Madam Deputy Speaker, I know it is late but we need to register our utmost concern about the functioning of this department, the core function of which is the administration of justice. Civil justice and administrative justice are just way too expensive for anyone to access. Criminal justice is not working. This is a department for which there really should be no reason for it not to work properly. It could be fixed, but it is branching out into various directions and is neglecting its core business.
There is a fundamental lack of vision. We hope that next year the Department of Justice will focus on its primary objective, which is that of making justice affordable to everyone. There are ways in which that could be done and it ought to become a priority - effectiveness, competence and efficiency.
The hon Minister has developed a momentum in transforming our judiciary and our justice system that not only deserves our support but must also be applauded. The hon Minister has given notice to senior officials in the department of a zero-tolerance approach to qualified reports from the Auditor-General's office.
The portfolio committee will soon be giving serious consideration to two crucial pieces of legislation, that is, the Superior Courts Bill and the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Bill which, read together, seek to meet the requirements of Chapter 8 of our Constitution.
We recently had the privilege of witnessing the roll-out of the Audio Visual Remand, AVR, system in courts, which seeks to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of case postponements in our criminal justice system. Every day justice is served in our courts. So, we would like to know where the hon Oriani-Ambrosini witnesses the wastage that he refers to. The ANC supports this Vote. [Applause.]
Vote agreed to (Democratic Alliance and Independent Democrats dissenting).
Vote No 25 - Police - put.
Declarations of vote:
This Parliament has voted increased amounts for the SA Police Service year after year. Yet it has become clear that those put in charge of the Service, and of the distribution of these funds, are simply not up to doing their job.
According to the Public Protector, the National Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele, has committed an illegal act. He is the chief accounting officer appointed by the President. He has shown a total lack of administrative ability or ability to balance a budget. He has allowed transfers from capital to pay salaries. This is in complete contravention of the Public Finance Management Act, PFMA. Under him, the SAPS suffered the humiliation of being called before the Standing Committee on Appropriations to explain themselves for the first time ever.
SAPS accounts are going unpaid. Perhaps it is because they are short of money as a result of expenditure on personal vehicles, hotel stays, houses and travel by the Minister, his Deputy and the Commissioner. In addition, the contracts awarded for the enormous, expensive national police days are under investigation as we speak. No, the DA will not support this Budget Vote.
The Department of Police, for ages now, has been receiving unqualified audit opinions from the Auditor-General. [Interjections.] This simply means they have systems in place that they are using to control and to manage their funds, and that is a fact.
The budget allocated to the police over the last 17 years, together with the ANC policy of fighting crime in partnership with communities, has started to have the desired effect on crime levels. This is a fact. The 2010 crime statistics are proof of what I am saying. They show that crime in South Africa is decreasing.
Political parties who continue to raise the issue of the Public Protector's report here today are undermining the work of the Public Protector, as she herself has said. They are also undermining the work of Parliament and may, indeed, be acting unethically and unlawfully themselves. I would refer members of this House to the clause in section 7(2) of the Public Protector Act, which says:
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law, no person shall disclose to any other person the contents of any document in the possession of a member of the Office of the Public Protector or the record of any evidence given before the Public Protector, a Deputy Public Protector or a person contemplated in subsection 3(b) during an investigation, unless the Public Protector determines otherwise.
While the Act allows Parliament to discuss any matter that is before or being investigated by the Public Protector, discussing the Public Protector's findings that are unlawfully leaked to the media by faceless and unscrupulous people is unfair. The ANC will support this Budget Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Division demanded.
The House divided: