in
April 2007 to assist prosecutors to reduce the number of awaiting trial
detainees.
3.1.4.
Specific
indicators of court performance in 2006/07 revealed that :
·
Of the 1 062 147 cases enrolled, 722 361 (68%) were removed
from the court roll. (This includes cases withdrawn, transferred, struck from the
roll and warrants issued).
·
378
926 cases were finalised. Overall there was a 10.6% decrease in the number of
finalised matters when compared to 2005/06: In the High Court, the number of
cases finalised declined by 16.4%; in the
·
The
conviction rates in the High Courts, Regional Courts and District Courts
exceeded their targets for the 2006/07 year, while overall there was a
conviction rate of 85.8%.
·
A
total of 44 474 cases were diverted. This is an increase of 19% when compared
to the previous year and which far exceeds the target for all courts of
10%. In the Lower Courts, the Vaalrand
Cluster was responsible for diverting 33.3% of the total number of cases
diverted nationally.
·
In
the High Court, the average number of court hours sat increased slightly from 3
hours 19 minutes a day in 2005/06 to 3 hours 20 minutes in 2006/07. This,
however, did not meet the target of 4 hours. In the
·
The backlog of cases has decreased from 37 216 cases at the
end of March 2006 to 36 130 cases at the end of March 2007. 5 Backlog Regional
Courts were established. The impact of these courts from November 2006 has been
significant. In the Lower Courts the backlog of cases decreased by 3.1% when
compared to 2005/06. This is partly attributable to the National Backlog
Project, as well as an annual audit of outstanding cases which identified
blockages in the system.
3.1.5.
Advocate
Mpshe noted that the NPS’ greatest challenge is a critical shortage of
resources. Specifically, attracting and retaining skilled and experienced
personnel has proved to be very difficult.
3.2.
Priority Crimes Litigation Unit
(PCLU)
3.2.1.
The
Head of the PCLU, Advocate Anton Ackermann, provided an overview of the Unit’s
performance for the 2006/07 financial year:
3.2.2.
This
is a specialist unit that manages and directs investigations and prosecutes
crimes that impact on state security. It has been involved in international
initiatives to combat terrorism and related crimes. The PCLU is also involved
in missing persons’ cases arising from the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission’s (TRC) investigations.
3.2.3.
The
following cases and projects were highlighted:
·
The
case of S v Geige, Wisser and Krisch Engineering Co (Pty) Ltd concerns crimes
relating to nuclear non-proliferation. In 2004, the PCLU and SAPS raided an
engineering works in Vanderbijlpark uncovering parts of a weapons-grade uranium
enrichment park on the premises. The case involved an international nuclear
weapons syndicate with links to several countries including
·
The
Missing Persons’ Project gives effect to the TRC’s request that the whereabouts
of 477 missing persons be investigated. The Project aims to locate, exhume and
return the remains of missing person to their families:
Ø
The
remains of 19 individuals were recovered from Mamelodi,
Ø
In
Cradock, the remains of several individuals were recovered and testing is being
done to ascertain their identity.
Ø
The
remains of 9 individuals were handed over to families at special ceremonies for
reburial.
3.2.4.
A
key challenge relates to the need for future provision for the costs of
gathering evidence abroad and for the forensic auditing of evidence.
3.3.
Serious Commercial Crime Unit (SCCU)
3.3.1.
The
Head of the SCCU, Advocate C Jordan, provided an overview of the Unit’s
performance for the 2006/07 financial year, as well as key challenges that it
faces.
3.3.2.
The
SCCU investigates and prosecutes complex commercial crime cases. A key element
of the SCCU’s operations is its use of prosecution-guided investigations, in
which a prosecutor is involved in the case from the start of the investigation.
3.3.3.
The
SCCU highlighted the following achievements for 2006/07:
·
Several
major cases were successfully prosecuted, many resulting in a verdict involving
long-term imprisonment. These included a number of high profile cases involving
prominent business people, NPA personnel, senior police officials, and other
civil servants.
