SAPS 2022/23 Annual Performance Plan; with Deputy Minister

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Police

20 April 2022
Chairperson: Ms T Joemat-Pettersson (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

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2022/23 Annual Performance Plan

In a virtual meeting, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) briefed the Committee on their 2022/23 annual performance plans and the budget allocations.

The SAPS presentation highlighted the additional R5.8 billion allocated over the medium-term expenditure framework period to rejuvenate and improve policing capacity through the appointment of police trainees and the absorption of those who had concluded their training into the ranks of the constables. The compensation of employees remained the largest driver of spending, constituting more than 78% of the total budget for 2022/23.

The DPCI presentation focused on the emerging priorities and estimated budget of the DPCI. For the 2022/23 financial year, the directorate had received a total of R2.176 billion, which represented 10.48% of the total of R20.760 billion allocated to Detective Services.

The Members raised concerns about the appalling conditions encountered by police recruits being trained in Kimberley; the high percentage of SAPS vehicles that were unserviceable; corruption among the lower echelons at police stations; the need to accommodate police in quarters close to their work locations, rather than among the communities for safety reasons and the lack of action against well-known criminals and high profile politicians. They asked about allegations of police collusion with crime syndicates and drug lords; experienced senior police members resigning because corrupt colleagues were not facing consequence management; the challenges in registering firearms on the Central Firearms Registry; the lack of response from the SAPS 10111 call number; and the availability of only one police helicopter to assist in the KwaZulu-Natal flood operations.

The Chairperson said the SAPS had to leverage technology to combat crime and be more efficient. The lack of technology would further jeopardise the successful implementation of the Safer Cities framework. 

Meeting report

Ms Babalwa Mbengo, Committee Secretary, noted an apology from the Minister, as he would be visiting the families and communities where people were gunned down. Ms S Patrein (ANC) was on maternity leave. The Chairperson said that Ms B Marekwa (ANC) had also sent an apology as she was on oversight.

The Committee's minutes of 30 March 2022 were considered and adopted.

Chairperson's opening remarks

The Chairperson said that the meeting was to analyse the 2022/23 annual performance plan (APP) and budget allocation of the South African Police Service (SAPS). This was one of the largest budgets in the country. As the Committee dealt with the APP and budget allocations, it had to bear in mind that it had reached the mid-term, and it had to do a mid-term review and analysis. She asked Ms Nicolette van Zyl-Gous, the Committee’s Acting Content Advisor and Researcher, to make a template to track resolutions and decisions of the Committee, where those decisions that had been implemented would be coded in green and those that were a work in progress would be coded in orange. All outstanding matters would be coded in red.

The Committee had to evaluate how far the SAPS had come before it appeared before it and since commitments had been made. It needed a template indicating whether what had been said would be done had been implemented. It was now moving towards the last half of the term of office of this Portfolio Committee.

The APP of SAPS provided measurable performance indicators and targets against which the Committee could measure the performance and service delivery outputs at the end of the financial year. The SAPS had received a main appropriation of R100.69 billion in 2022/23, a slight, nominal increase of R221.5 million, or 0.2%, compared to the previous financial year. The Department's allocation in real terms had decreased by R4.1 billion. For the second year, the largest decrease in the budget allocation was in its core service delivery programme -- Visible Policing.

This Committee had to look at the reduction in Visible Policing when the country needed to have more visible policing. The programme appropriation had decreased by R508.3 million in nominal terms compared to the previous year. Despite the significant challenges faced in the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) sub-programme, the sub-programme allocation had been reduced from R1.57 billion to R1.5 billion, and the successful management of the FSLs had yet to be seen.

On 15 March 2020, the President had declared the Covid-19 pandemic a National Disaster. The biggest impact of the Covid-19 lockdown regulations was on the SAPS's spending performance, specifically on the movement of personnel and training interventions. Furthermore, procurement processes and spending on buildings and infrastructure had been severely affected.

Shortly after the appointment of the new National Commissioner, Gen Fannie Masemola had highlighted his priorities, which were:

  • enhancing community-police relations, morale and integrity of SAPS members;
  • the safety of police officers and the ongoing attacks on them;
  • the DNA backlog in the FSLs;
  • the backlog at the Central Firearms Registry (CFR);
  • the filling of critical vacancies in environments such as Crime Intelligence and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI);
  • advanced and refresher training of members;
  • damage to critical infrastructure and extortion at constructions sites; and
  • intensifying efforts to reduce cash-in-transit heist robberies.

The expert panel report on the July 2021 civil unrest had made certain recommendations. Amongst them were the reestablishment of Community Policing Forums (CPFs), the development of a National Security Strategy, and serious concerns about the breakdown of law and order in society.

In the State of the Nation Address (SONA), the President had specifically mentioned gender-based violence (GBV). The SAPS should indicate what was being done differently at gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) hotspot stations compared to other police stations countrywide. SAPS should provide details on the one-plan approach.

She informed the Committee that there was a message from the Speaker and House Chairperson and the Deputy President that Ministers were expected in Cabinet every second week and would thus be available to the committees during the times when their Cabinet committees were not meeting. The Deputy Ministers would be sent to the committees to deputise for the Ministers.

Deputy Minister’s comments

Mr Cassel Mathale, Deputy Minister of Police, said it was always an honour for SAPS to appear before the Committee to report on what it was expected to do and account for issues that the Committee had raised. The SAPS had taken note of the Chairperson's opening remarks and would ensure that all of the commitments that were made to the Committee would be carried through.

National Commissioner’s comments

Gen Fannie Masemola informed the Committee that the SAPS had lost a member, Sergeant Mjwara, in the call of duty while doing rescues in Pietermaritzburg. She had passed away in hospital and her dog had drowned. The SAPS had also lost another female sergeant from Durban Central, off duty and during the floods.

SAPS Annual Performance Plan 2022/23

Lt Gen Puleng Dimpane, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), presented the estimates of national expenditure for 2022. She highlighted the following:

• An additional R5.8 billion was allocated over the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) to rejuvenate and improve policing capacity through the appointment of police trainees and the absorption of those who had concluded their training into constables.

• Departmental spending over the medium term would be concerning the core programmes, with Visible Policing having a more than 51% weight of the total Vote in 2022/23.

• The Detective Service programme in weight was also a significant portion, with more than 20%.

• Compensation of employees (COE) would remain the largest driver of spending, constituting more than 78% of the total budget.

• Operational expenditure, including goods and services, transfer payments and payments for capital assets, comprised less than 22% of the total budget.

• The growth rate for the Vote from 2021/22 to 2024/25 was 2.7%, with no real growth if inflation was discounted. The average growth rate was affected by substantial budget reductions in the previous MTEF, especially on the COE, but additional funding allocated over the MTEF would eliminate estimated reduced numbers and allow recovery to some extent.

Brigadier Craig Mitchell, Section Head: Planning and Strategic Management, presented the revised MTEF for 2019-2024 and the national annual strategic plan for 2022/23. He described the key considerations impacting the 2022/23 AP and the measurement of performance in terms of programme-specific budget allocations and performance information.

(See presentation for detail)

DPCI Annual Performance Plan 2022/23

Lt Gen Godfrey Lebeya, National Head, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), presented the clear reporting requirements by the DPCI to Parliament for oversight; a breakdown of the performance indicators for 2022/23; emerging priorities; and the directorate's estimated budget.

The SAPS APP reported on the performance indicators covering serious organised crime investigation, serious commercial crime investigation, serious corruption investigation and priority crime specialised investigation. In addition, the DPCI had also prioritised monitoring the conviction rate annually because it was critical to know whether the cases taken to court were successfully prosecuted.

For the 2022/23 financial year, the DPCI had received a total of R2.176 billion, which was 10.48% of R20.760 billion allocated to Programme 3, Detective Services. There was an increase of 4.67% from the previous 2021/22 allocation of R2.079 billion to R2.176 billion for the 2022/23 financial year.

(See presentation for detail)

Discussion

Mr M Shaik Emam (NFP) asked that the National Commissioner and Deputy Minister comment on the crisis happening in Kimberley regarding the trainees. He asked if there were any interventions because there had been a cry that the conditions for training were horrific.

He said that the performance indicators that the Department had presented did not really address the reality on the ground, which was not entirely the fault of the Department itself, but as a country. It did not consider the yearly increase of the population, as the budget allocations had not increased accordingly. It also did not consider the high unemployment rate, the high number of undocumented foreigners in the country, dysfunctional families, etc. Such factors had a massive impact on the performance of the SAPS.

He observed that the quality and performance of policing differed with the different echelons of policing. The problem with the quality of service and performance of policing seemed at the lower echelons of policing, such as police stations. This was where corruption was rife, and the DPCI should be commended for the syndicates they had brought down. He said that the 10 111 call number was non-existent and did not work. It had been raised time and again that more must be done with the limited resources. There had been discussions about a mechanism to monitor the movement of motor vehicles to track the officers. The abuse was rife, but it had never been done at station level.

Given greater success at the higher echelons of policing and not the lower levels, there was a problem with the quality of officers. It meant that the people who were recruited did not necessarily have a passion for policing but entered policing because they needed a job. The SAPS was losing a lot of its skilled people, and one of the root causes was in the system of promotion. There were frequent complaints from people stuck in one position for 20 or 25 years without even being considered for a promotion. He questioned why people were not appointed based on their capacity and ability to perform.

He expressed concern that police officers did dangerous work and were expected to live with criminals in the townships. He asked what had happened to the system in place that used to accommodate police officers in police quarters closer to their work so that they were not at risk. He recalled that police officers were not even able to come to work during the civil unrest, and some lost their lives because criminals attacked them.

In terms of support systems, he said that if a police officer were not well at home, that police officer would not be able to perform. The Provincial Commissioner of the Western Cape had always been available to intervene immediately. He recalled a couple fighting and even though both worked as police officers, nothing was done until the Provincial Commissioner intervened and the matter had since been resolved. The Wellness Programme was not effective, and the lifestyle audits on police officers needed to be enhanced at the local level. The quality of service did not relate to expenditure because too much emphasis was on performance indicators instead of being practical on the ground and considering the challenges.

He recalled that the Committee had once suggested doing some research on detectives stationed at particular police stations that investigated the same suspects or criminals to see whether there were patterns of collusion and corruption. He questioned what had happened to the rotational system, where police officers should not be stuck at one police station for a long time. He said that the police officers had a very difficult task because they were expected to prevent crime and deal with crime afterwards. He asked whether the SAPS were really engaging with the other stakeholders in the criminal justice system because time and again, police officers were complaining that they made the arrests and a few hours later, the people were out on bail and the cases were being thrown out.

Dr P Groenewald (FF+) congratulated Gen Masemola on his appointment as the National Commissioner. His priorities were the correct analysis of the situation and should be considered priorities. He observed that the National Commissioner had two years to go before he reached 60. In terms of the SAPS Act, he would not be able to continue with his position unless the National Assembly took a resolution to extend this for another two years. He asked the National Commissioner if he expected to achieve his priorities and objectives within two years.

While he clearly did not want to imply that the members of the SAPS should not receive well-paid salaries, the COE took 78.6% of the total budget, which was far too high for a budget of almost R100 billion, as this meant that only about R20 billion could be allocated to operational issues. What steps could be taken to reduce the percentage of the compensation as far as the budget was concerned? He noted that there were 12 000 new recruits and asked how many of them were currently undergoing training. He observed that the newspapers reported very poor living conditions for the new recruits undergoing training in Kimberley and asked for an update on this.

On the SAPS Educational Trust Fund, he asked for an explanation for the significant decrease in the number of applications received for 2022. It seemed that there had been only 20 applications. Had the outstanding 203 bursaries for the 2020 academic year been paid? Did these bursaries cover primary, secondary and tertiary education? If so, he asked for a breakdown of these numbers. The Committee sympathised when police members were killed, and this fund was specifically for the relatives when members were killed. The fund was of utmost importance because the welfare of the families was dependent on these bursaries to at least ensure a proper education for the children.

The Committee had previously received a presentation from the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) on the Central Firearms Registry (CFR), which had said then that it would be a week for everything to be 100% working concerning the registration of firearms on the system. He was aware that it was not online and not yet working. He asked for clarity on this matter. He asked why the provincial CFRs could not also approve or disapprove certain licences and carry out such processes. He was flooded with complaints from members of the public who were firearm owners waiting for their firearm licences. Some had been approved, but the applicants had not received the licence card. He had himself waited for more than a year before receiving approval for the renewal of his firearm.

The Committee had had long discussions on the DNA tests and forensics, particularly where the Forensic Data Analysts (FDA) was concerned, as it was the previous service provider. He recalled that he had questioned what would happen with the outstanding matters with the court cases. He also recalled asking about the samples that the FDA had withheld because they were not paid and asked what had happened to those samples because he was aware that the FDA were on their way to court. This would cost the Department money, and the samples would not be released until the cases had been completed. He asked for an update on this and questioned what preventative steps would be taken to ensure that those samples would be released. He expressed concern that the samples would then be of such a nature that they would not stand up in a court case, and because of this, there would be victims of crime who would not receive justice.

He referred to the age of the National Head of the DPCI and asked whether the National Assembly had approved his term of office for another two years. He asked for an update on the specific details of the arson that had taken place at Parliament if there would be further court cases, and how long it would take for investigations to be completed. He also asked for an update on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) - how many cases were at the DPCI, and how many cases were finalised.

Rev K Meshoe (ACDP) congratulated Gen Masemola and trusted that his two years as the National Commissioner would change the image of the SAPS on matters that were not pleasant to hear. One of the unfortunate matters that he had heard of over the past few days was particular individuals, companies and a political party contributing to the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) flood victims, saying that they did not trust government and that donations should rather go to the Gift of the Givers. There were also comments from people saying that they did not trust the police. He asked the National Commissioner if he was aware of the reputation that the police had and what he planned to do to change this perception or reality that people had regarding the image of the police.

There had been a notable increase in the number of private security companies, as more people were turning towards them because they did not trust the police. When police were called to an emergency, some arrived only after two hours. There were even allegations that police members who had an interest or shares in private security companies were deliberately ensuring that crime was not brought under control in their areas so that these private security companies could do the work of the police. He urged that this perception had to change and that the members of the public should trust the police. He reiterated that it was not an exaggeration to say that 10 111 was useless because there had been numerous occasions when people had called that number and the call went unanswered, or they were told that there was a shortage of vans or it would take three hours for police to respond. It was frustrating. He asked what was being done to ensure that 10 111 would assure people that if they called that number, they would receive help.

A number of experienced personnel had left the police service, and some were pleased to leave because of the conditions of service, particularly those who were anti-corruption and could see that their colleagues were involved with corruption but were getting away with it. This demoralised those who wanted to do their job. There were a number of policemen and women who were saluted for doing an excellent job, but when such people saw their colleagues doing wrong and getting away with it, they would leave when they got another opportunity because it demoralised them to see corrupt police being retained.

There was concern that there was knowledge of who had started the July 2021 civil unrest, and there had been no serious convictions. He asked that the National Head of the DPCI elaborate on these civil unrest cases because there had been no convictions of those who were alleged to have been involved. He also referred to the prosecution of high-profile individuals, particularly politicians, saying it was a fact that it was mostly people in junior positions within departments who got arrested and prosecuted, while there were cases of high-profile politicians that had been in the public space for more than five years but nothing had happened. He questioned if the HAWKS were scared of some of these politicians and why they were dragging their feet in these high-profile cases because they seemed to be happy to pounce on the cases of ordinary officials.

Mr O Terblanche (DA) congratulated the new National Commissioner and said he should be allowed a proper opportunity to settle in, but the baton had been passed to him and he would unfortunately have to take responsibility for the past and do something about it. He was impressed that the SAPS presentation had been very well compiled. The presentation mentioned many strategies and proposed plans and asked to what extent these strategies and proposed plans were implemented and the impact. The presentation mentioned a court case that the SAPS had won against firearm owners. He wanted to know what had happened to address the concerns of those persons because the situation at the CFR was very concerning. The Committee spent many hours dealing with the CFR and had visited the building, but the situation had not changed a lot.

The presentation had referred to wonderful plans, but when one visited the police stations, it was very clear that there was very little impact on the ground. It was worrying to see the level of expertise that officers at some police stations had -- for instance, they did not know the legislation of this country, they did not know how to help or they were just not available. He had previously raised a complaint that when one phoned the station commanders in some districts, it was impossible to get hold of somebody who could answer one's question or respond to something. He referred to the "I Have a Dream Speech" by Martin Luther King and said that he also had a dream that these plans would be implemented and that change would ultimately be seen.

It was quite interesting to see that the budget for Visible Policing had an increase of only 1%, while the VIP Protection Services had a better increase than Visible Policing. He said that contact crimes must decrease by 50% at some point, but he had not seen any progress. There were complaints from the public that the police knew the drug lords in some areas. He questioned why the police did not act against these drug lords.

He said an inspection had been carried out by the MEC for Safety and Security in KZN, and a significant number of police stations appeared to be dysfunctional for two main reasons -- the appalling condition of the infrastructure and the lack of vehicles. He asked for an update on whether SAPS received a report from the MEC and what was done about this.

He reiterated the concern that there were a lot of recruits in training facilities that were not conducive to training and were in an appalling condition. He asked for feedback on this matter.

