Minister 's Oral Replies to Questions of Members of Parliament
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 39
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
Date reply submitted : 4 March 2010
39. Mr V B Ndlovu (IFP) to ask the Minister of Police:
On which provision of the Constitution does the shoot-to-kill policy rely?
NO380E
REPLY:
SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1The South African Police Service does not have a “shoot-to-kill policy”. Shoot to kill is a in fact the invention of the media
The policy of the South African Police Service is as follows:
If the life of a member or the life of any other person is in danger and there is no other way for the member to protect himself or herself or the other person whose life is in danger, but to shoot at the person who is posing the danger, the member may use his or her firearm to shoot at the person posing the danger.
Should this result in the death of the person posing the danger, the action of the member will be justified as self-defense in terms of the law. This is in line with section 11 of the Constitution.
Police officers who are confronted or faced with violent armed criminals have been instructed to defend themselves and citizens where necessary.
Reply to question 39 approved by the Minister
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 37
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
37. Mr L Ramatlakane (Cope) to ask the Minister of Police:
(1) Whether his department has kept a record of the number of fatal shootings by members of the SA Police Service in line with the shoot-to-kill policy of Government; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details of each case;
(2) whether all the victims were identified criminals; if not,
(3) whether the Government is being sued by (a) the public or (b) family members of the victims; if so, what are the relevant details in each case;
(4) whether any (a) claims (i) have been settled and (ii) are still outstanding and (b) money has been saved by his department due to such settlement; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
NO378E
REPLY:
1. As stated in response to question 39 there is no “shoot to kill” policy in the department and “shoot to kill” is a creation of the media.
The ICD investigated 367 incidents of fatal shootings for the period 1 April 2009 – 31 December 2009, in the execution of its mandate in terms of section 53(2) of the South African Police Service Act, 1995 (Act 68 of 1995),
2. 359 of the victims were suspects and where Police officers acted in self defense the while 8 were innocent bystanders.
3. Shooting incidents may result in Government being sued but this cannot be equated to any policy to shoot to kill as there is not such policy in place.
4. Given that there is no shoot to kill policy in place it is impossible to give any information on civil claims based on a policy that does not exist.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 34
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
34. Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Police:
Whether the public will be informed about steps (a) implemented to investigate the matter and (b) that will be taken against police officers and other agents who infringed the Constitutional rights of a certain student (name furnished) ; if not, why not, if so, when, in each case?
NO375E
REPLY:
I am aware that the individual has decided to bring a civil case against the police I am therefore unable to comment on this matter
Reply to question no 34 approved and signed by the MINISTER OF POLICE
Date: 27 February 2010
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 28
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
Date reply submitted : 4 March 2010
28. Mrs D A Schäfer (DA) to ask the Minister of Police:
Whether he or his department has put any measures in place to deal with human trafficking (a) in general and (b) in light of the threats posed regarding the 2010 Fifa World Cup Soccer tournament; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
NO365E
REPLY:
This is one of the Priority Crimes and the DPCI are dealing with the matter. We are confident given the work being done by the DPCI that we will be in a position to deal with any increase in type of crime during the FIFA World Cup.
Reply to question no 28 approved by the Minister
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 26
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
Date reply submitted : 4 March 2010
26. Mrs D A Schafer (DA) to ask the Minister of Police:
(1) How many SA Police Service (SAPS) members were charged as a result of criminal actions from 1 January to 31 December 2009, (b) how many were convicted of the crimes they were charged with and (c) what are the (i) names, (ii) ranks and (iii) charges of such members;
(2) whether the members charged are still working within the SAPS; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
NO376E
REPLY:
‘I have stated in responding to written question 36 that no person with criminal records may be recruited into SAPS. I also stated in my answer to this question that in December 2009 a comprehensive audit was initiated to address whether this policy was being followed.
In addition two weeks ago during a meeting between the Ministry of Police and opposition parties I informed opposition parties about the audit and the steps were being taken to address this matter.
I therefore requests that the Honorable member to wait for the outcome of this audit.
Reply to question 26 approved by the Minister
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 21
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
Date reply submitted : 4 March 2010
21. Mr T W Coetzee (DA) to ask the Minister of Police:
Whether he has launched an investigation into the conduct of the VIP Protection Unit with regard to the arrest of a certain University of Cape Town student (name furnished); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
NO358E
REPLY:
I am unable to comment on this matter as the individual has stated that that he has launched a civil claim against the department
Reply to question 21 approved by the Minister
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 17
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
Date reply submitted : 4 March 2010
17. Ms M A Molebatsi (ANC) to ask the Minister of Police:
How will the increase by 10% of the members of the SA Police Service be managed together with the strategy for the retraining of police officers?
NO354E
REPLY:
SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1In the State of the Nation Address of 11 February 2010, the President indicated the following:
“We are implementing plans to increase the number of police men and women by 10% over the next three years”
The appointment of new trainees over the medium term is planned to total + 17 539 comprising of 6 144 in 2010/2011, 6 648 in 2011/2012 and 4 747 in 2012/2013.