·
The
SCCU maintained a high conviction rate of 95.6%, with 3 574 cases
finalised. This represents a 36%
increase in the number of cases finalised when compared to 2005/06.
·
There
was a 31% increase in the use of plea-bargaining which it attributes to the use
of prosecution-guided investigations.
·
In
line with its Customer Charter, the SCCU met its target of providing more than
60% of all complainants with the contact details of the prosecutor assigned to
their case.
·
The
SCCU planned rollout of offices in
·
The
average number of court hours for SCCU cases was 4 hours 34 minutes.
3.3.4.
The
SCCU identified the following challenges
·
The
growth in complex commercial crime, including corruption, entails an increased
workload for the SCCU and will require close co-operation with the AFU and
Special Investigating Unit (SIU). This will also require that the SCCU has
specialist support.
·
There
are difficulties in filling vacancies. Prosecutors are already handling heavy
case loads, ranging from 64 cases per prosecutor in
·
The
Prosecutor-Guided Investigation initiative requires more resources and
additional posts for full implementation.
·
There
is urgent need for a dedicated commercial court in
3.4.
Sexual Offences and Community
Affairs Unit
3.4.1.
The
Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the National
Specialist Services Division, Advocate Silas Ramaite, provided an overview of
the Unit’s performance for the 2006/07 financial year, as well as key
challenges that it faces.
3.4.2.
SOCA
focuses primarily on matters involving the victimisation of women and children
including sexual offences, domestic violence and maintenance cases, as well as
managing young offenders.
3.4.3.
The
following are among the SOCA’s achievements for the 2006/07 year:
·
The
“Thuthuzela Model” of multidisciplinary care centres was recognised by the
United Nations General Assembly as a best practice model for managing and
responding to gender violence.
·
The
plan to establish new Thuthuzela Care Centres (TCCs) remains on track and 42
new TCC’s are planned by the end of 2009. These are to be built using donor
funding.
·
SOCA
has developed an auditing tool to determine and monitor service delivery levels
at the TCCs.
·
SOCA
launched its ‘365 National Action Plan on No Violence Against
Women and Children’ on 8 March 2007. This Plan is aimed at streamlining
initiatives between government departments, the private sector and
non-governmental organisations.
·
A
consultative session was held with Southern and Eastern African governments and
non-governmental organisations on violence against children in these regions.
The results of this session were presented to the European Union. SOCA is also
providing technical assistance to
·
A
Programme Steering Committee for the Trafficking of Persons Intersectoral Task
Team, which is an initiative designed to develop an integrated strategy on
trafficking in persons, was established.
·
The
Maintenance Project includes various initiatives aimed at improving service
delivery in maintenance matters, including the appointment of a senior
maintenance prosecutor and the establishment of maintenance forums in each of
the provinces. A total of 16 279 enquires were dealt with during the period
January to March 2007 by 29 prosecutors countrywide, with 10 309 or 63.3%
finalised.
·
Project
Ndabezitha was launched in March 2007, in partnership with the Department of
Justice and Constitutional Development and the National House of Traditional
Leaders, and focuses on restorative justice as a viable option in tackling
domestic violence cases in rural communities.
·
A
total of 651 persons were trained on matters relating to child pornography and
child sex offenders, young offender management, sexual harassment policy,
maintenance and child victims. Traditional leaders and prosecutors received training
on the Integrated Domestic Violence Manual.
·
As
part of the NPA’s Awaiting Trial Detainees (ATD) Project, SOCA designed a
strategy to reduce the number of awaiting trial children through case review
teams. The project is being rolled out to other provinces after being
implemented in the
3.4.4.
SOCA
highlighted a number of the challenges:
·
There
is a need for more dedicated sexual offences courts. While the number of these
dedicated courts has increased from 22 courts in 2002/03 to 259 courts 2006/07,
in the 2006/07 financial year the number of courts dedicated to hearing sexual
offence matters decreased from 67 in 2005/06 to 59 courts.