He concurred with the previous remarks about the outcry from the public that one did not see action being taken against well-known criminals or high-profile politicians. He agreed that there was a perception that nothing happened with these cases.

There had been concerns raised that policing must be brought nearer to the people, but apparently, the SAPS had been able to complete only two police stations in the previous financial year.

Mr H Shembeni (EFF) asked how far SAPS was with the recruitment and training of the 12 000 SAPS personnel. He had received a number of telephone calls from trainees who had done their assessments but had not received feedback thereafter as to whether they had failed the assessments. He asked that the National Commissioner look into the recruitment panel to determine what was happening because nepotism seemed rife. There had been complaints that the children or relatives of senior management were being recruited. There were still complaints from reservists who said they had been left out and had not received a response from SAPS after doing assessments and medical examinations. He suggested that perhaps SAPS should do away with the reservists and employ people who would work as police officers. Police officers should be screened and not just be employed to solve the unemployment situation. As far as he remembered, policing used to be a calling, but it was no longer a calling today.

On the research that would be conducted over the short-term to determine the extent to which the SAPS was executing its constitutional mandate, he said that the Minister should indicate what had informed the decision to conduct this research and what the expected outcome was. A short-term priority was the reinstatement of the SAPS fitness programme. When and why was this programme stopped? How did the SAPS currently ensure the fitness of its operational members? The fitness programme was very important and had been done in the olden days to keep the police officers fit to run after criminals.

He asked about the current status and the capacity of the SAPS garages. What was the average time that the SAPS vehicles spent in these garages? How many vehicles were currently in the SAPS garages that were not operational for policing? He had previously raised a concern that Gauteng had more than 1 158 vehicles in the SAPS garages that were not operational. This is because the management of these state garages was allegedly using state money to buy parts to repair private cars. There was no inspection at these state garages, and there should have been unannounced inspection visits at the state garages to see what was happening with the vehicles.

He asked that the SAPS provide details on the resources required at the top 30 contact crime police stations to reduce violent crimes. He recalled that he had once suggested that it was important that those station commanders be invited to the Committee to discuss the exact problems they were facing at those stations.

Mr A Seabi (ANC) agreed that the presentations had been well structured. He referred to the priorities of the National Commissioner, specifically the filling of vacancies in Crime Intelligence. He asked if there had been progress in this area, particularly for the Head of Crime Intelligence. He asked about the status of the organisational restructuring process.

He said he did not see enough emphasis on doing away with under-spending. He had also not seen an information communication technology (ICT) plan because he recalled that during the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) inquiry into the July 2021 civil unrest, one of the issues that had been raised was the non-synchronisation of radios. He had observed that the target for implementing digital radio communication infrastructure sites had been removed from the APP and perhaps replaced with something else. In a number of previous Committee meetings, the Deputy Minister had referred to legislative provisions that would allow the SAPS to opt out of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) arrangement. He asked for clarity on this as there had been a lot of disappointments from SITA.

He asked what proportion of stolen or illegal firearms recovered was unidentifiable or without serial numbers. Were the SAPS confident that the three performance indicators related to firearms were adequate to improve the regulation of firearms in South Africa?

Dr Groenewald asked that the Committee get an update on the SAPS air wing. He was aware that with the disaster in KZN, Durban had only one helicopter available and Bloemfontein had three helicopters, but only one was operational. In the instance of the disaster, it seemed that there were no helicopters when needed. He asked for an update on the number of operational aircraft in the SAPS.

Rev Meshoe said that during the July 2021 riots, there had been instances of some police begging and retreating from groups of people that confronted them. After things had calmed down, he asked some of the police officers why they had not responded when confronted. Some police officers said that it was because they used the same public transport as those who had confronted them, so they were scared. He questioned how the police could do their work if they were scared and if there was a fear factor amongst the police. One of the police officers said that if one shot in defence, the seniors would distance themselves and not even listen to one's side of the story. With this perception amongst the police, he questioned how the police were expected to bring crime under control. He asked why the killing of police officers was not classified as a crime against the state.

Mr Shembeni asked about the current state of the training academies in terms of the infrastructure and trainers available. It had been reported that SAPS had 314 trainers available across all training facilities, and he asked if this was enough. The SAPS should present its 2022 training schedule model to the Committee to assess whether this model was implementable. He asked about the status of the organisational restructuring process. According to the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC) Agreement 1 of 2020, the restructuring had to be completed by 2023/24.

SAPS had included a performance indicator to increase compliance with taking buccal samples from Schedule 8 arrested offenders. The 2022/23 target was to bring compliance to 75%, but the 2020 proclamation by the President compelled the SAPS to take buccal samples from all Schedule 8 offenders. He asked why this target had been set below 100%.

He asked when the last security audit and evaluation had been concluded in Parliament and what the findings and recommendations were.

The Chairperson read Ms Z Majozi’s (IPF) question from a message where she had requested feedback regarding a matter she had raised about police who sent in complaints. The complaints had been sent to the former National Commissioner, so there would need to be a system to ensure that they did not fall through the cracks and that the enquiries, complaints and matters of emphasis sent to the former National Commissioner were attended to. The Committee would follow up to ensure a smooth handover from the former to the current National Commissioner's office.

Deputy Minister’s comment

Deputy Minister Mathale referred to the comment on the National Head of the DPCI contract and said that the ministry was dealing with this matter. There had been discussions on the legal opinion generated from the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS) and an external opinion. The Chairperson would be updated on how the Department was dealing with this matter as soon as the internal processes concluded.