The anticipated 10% appointment of new members is over a 3-year period which should leave sufficient room for intensifying other training initiatives such as training and retraining of certain members in in-service training as well as management and leadership training. (In fact, the annual training of new enlistments in previous years was more and because the new enlistments from 2010/2011 will be significantly less, the opportunity to retrain will increase, especially over the multi terms period).
Training of the South African Police Service members for the Tactical Response Teams (TRT) to deal with medium to high risk incidents in the Police Station clusters will also be prioritized. Firearm training will also be enhanced to ensure that SAPS members are capacitated to defend themselves and the community they serve.
Priorities will also be given to training of detectives in general and specialized investigations, including the training of detectives attached to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI/Hawks). The South African Police Service will also continue to capacitate the Criminal Record Centre and Forensic environments by training additional personnel and capacity building of Crime Scene experts at cluster level.
All newly appointed Station Commanders will be developed in the Station Management Learning Programme (SMLP) to ensure improved service delivery. Capacity building in the Dog environment will also be enhanced by the training and retraining of dog handlers.
Reply to question 17 approved by the Minister
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 16
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
Date reply submitted : 4 March 2010
16. Ms A van Wyk (ANC) to ask the Minister of Police:
(1) What is the (a) policy with regard to and (b) purpose of funding community police forums;
(2) whether the decision to fund them or not can be taken by premiers or members of executive committees (MECs); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
NO353E
REPLY:
1(a) The establishment and functioning of Community Police Forums (CPFs) are statutory responsibilities of the relevant members of the Executive Council (MEC) and the South African Police Service. In terms of section 19 of the South African Police Service Act, 1995 a Provincial Commissioner is, subject to the directions of the relevant MEC, responsible for establishing community police forums (CPFs).
The Constitution of the Republic enjoins each province to promote good relations between the police and the community and the CPFs are the statutory vehicles to engage in this exercise. The State, therefore, has a responsibility to ensure that the CPFs are funded to function properly.
The funding of CPFs has been on 2 levels. Provincial Departments of Safety receive significant budgets and part of these budgets have been used to fund crime prevention, community mobilisation and community partnership projects that have involved CPFs. The South African Police Service provides administrative and logistical support to CPF office-bearers in addition to providing funding for certain community policing projects that are run by the police.
The Civilian Secretariat for Police has been working closely with the CPF Board and SAPS towards developing a clear and effective policy on CPF including funding.
(1)(b) Funding that is provided is to enable the CPFs to meet their statutory mandate that includes, amongst others, –
(i) establishing and maintaining a partnership between the community and the police;
(ii) promoting co-operation between the police and the community in fulfilling the needs of the community regarding policing;
(iii) promoting joint problem identification and problem-solving by the police and the community.
(2) The decision to fund CPFs at a provincial level is taken by the Provincial government through offices of MECs. The promotion of good relations between the police and the community is a constitutional mandate of each Province. The law also empowers the MEC to provide directions to the Provincial Commissioner on the establishment of CPFs and this power can be used to enable the provincial departments of safety to provide funding to CPFs. Most provinces fund CPF is one way or another.
I am aware that one provincial government department is considering the withdrawal of all funding of CPFs and this is a matter of concern for the Ministry.
Whilst I acknowledge that the Ministry has no control over how provincial departments of safety spend their budgets, I would encourage the provinces to continue funding the CPFs and not to take steps to withdraw this funding.
Question 16 approved by the Minister
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 15
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
Date reply submitted : 4 March 2010
15. Mrs L S Chikunga (ANC) to ask the Minister of Police:
(a) What was the purpose of the police function in Bloemfontein and (b) how many police officers attended the function?
NO352E
REPLY:
(a) The South African Police Service Act, 1995(Act No 68 of 1995) was promulgated on 27 January 1995. Given the anniversary of the SAPS, the essential role the SAPS plays in providing for the safety and security for all people in South Africa, and in honour of the sacrifices members make in providing this service, Cabinet declared 27 January annually as the date to celebrate a National Police Day for South Africa.
The National Commissioner in consultation with his national and provincial management took a decision to celebrate National Police Day for 2010 on the 29 January 2010. We hosted this day to amongst others, to thank members of the SAPS for their dedication, and hard work because we understand the kind of environments they work under more especially for the members that served the country over the festive season period of 2009.
(b) An event with the theme “SAPS members, my family” was hosted at the Vodacom Stadium, Bloemfontein and approximately 42 000 members of all Provinces and Divisions attended this event on 29 January 2010.
Reply to question no 15 approved by the Minister
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR ORAL REPLY
QUESTION NO 2
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 23 FEBRUARY 2010
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3- 2010)
2. Rev K R J Meshoe (ACDP) to ask the Minister of Police:
(1) Whether any police officers have been arrested and successfully prosecuted in the past five years for aiding in the theft of, or stealing, confiscated drugs from storerooms of the Pretoria Forensic Science Laboratory; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, how many were (a) arrested, (b) charged and (c) successfully prosecuted;
(2) whether the stolen drugs were recovered; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
NO334E
REPLY:
(1) After receiving reports in February 2010 regarding the disappearance
of confiscated drugs from the Pretoria Forensic Science Laboratory storerooms, I instructed the DPCI (Hawks) to conduct a full investigation into the matter. The investigation is still at an early stage.
(2) No. The drugs have not yet been recovered.