·
There
has been a decrease in the conviction rates in courts dedicated to hearing
sexual offence matters, despite the conviction rate being much higher than in
other regional courts (in 2005/06 the conviction rate was 42% in regional
courts that were not dedicated sexual offence courts). It should be noted that
the conviction rate for courts that are part of the Thuhuzela Care Centres is
much higher (83%) than for dedicated sexual offences courts.
·
The
Sexual Offences Act is new. While the required directives have been drafted,
training of all prosecutors is a challenge.
3.5.
Witness Protection Unit (WPU)
3.5.1.
The
Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the National
Specialist Services Division, Advocate Silas Ramaite, provided an overview of
the Unit’s performance for the 2006/07 financial year, as well as key
challenges that it faces.
3.5.2.
The
WPU provides secure protection, support and related services to intimidated,
vulnerable witnesses and related persons in judicial proceedings:
·
Internationally,
the WPU is held in high regard. It is regarded as one of the top 5 such
services in the world.
·
No
witnesses or related persons on its programme have been threatened, harmed,
intimidated or assassinated for the past 6 years.
·
Grievances
from witnesses on the programme have declined from 90% in 2001/02 to 2% in
2006/07. In the reporting period, only 3% of witnesses walked out of the
programme.
·
The WPU has a 90% conviction rate for cases
involving witnesses on its programme.
3.5.3.
The
WPU experiences challenges relating to vacancies and a lack of budgetary
resources.
3.6.
Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU)
3.6.1.
The
Head of the AFU, Mr Willie Hofmeyr, provided an overview of the Unit’s
performance for the 2006/07 financial year, as well as key challenges that it
faces.
3.6.2.
The
AFU task is to ensure the effective implementation of the asset forfeiture
provisions of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 1998.
3.6.3.
An
overview of the AFU’s performance for 2006/07 highlighted the following:
·
After
establishing an office in
·
The
AFU initiated 252 cases, freezing assets worth 1.25 billion.
·
242
cases were completed. The Unit increased the number of forfeiture cases
completed by 9.5% from 221 in 2005/06 to 242 in 2006/07.
·
The
value of new seizures increased significantly to close to R1.3 billion. This is
due to a single case where approximately R1 billion in assets were frozen (the
David King matter).
·
The
AFU deposited R19.3 million into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (CARA).
While this was below the target, some big deposits were delayed. Most of the
payments from CARA are used to fight organised crime but payments are also made
to organisations that assist victims of crime.
·
The
AFU won 27 of 33 contested cases (an 82% success rate). These included a number
of important cases and judgements in the
·
Generally,
the AFU’s relationship with its partners is very good. About 90% of its cases and
30% of value are from the SAPS, and the AFU has SAPS task teams in most of its
offices. The DSO provides approximately 8% of cases but 67% of value.
3.6.4.
Once
more capacity restraints, both human and financial, hamper the AFU ability to
deal with all cases where asset forfeiture is possible.
3.6.5.
The
proposed disbanding of the DSO impact on the AFU’s performance is unclear.
Although the percentage of cases that emanate from the DSO is small (8%), they
tend to be cases involving large sums of money.
3.7.
Directorate of Special Operations
(DSO)
3.7.1.
The
DSO uses a multidisciplinary and success-driven approach to target criminals
involved in organised crime. Top-end perpetrators and the proceeds of priority
crimes are targeted.
3.7.2.
Advocate
Leonard McCarthy provided highlights of the DSO’s achievements for 2006/07:
·
267
investigations were finalised. Since 2004/05, however, there has been a decline
in the number of investigations finalised.
·
210
prosecutions were finalised during 2006/07. However, this is fewer than the 243
prosecutions finalised in 2005/06.
·
A
total of 617 persons were arrested. Arrests increased by 38% compared to
2005/06 and by 834% compared to 2002/03.
·
The
DSO increased the number of investigations to 363. This is a 3.2% decrease from
2005/06.
·
With
the AFU, restraining orders worth R1 billion were obtained and contraband goods
worth R 956 580 000 were seized.