Chairperson’s comments

The Chairperson asked that the National Commissioner provide her with a comprehensive response on the progress of the following five matters before the end of the month. The first was the approval of the extension of the National Head of the DPCI’s contract. Secondly, there were many recruits in Kimberley but no attention being given to their wellbeing and welfare. She had received many complaints over the Easter weekend and pleaded that the SAPS management urgently sorted out the matter in Kimberley. She was from Kimberley, and it was a huge embarrassment for her that the recruits there were not well treated, and the local newspapers had reported on the conditions in which they were accommodated and the food they were eating. Thirdly, she asked that the appointment for the head for Crime Intelligence be fast tracked. Fourthly, she asked that the FSLs be sorted out and she would provide a list that had to be done immediately. The fifth matter referred to the CFR because more than 500 000 people with illegal firearms in the country. SITA had been before the Committee and said that the matter of the CFR would have been sorted out, so she would call the chief executive officer (CEO) of SITA back to the Committee because he had misled them.

SAPS' response

Gen Masemola said that he had taken note of the five matters that he would need to respond to. The concerns about the training in Kimberley had kept SAPS awake. There had been engagements in Kimberley over the long weekend, and there would be a report on the situation.

Regarding the comments raised by Mr Shaik Emam about the practicality of the key performance indicators, he said that as SAPS developed a new APP, it would engage with a number of stakeholders, including external stakeholders and the Committee.

On why provincial CFRs could not approve firearm licences, he said that the provinces currently did approve firearms licences, but only in terms of renewals of Section 13 firearm licences for self-defence.

He responded to Rev Meshoe’s concern about the image of the police. He said that improving the morale and image of the police was an objective of the SAPS team, which included the resuscitation of the fitness programme. The fitness programme had been in place two years ago but was brought to a halt by the Covid-19 pandemic. SAPS would ensure that the fitness programme was resuscitated. It was also looking into the Employee Health and Wellness (EHW) programmes to improve the morale of the police.

On the comment that police members were afraid of taking action, he said police members were trained in the circumstances under which they could use their firearms. When the members used their firearms according to the prescribed legislation, the management would support the subsequent court case and litigation.

He said SAPS had not yet received the report on the inspection done by the MEC for Safety and Security in KZN but had taken note of the matters raised, such as the appalling condition of police stations and police vehicles that were not serviced. SAPS had embarked on decentralising SAPS garages on 1 April, so the garages would no longer be controlled at the national level but rather by the provincial commissioners. SAPS was also looking into enhancing the service of the SAPS garages so that it was a 24-hour service because the police service worked 24-hours. If some repairs could be done overnight, this would reduce the number of vehicles in the SAPS garages, as some were there for minor repairs.

He said that the top 30 contact crime police stations needed personnel, vehicles and IT. He and his team would ensure that these police stations were empowered. There had been a shortage of resources all over, specifically at these top 30 contact crime police stations, and more resources needed to be allocated to them to make the lives of those communities easier.

He confirmed that he had prioritised the process of filling the vacancy for the head of Crime Intelligence. The appointments would be finalised in due course.

On the question of why the killing of a police officer was not classified as a crime against the state, he said that the SAPS should engage with the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS) to look into the legislation that could be amended to affect this classification.

Lt Gen Lebeya said that he appreciated the comment by Mr Shaik Emam on the successes registered by the DPCI, and this would go a long way towards encouraging the members doing the work on the ground. He commented that they had secured more than 13 000 accused persons in court, and most of these cases were still pending.

Regarding the case relating to the arson at Parliament, the accused person, Mr Mafe, was currently serving before the court, and the case had been postponed until 12 May. It was only the reports from the FSL from the local criminal record centre relating to the photo album and the report from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) that were still outstanding in this investigation. Once this was done, the matter would be ready for trial. The DPCI was also investigating the possibility that the accused had not been involved in this act alone.

He said that there were 100 TRC cases at hand, some of them from 1968. Five matters were already in the criminal courts, one matter in the inquest court, 17 matters pending a decision by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and 17 matters under investigation at various stages in the different regions.

He responded to Rev Meshoe’s comment that the public had expressed concern that there were no convictions seen, especially concerning high-profile politicians and the question as to whether the DPCI was scared of these politicians, saying that the DPCI operated without fear, favour or prejudice. All of its members had taken an oath to this effect. Although there may not be visible convictions regarding certain levels of politicians, the DPCI had effected a number of arrests of politicians. He emphasised that the DPCI did not discriminate on the different cases and operated without fear. Once an arrest had been effected there were no acquittals -- the conviction rate was always above 93%. The DPCI had to work in collaboration with the NPA, which was mandated to decide to prosecute or not.

On the question regarding why the killing of a police officer was not classified as a crime against the state, he said the DPCI was currently investigating cases related to the killing of police officials. One of the areas that the DPCI looked into was whether it would make a difference if it were to be classified as a crime against the state, placed in legislation and removed from the classification of being a murder in terms of common law crime. If it became a statutory offence, what type of punishment should this attract because a murder currently implied a life sentence, the severest punishment that a court could impose? Lawmakers could consider changing this classification.

In response to Mr Terblanche’s comment that the public had expressed the view that one did not see action being taken against well-known criminals or high-profile politicians, he replied that this was related to the comment raised by Rev Meshoe. He reiterated that the DPCI continued to operate without fear or favour.

Lt Gen Francina Vuma, Deputy National Commissioner: Support Services, said that with the recruitment of 12 000 personnel, the SAPS was supposed to recruit 7 000 personnel this year, train them in the next financial year and then recruit another 5 000. In addition, it was also recruiting 3 000 personnel in this financial year within the organisation, in terms of reservists and the Public Service Act (PSA). The recruitment of the 7 000 personnel and the 3000 would result in a total of 10 000 personnel recruited for this current financial year. The SAPS had to refer back to the process that was planned in 2019/2020, which was when the Covid-19 pandemic had started and after the SAPS had advertised for these posts. The 7 000 personnel had already gone through the process but could not train at the time due to the pandemic. SAPS also needed to ensure it met the requirements in terms of the recruitment process before they went for training at the college. In the organisation's history, SAPS had never had an opportunity to recruit 10 000 personnel at once, which had impacted the organisation's capacity.