3.7.3.
Adv
McCarthy said that the DSO success rates are exaggerated.
3.7.4.
A
number of challenges were identified:
·
The
main reason cited for its failure to perform in certain areas has been lack of
capacity. At present the DSO estimates that it operates at 60% of ideal
performance. In 2006/07, only 65% of positions in the Unit are filled.
·
Its
biggest challenge is finding suitable and experienced candidates, to equip them
with the requisite skills and to retain them in the DSO.
·
With
the proposed disbanding, staff are concerned about
their careers.
4.
Corporate Services
2.12.
The
Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms Beryl Simelane, presented key aspects of the NPA’s 2020 Strategy, its
Business Plan for the 2006/07 financial year, and the targets it had achieved
in that period.
2.13.
A
special focus has been on filling vacancies and, in the 2006/07 financial year
under review, 1012 posts were filled. However, as at 31 March 2007, the NPA’s
vacancy rate stood at 30.7%.
2.14.
The
NPA is working steadily towards meeting its equity targets, although there are
challenges in this regard, especially at management level.
2.15.
39
disciplinary matters were finalised.
2.16.
The
following challenges were identified:
·
Vacancies
exist in critical posts within the NPA:
Ø
There
is high staff turnover in key positions in Corporate Services.
Ø
The
position of Chief Financial Officer has been vacant and was only filled as
recently as October 2007. The CEO, Deputy CEO and Head of the Integrity Unit
were on special leave pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing which was
withdrawn, then reinstated and finally withdrawn after a year. At present, the
position of CEO remains vacant, although the post has been advertised.
Ø
Key
departments such as Human Resource Management and Development have high vacancy
rates.
5.
Financial Matters
2.17.
The
Chief Financial Officer, Mr Brian Graham, provided an overview of matters
relating to the NPA’s finances.
2.18.
The
NPA received a final appropriation for 2006/07 of R1.58 billion, while its
actual expenditure amounted to R1.53 billion. An amount of R49 million was
unspent.
2.19.
A
major challenge is a lack of human capacity and a budget that is both
insufficient and unbalanced with high personnel expenditure that is not
supported by the necessary goods and services and capital budget. The high
vacancy rate (30.7%) has implications not only for service delivery, but also
has impacted on the NPA’s ability to spend the funds allocated to it.
2.20.
The
reasons given for difficulties in attracting and retaining personnel relate to
an inability to offer market related salaries and the dearth of appropriately
skilled staff. Also, vacancies slow down efforts to recruit more staff, as
operational units struggle to find time to recruit the personnel that are
needed to implement various projects and efforts. The high staff turnover,
especially of key managers, in Corporate Services has also negatively affected
its ability to provide the necessary support to the NPA’s operational units.
2.21.
For
the first time in five years, the NPA received a qualified audit report for
2006/07 from the Auditor-General. The basis for the qualified audit opinion is:
·
The
completeness, existence and valuation of assets and the accuracy of the closing
balance of the assets could not be confirmed because of the NPA’s ineffective
asset management.
·
The
operating and finance lease commitments were overstated by R40 million and R5
million respectively.
·
Intangible
assets amounting to R14 million was classified as current expenditure instead
of capital expenditure.
·
Commitments
were overstated by R10 million.
·
An
amount of R10 million was incorrectly accounted for as current expenditure.
5.1.
A
plan has been developed to systematically address the problems that resulted in
the qualified audit opinion.
5.2.
The
CFO also alerted the Committee to certain other challenges:
·
With
regard to asset management, the NPA is in the process of auditing and tagging
assets. This process should be completed by the end of March 2008.
·
Debt
management has been a serious problem but the position in 2007/08 should be
substantially improved as the NPA has put measures in place to stop the growth
of debt, especially cell phone abuse.
·
The
NPA’s budget is weighted towards personnel expenditure. Its non-personnel
budget, however, requires substantial additional funding (for fleet services,
accommodation, information technology, training and development and security
services).