SAPS had utilised all of its basic colleges and its in-service colleges, which were normally responsible for training different courses. Currently, 9 768 recruits had reported to the different colleges. The SAPS had also advertised 200 posts externally for those who had obtained a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree to top up and complement the number of recruits so that it made up the 10 000.

There were 3 000 recruits in Kimberley, and there have been some challenges. Last Monday, Lt Gen Zulu and the team had gone to Kimberley to resolve the situation. She had taken note that the Chairperson had given a directive for SAPS to submit a written report to address the five priorities that were given to the National Commissioner. She said the issue of the accommodation and blankets had since been resolved. The SAPS team had purchased bigger electric cooking pots, which were being installed, and mobile kitchens that would be subdivided amongst the members, and there would be chefs to assist with the menu and address the issues with the food. There was a clinic with two doctors and nurses, and Polmed was finalising some matters.

On the issue of promotions, she said SAPS had not been promoting its members in the manner it should and not even according to its policy. Due to budgetary constraints, it had been quite a challenge to promote as it used to be done in the olden days. SAPS had since been promoting automatically through grade progression, but there had been a backlog of these promotions because of the budgetary constraints, though these might be alleviated during this year to a certain extent. There could be promotions only for constables up to warrant officers -- the promotion from warrant officer to captain was a supervisory post that depended on the availability of the post.

The SAPS Educational Trust Fund had also had some challenges because only R1 million had been budgeted and transferred from the SAPS budget. The trust fund depended on sponsorships, but due to Covid-19 for the past two years, the SAPS could not carry out the fundraising programmes that it used to embark upon. There were serious challenges with payment of school fees for some children and some backlog until the SAPS had approached Old Mutual, who had assisted this year with R3.5 million to cover the school fees. SAPS planned to do some fundraising this year since the markets had reopened. The board of directors had struggled to function effectively during the pandemic, and all had since resigned. The Minister had been asked to assist with identifying members who were in the position to form part of this board to continue with these fundraising programmes to address the school fees of the fallen heroes and heroines.

The SITA board had not yet approved the firearm contract, and the board had identified issues that they were not happy with and had referred it back to SITA. The SAPS had been informed that it would appear on 28 April and was hoping that it would receive attention this time around.

Lt Gen Vuma said that the SAPS did have a physical fitness programme that had never stopped. The 2016 SAPS Physical Fitness Maintenance Policy compelled every police member to undergo a physical fitness assessment at least once a year to ensure that they met the minimum physical fitness standard according to their age and gender. All provincial and divisional commissioners were assessed per semester in the performance management framework. Members were approved to participate in the physical fitness assessment for two and a half hours per week as per the SAPS physical fitness maintenance policy.

The SAPS had had a limited number of posts for reservists, who would need to meet the minimum requirements to be trained. It was possible that some reservists had not met the required standard and had not been called. There were more reservists than the number of posts that the SAPS could allocate based on the available financial resources.

The restructuring process was continuing, and the divisions and provinces were currently placing their senior managers so that they could roll out to level 12 downwards. The SSSBC Agreement 1, 2020, states that the restructuring must be completed by 2024, and this was based on the concern that SAPS was top-heavy.

Lt Gen Bongiwe Zulu, Divisional Commissioner: Human Resource Development, said that SAPS did have enough trainers to train the 9 768 trainees. It had a pool of trainers in the provinces and its divisions. If a trainer were not available, the provincial commissioner would find a replacement so that there were enough. She thanked the Chairperson for allowing SAPS to address and resolve the matter in Kimberley and for the support that she had provided.

Maj Gen Themba Bvuma, Acting Divisional Commissioner: Human Resource Management, said several dispensations had been made to accommodate reservists. Of the 9 768 recruits in training, 1 710 were reservists allocated to form part of this training. In most cases, it was a matter of not meeting the requirements for those expressing dissatisfaction over the recruitment period. Human resources had been engaging with the reservists and would maintain a working relationship so that they could receive feedback to address the issues of the recruitment process.

Lt Gen Khosi Senthumule, Divisional Commissioner: Detective and Forensic Services, referred to Dr Groenewald’s question about the FDA that still had possession of samples, which could jeopardise the chain of evidence and hence affect the conviction rate of serious violent crimes. She said that the FDA held no samples, but there could be the possession of old data. In adhering to the principle of honesty and information verification, SAPS took note of the concern raised. Therefore, she requested that the Chairperson allow the SAPS to go back and investigate the concern raised, as this would allow the SAPS to provide a factual report in this regard.

She said there had been investigations of 12 cases linked to the July 2020 unrest. From the cases where there were arrests, two had been withdrawn in court. Nine cases were ready for trial, and one of the cases was with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a decision.

On the concern regarding the continuous decline in the detection rate, when the rate was observed from 2019 to 2021, recovery plans were put in place, which looked good on paper, but impact on the ground had not been visible. After the assessment, mitigating measures were developed. The SAPS was launching the first branch commanders' forum in terms of operational interventions. The branch commanders and district commanders responsible for detectives would be reporting monthly in terms of the station case management and the prolific offenders' dismissed appeals. There was insufficient utilisation of forensic leads to link suspects to persons or crimes. SAPS would also look into the down management of the dockets at hand, particularly for investigators that held 100 or more dockets. SAPS was reviewing the norm concerning an acceptable docket load for an investigator. There would also be combined assurance, where all the command lines would have to do a continuous and regular update on the system and ensure that they managed the station docket workload. The strategic interventions would involve capacity building, and from the 12 000 enlistments currently taking place, the detective services would receive 1 750 personnel. SAPS was reenlisting its retired and experienced detectives who would focus on cold cases three years or older, and the starting point would be at the top 30 contact crime police stations. Other interventions would be submitted as a report to the Chairperson.

Lt Gen Michael Motlhala, Divisional Commissioner: Visible Policing and Operations, referred to the question of the SAPS air wing capacity. He said that the total fleet was 34, with 11 currently operational. Due to the flood situation in KwaZulu-Natal, the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies had deployed three helicopters and one fixed-wing aircraft. The fluctuation in the availability of the air wing capacity was because some of the aircraft had mandatory servicing that they had to undergo. With the assistance of the supply chain management division, SAPS were in the process of procuring capacity for its air wing to increase the fleet.

On the question relating to what SAPS had done differently to address GBVF, especially at the top 30 contact crime police stations, he said SAPS focused on ensuring localised interventions. He was working closely with Lt Gen Senthumule on the tracing of wanted suspects and ensuring that they conducted more community outreach programmes. The education and awareness programmes focused on the street level to ensure that the community outreach and education and awareness programmes were more focused and localised in the identified hotspots to decrease GBVF.

Dr Groenewald referred to the total fleet of 34 and asked how many were helicopters.

Lt Gen Motlhala replied that out of the 11 operational fleets, there were six helicopters and five fixed-wing aircraft.

Gen Masemola said that the SAPS did not have a contract for the Pilatus PC- 6 and PC-12 fleet. He, Lt Gen Vuma and Lt Gen Johannes Riet would expedite this contract so that the fleet could be mobile. However, there was a contract for the helicopter fleet.

The Chairperson agreed with the Members that some of the figures did not sound right. She asked that SAPS verify their information and provide the Committee with updated figures by Friday.

Dr Groenewald agreed with the Chairperson and said that SAPS should submit a comprehensive report. The figure of 11 operational fleets out of the total of 34 may be correct, but the Committee would want a comprehensive report on the maintenance of the fleet, the number of pilots available, and to distinguish between helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

Lt Gen Dimpane referred to Dr Groenewald’s concern about the compensation of employees that constituted more than 78% of the budget. She agreed that this was also a concern for SAPS because, ideally, it should be at 75%. In 2019/20, it was at 79.5%, and the Department down managed this percentage which would also be enhanced through the restructuring process. The SAPS were mindful that all the initiatives to address this percentage did not affect the resource allocation, especially at the station level, to ensure sufficient capacity to maintain the policing requirements in terms of visibility.

On the budgetary increase of 1% for Visible Policing, she said that in the 2021/22 financial year, there had been once-off allocations and rollovers that were not necessarily part and parcel of the allocations for this year. When comparing the allocation of the previous financial year to this financial year, those amounts were subtracted, and hence it appeared that the amount had decreased in Programme 2.

There had been improvement when addressing the under-spending from the previous financial year, as the spending for the financial year had been 99.13%. There were measures that the Department had put in place to ensure that the allocation that it had in the previous financial year was spent.

Lt Gen Riet, Divisional Commissioner: Supply Chain Management, referred to the question about the inspection done by the MEC for Safety and Security in KZN. He had not seen such a report from the MEC but would follow up with the provincial commissioner because sometimes the MECs received feedback from the various provincial officers.

Regarding the two police stations that SAPS had managed to build in this financial year, he said that the SAPS had various reasons that its projects had not proceeded. There were also some forensic investigations through an internal audit to investigate what had gone wrong in the construction of police stations. In terms of the five-year strategic plan, in this financial year, SAPS would complete three more police stations, seven in the next financial year, 13 in the 2024/25 financial year and eight in the 2025/26 financial year -- a total of 33 police stations, including the two police stations already completed this year. SAPS corrected the challenges experienced, especially with the assistance of the Minister, who had enabled 14 posts for professionals who were headhunted and employed in the SAPS to assist in building these police stations.

He agreed that SAPS would embark on the decentralisation of its garages to be properly managed at the provincial level by the provincial commissioners, as these vehicles belonged to the provinces. He recalled a time when SAPS had vehicle availability at 70%, and it had set a target that this should be at 80%, which was achieved. They were now working towards a new target of 90% availability. Currently, the vehicle availability stood at 82%. SAPS had mechanics across the country, in the provinces and stations, which meant they were available to repair the vehicles. There would be new measures to have the SAPS garages operational for 24 hours. There was a target that vehicles should be serviced in one day. For minor repairs, the target was five days. For major repairs, it was 15 days, and for major damage, the SAPS had a target of 30 days.

He said that it had been a very long time since SAPS had procured a new fleet for its air wing. It had started procuring helicopters -- one had already been successfully procured and SAPS was awaiting its arrival from France. It was procuring a second helicopter and if there were enough funds, it might procure more in this financial year. He agreed that SAPS must replace its old fleet because technology was changing and SAPS had been struggling with certain parts to fix the old fleet.

Lt Gen Samson Shitlabane, Divisional Commissioner: Protection and Security Services, said that the investigation into the Parliament arson case was ongoing, but he could report that the police officers who were on duty at 100 Plein Street had been redeployed to stations outside of the protection services, as well as the captain who was on duty, the relief commander. There would be a team to assess what needed to be done, and there had been discussions with the DPWI to address the physical infrastructure of the National Assembly building and whether it would be fixed.

Lt Gen (Adv) Sally Khan, Divisional Commissioner: Legal and Policy Services, referred to Dr Groenewald’s concern about the two years that the National Commissioner had to achieve his priorities. The contract of the National Commissioner was from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2027. This was per the Constitution Section 207 (1) and Section 7 of the SAPS Act and Section 45 of the SAPS Act. Section 7 of the SAPS Act regulates the appointment of the National Commissioner and indicates that his appointment is for five years. The National Commissioner's retirement age was determined by the contract that regulates his appointment, which may continue further than the age of 60. The term of the National Commissioner could also be extended in terms of Section 45 (4) which deals with retirement of members, so the National Commissioner could also run a second term beyond that age.

Regarding the court cases with the FDA, she said that the litigation was ongoing. There was one matter where the FDA had issued a summons, and the case was in court for breach of contract by SAPS in terms of the intellectual property and computer programmes. The FDA had claimed an amount of about R560 million. The second matter was a letter of demand for loss of profit, and this claim was for an amount of R319 100 000.