·
The
failure of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to
reprioritise funds earlier in the financial year also impacts on the NPA’s
ability to spend additional funds that are allocated.
·
The
NPA has been largely unsuccessful in obtaining funding for new accommodation.
6.
Committee’s Response
6.1.
As
explained in section 1.4 above, the Committee has not had enough time to focus
on the NPA’s Annual Report, and our response is not as considered and thorough
as it might otherwise be.
6.2.
Overall,
given capacity and other constraints, the Committee feels that the NPA is
performing reasonably well and commends it on its work.
6.3.
The
comprehensiveness of the NPA’s report on its activities and performance during
the 2006/07 year under review is commendable. Despite the length of the Report
and some inconsistencies in the reporting of statistics, the information
contained in the report is generally clear, detailed and systematically set
out. Specifically, it provides:
·
Details
of performance against the targets as set out in the Estimates of National
Expenditure, as well as reasons for deviation. This allows the Committee to
readily determine whether the NPA has performed in line with Government’s plan
of action.
·
Both
actual figures and percentages relating to performance areas, making it easier
to ascertain whether performance has in fact improved or declined from one
reporting period to the next.
·
Data
for the past five reporting periods, which allows the Committee to evaluate
performance over the years.
6.4.
The
Committee also commends the NPA on its initiative in developing Strategy 2020.
However, although the Committee acknowledges that the NPA has developed annual
business plans to complement its Strategy 2020, it believes that there is need for the NPA to
adopt a three-year strategic plan that is linked to the Medium Term Expenditure
Framework (MTEF) cycle. The absence of a three year strategic plan was also
raised by the Auditor General in his report as not complying with National
Treasury regulations. The Committee expects that when we consider the next
Annual Report of the NPA, we will be provided with a three-year strategic plan
– or a sound explanation from the NPA as to why it feels that such plans are
unnecessary.
6.5.
The
Committee welcomes the many achievements of the NPA’s operational units in the
year under review:
6.5.1.
The
Committee, as in its other reports, expresses serious concern that
approximately 68% of cases are removed from the roll. The Committee has been
raising this matter with all the relevant stakeholders and wants to see aspects
of the new Criminal Justice System which address this speedily
implemented. The Committee acknowledges
though that the 85% conviction rate of cases that are in fact processed through the
High and Lower Courts is impressive. But conviction rates are only one measure
of performance, and the Committee is concerned that other measures of court
performance reveal a situation that is far less rosy. In particular, the high
proportion of cases withdrawn from the roll, the decrease in the number of
cases finalised, and the declining number of court hours sat indicate systemic problems that requires
close monitoring on the part of the Committee. The Committee would like to see
a system in place that makes it possible to track the progression of cases from
the time they are reported. This will also require that the NPA work closely
with SAPS in ensuring that its information systems are compatible.
6.5.2.
The
Committee welcomes Project Clean Up referred to in section 3.1.3 above in terms
of which prosecutors worked on Saturdays from November 2006 to March 2007, and
feels that consideration should be given to making this a permanent feature of
the NPA’s work. The Committee will explore the implications of this with the
NPA.
6.5.3.
The
Committee is also especially keen to see significant progress in addressing the
challenges of awaiting trial detainees.
6.5.4.
The
Committee congratulates SOCA on receiving international recognition for its
Thuthuzela Care Centres. The Committee is concerned that conviction rates for
sexual offences are so much lower than those for other crimes but notes that
this is not the case for sexual offences courts that form part of the
Thuthuzela Care Centres. It is pleased to learn that more of these Centres are
planned for the near future, is supportive of the NPA’s initiative in this
regard, and would be interested in receiving regular updates on progress made
in establishing the new Centres.
6.5.5.
The
Committee is impressed that the WPU is so highly regarded, being ranked within
the top 5 such units in the world, and commends it on the good work that it is
doing. It is a concern to the Committee that the Unit is operating in the
absence of senior managers.
6.5.6.