Dr Groenewald asked for clarity on whether the National Commissioner was excluded as far as the SAPS Act was concerned about retirement and age, just because it was the President who appointed the National Commissioner.

Lt Gen Khan replied that it was the correct interpretation that the National Commissioner was bound by the contract that he had with the President and it could go beyond the age of 60 years, which was provided for in Section 45 (4) of the SAPS Act.

The Chairperson agreed with Dr Groenewald that the interpretation of the National Commissioner's term of contract did not seem correct. She asked that the Committee receive further clarity on this matter on Friday.

Dr Groenewald said that it did not make sense because the National Commissioner was a member of the SAPS. He would look into Section 45 (4) of the SAPS Act.

Further discussion

Mr Shembeni said he had not exactly got a response on when the last security audit and the evaluation were conducted on Parliament as a national key point complex and the findings and recommendations.

Mr Seabi said that he did not receive clarity on why the implementation of digital radio communication infrastructure sites had been removed as a performance target in the APP.

He expressed concern about the killing of police officers and those officers who were involved in suicides -- and in most cases, they kill themselves after killing their families. He said that the APP did not address this in terms of the National Commissioner's plans to try and assist police officers who experience stress.

Mr Shembeni asked whether the Border Management Agency (BMA) was led by SAPS and if it would take over the work of the SAPS at the borders.

Mr Terblanche said that there had been no response on the issue that when one phoned 10 111 there were poor or no response. He had also raised the issue that it was difficult to get a response when phoning police stations after hours. He asked what the SAPS intended to do to address this.

 

SAPS' response

Gen Masemola said that the BMA would do its function at the points of entry and on the borderline -- its mandate was to take over responsibility in those specific areas. In the legislation, there was an area called the "border law enforcement area", an exclusive operational area of the BMA. There would be collaboration between SAPS and the BMA, but the BMA would be responsible for the border law function within the points of entry. There were still discussions taking place to distinguish what responsibilities were taken over by the BMA and what remained within the SAPS.

Lt Gen (Dr) Sibongiseni Thotsejane, Divisional Commissioner, Technology Management Services, said that SAPS was 60% working with its ICT plan. The ICT strategy had been gaining momentum and the 40% that was outstanding would be completed.

Regarding the available radio communication options, SAPS had the Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), the digital mobile radio and the analogue, which was currently being used. Project 25 would ensure that SAPS synchronised the radio communication. Regarding the TETRA standard, the Technology Management Services (TMS) division had associated with the microwave backbone to mitigate the existing problems. There had been challenges with ensuring a secure and independent network for SAPS. The TMS division improved the authentication and registration of the A-interface and end-to-end encryption to at least improve the security within the radio communication platforms. The TMS division was also ensuring the geographical coverage to ensure that all the operational requirements within the SAPS were being responded to.

While developing the ICT strategy, there was a finding of a very high risk of the ICT infrastructure that was persistent. For example, in the Western Cape, there was communication infrastructure that was over 22 years old, which was extremely obsolete and had reached its end of life. There was old technology that was impacting the telephony system. To respond to this challenge, SAPS used Voice over Internet Protocol (IP telephony) while working. There had been several engagements between SITA and the SAPS to modernise the ICT infrastructure, to ensure current modernisation, which was a key focus in this financial year. The voice services played a key and vital role in combating crime, and the SAPS could not afford to leave the obsolete infrastructure in place -- it had to be modernised with immediate effect. The TMS division had also been responding to the FSL, and it was highly recommended that it be turned into a project instead of it being in separate project deliverables.

Lt Gen Motlhala said some interventions that the SAPS implemented were to intensify the command and control over the call dispatchers while also ensuring the monitoring and evaluation of the vehicles that were supposed to respond to the complaints. SAPS did daily, weekly and monthly analyses of the long outstanding complaints and ensured regular meetings for accountability sessions to sensitise the members about the significance of responding timeously to all complaints.

Closing remarks

The Chairperson said that whether there was a programme to assist police officers contemplating committing suicide had been asked by Mr Seabi more than once. There were a number of questions that SAPS would need to respond to by Friday.

She said that Gen Masemola had done really well today, as it was the first time that he had really been grilled as the National Commissioner. The Committee would measure the APPs according to a template, and she would not allow the concerns and questions of Members to go unanswered. The SAPS needed to be confident that the performance indicators were effectively monitored and that these performance indicators were effective on the ground.

The panel of experts' inquiry into the July 2021 unrest and hearings held by the SAHRC had to be interrogated by this Committee. Once the SAHRC had concluded their report, they would refer this report to the Speaker and it would then be referred to this Committee. The Committee also received a report on the Marikana Commission of Inquiry and the high-level panel report into the State Security Agency and how it impacted crime intelligence.

She commended the SAPS for the young and vibrant female Lt Gen appointed to the TMS division, which would be under severe scrutiny. Certain ICT equipment was not in use because it was said that it required permission from other Ministers. The Committee would want proof that SAPS had communicated with other Ministers to seek permission to use certain ICT equipment.

The President had assented to the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act 2019 on 20 November 2019. SAPS had been instrumental in drafting this Act because it became operational once the Minister of Police appointed the Critical Infrastructure Council. She asked that the Committee receive a response on the vetting of these candidates. The Department should also indicate how much progress had been made with drafting the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act regulations.

She said that SAPS had been lagging in digital policing compared to its counterparts on the continent. The aim should be to police smarter and not harder. The 2022/23 APP had very few targets for e-policing, and the targets for modernisation had been severely reduced. There had to be coordination between what was done in SAPS and what was done in the CSPS. The CSPS was also developing an e-policing policy that was moving towards modernising the SAPS and attaining the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) policing environment. The Department had to leverage technology to combat crime and be more efficient. The lack of technology would further jeopardise the successful implementation of the Safer Cities framework.

She informed the Deputy Minister that the Committee requested a presentation on the District Development Model (DDM) for policing.

The meeting was adjourned. 

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