The
PCLU’s successful prosecution of the precedent-setting case against Messrs
Geige, Wisser and Krisch Engineering Co (Pty) Ltd is praiseworthy, as is the
excellent work it is doing flowing from its involvement in the Missing Persons’
Project.
6.5.7.
The
Committee welcomes the NPA’s initiative in developing a model for
prosecution-guided investigations based on international best practice. This
methodology has been used to good effect by the SCCU. This Unit achieved a 95%
conviction rate and successfully prosecuted several cases involving prominent
business people, NPA personnel, senior police officials, and other civil
servants.
6.5.8.
The
AFU has performed exceptionally well, and the Committee commends them on their
excellent work in finalising 242 cases and freezing assets worth 1.25 billion.
The Unit increased the number of forfeiture cases completed by 9.5% from 221 in
2005/06 to 242 in 2006/07, and the value of new seizures increased
significantly to close to R1.3 billion. Almost R20 million was paid into the
Criminal Assets Recovery Account.
6.5.9.
The
Committee acknowledges that the DSO has done good work despite having serious
constraints relating to a lack of capacity. Of course, the DSO’s positive
performance is overshadowed by the criticisms that have been directed at it
including that it responsible for media leaks, has been operating outside its
mandate, is being used for political purposes and that members of its staff
have been operating without having obtained the necessary clearances. The
Committee feels that the DSO has to urgently and effectively respond to these
criticisms and engage with its adversaries in this regard. The Committee,
however, accepts that the majority of the staff of the DSO
are hard-working and dedicated and are acting within their legal mandate
– and, whatever the future of the DSO, efforts should be made to retain their
services. The Committee feels that the DSO certainly needs to improve its image
in key sections of the public.
6.6.
The
Committee feels that the NPA should carefully interrogate its own role in the
barrage of criticism it has received of late. Specifically on the issue of
media leaks, despite hearing the
measures the NPA has put in place to stem media leaks concerning its
investigations and cases, the Committee remains unconvinced that enough is
being done to address the problem.
6.7.
The
Committee believes that it is not in the national interest that the NPA
continue to be undermined. It believes that Parliament has a vital role to play
in providing a forum where difficult issues can be addressed in a constructive
manner.
6.8.
The
Committee believes that much more needs to be done to develop a unifying brand
for the NPA that identifies it to the public in a way that is compelling.
6.9.
The
Committee welcomes the appointment of the Chief Financial Officer, Mr Brian
Graham, but notes that other key positions are being filled by persons in an
acting capacity. The Committee heard repeatedly of the difficulties posed by
high vacancy and turnover rates within the NPA. A complicating factor is that
most of the posts are filled from within the NPA itself. This implies that the
NPA’s ability to attract suitably experienced external applicants is limited.
The issue of vacancies is of concern as it threatens the NPA’s ability to
deliver its services effectively and efficiently. While the Committee heard
that the filling of vacancies has been prioritised, it would be interested to
see progress in this regard, the challenges notwithstanding.
6.10.
Despite
many of its operational units complaining of a lack of budgetary resources, the
NPA underspent by almost R50 million in the financial year under review. The
Chief Financial Officer also highlighted problems in the manner in which the
budget is structured, as well as other challenges relating to financial
matters.
6.11.
The
NPA received a qualified audit from the Auditor-General for the 2006/07 year
(more details of the Auditor-General’s concerns can be found in the section 5
above on financial matters). The Committee is extremely concerned this has
occurred for the first time in five years. While reasons were given to the
Committee for the NPA having obtained a qualified audit opinion and the
Committee received the assurance that the problems highlighted by the
Auditor-General are already being addressed, it intends to monitor progress
made in this regard.
6.12.
The
Committee will evaluate the NPA’s next Annual Report against the goals the NPA
has identified for itself as contained in this report and hopes to see
significant progress in regard to them.
7.
Acknowledgements
7.1.
The
Committee thanks the Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions and all
those from the NPA who appeared before it for their co-operation.
7.2.
The
Committee acknowledges with appreciation the very valuable work done by Ms
Christine Silkstone in shaping this report.
Report to be considered.