The
amount of R106 million I've just mentioned comes from the national fiscus. Since the inception of the NPA, has been working with various international agencies to combat corruption. The SA Police have been trained and they are working. There's sharing of information in the entire security cluster with international agencies across the globe, Russia, the US and the African countries.
As I speak now, hon Chair, the Special Investigating Unit is hosting all investigators in the African continent on corruption. So, there is no way you can fight corruption without collaboration and working together with various roleplayers in the continent, in the region and in the world. This work knows no borders. The Care Act does provide for the NPA to receive any kind of donor funding which must be done through the National Treasury and through the National Revenue Funds, and that should be safeguarded.
That is the only channel, which is through the National Treasury. The NPA does not play any role. The role and the responsibility of the NPA, is to prosecute. Our role as the department on the other hand is to give them support and the tools of trade. That is what we are doing as the department, to give them support and the tools of trade. Hence, the NPA is focusing its job, it's not moving around looking for money. It's us who are engaging who are engaging with the Treasury, that's why they have given them this additional money.
If there's any form of donor fund that may come, it will come through the National Treasury and it will be declared through proper processes. But at this stage, I can state that it has been used on various platforms through business against crime and it has come through. So, it's not something unusual in this country. There is no government department that does not use donor funding in South Africa. Thank you. [Time expired.]
Question 234:
Thank you very much, Chairperson. Unfortunately, this question does not prescribe the time,
from which financial year to which financial year. As such, we are answering it from 2018-19 and 2019-20.
The SA Police Service, the SAPS, from time to time employs Public Service Act 103 of 1994 persons as police officials in terms of the SA Police Service Act 68 of 1995 in operational and support environments respectively.
Basic training is not a prerequisite for appointment within the support environment such as human resources, finance, supply chain, etc. Police officials appointed in the support environment are required to undergo a shortened basic training course subsequent to their appointment if they have not previously completed the normal basic training course.
Up to the end of the previous financial year, persons appointed in terms of the Public Service Act who were successful in their applications for appointment as operational police officials, had to resign from the SAPS to be appointed as trainees under contract until they had completed the prescribed basic training, whereafter such
persons were appointed permanent operational police officials.
There are persons who are employed under the Public Service Act who were appointed as operational police officials in the 2018-19 financial year. They are currently undergoing the 21 months basic training course, which is the same training as for the entry-level trainees who were appointed at the time from outside the SAPS. A total of six persons were appointed as police officials in the 2018-19 financial year.
The recruitment of police officials in respect of the current 2019-20 financial year is under consideration, where more and larger numbers will be employed under this arrangement.
Hon Minister, the promotion processes are fraudulent since we have police officials who have been in a rank for more than 10 to 15 years. How are you going to promote them if you promote Public Service Act members to become police officials? I thank you.
Well, I agree with the hon member if it goes to the two previous budget speeches that have been raised. Actually, in the previous financial year ... not the very ... one, there were 69 000 people that were overdue for promotion. The budget for promoting them was R2 billion. So we had to break it down. Hence, in the outer financial year we promoted 28 000. In this financial year we have promoted 20 000. Next year we will be promoting 20 ... and then we will have done with those that were overdue ... Then we will try hard ... that we don't have so many people that are overdue for promotion. We hope that when we are done with those that were supposed to have been promoted all the time ... will go in a normal procession and progression of the members that are there.
The next follow- up question is to be asked by the hon Terblanche.
Maj-Gen O S TERBLANCHE: [Inaudible.] [Interjections.]
Switch on the microphone please. [Interjections.]
Maj-Gen O S TERBLANCHE: Sorry Chairperson, it was covered. ... my mistake. Hon Minister, you nicely explained the stringent training requirements for police officials ... practical policing. You also explained what normally happened. What you didn't explain ... You know some people that were appointed in terms of, you know, the other Act and not under the SA Police Service Act, end up in practical policing environments; even in managerial positions, as captains, etc.
How do you expect people like that will be able to guide other police officials that need to do practical policing? Thank you.
That's a real policeman.
Well, the answer here says that those that are on the support structure might not necessarily go for that basic ... people like ... supply chain management, which you were in yourself. I know you are trained but you'll understand that there is no intensity that ... you need to put ... the boot and be on the ground to run supply chain management ... the chief
financial officer people that are in finance and all that. Yes, but they do move. They do move to the SA Police Service Act so that they better understand the custom and the tradition of working within the SAPS. However, if they move from the Public Service Act to be trained as members of the SAPS under the SA Police Service Act, they will have to undergo the same training. They will have to be accredited as such that ... They need to be South Africans, they have to be healthy, they shouldn't have any criminal records, and all those things, if they are going to be operational. However, in the support ... there are no stringent conditions that you would find as for those that are on the ground ... that are having the boots.
Thank you hon Chair. Hon Minister, in relation to the same employment process mentioned in the Act, does your department prioritise police reservists who qualify for these employment opportunities or are they subjected to undergo the same process as everyone? I'm asking this question because these are volunteers who, to some extent, have received training to assist your department in combating crime.
Well, indeed, if you have read this year's adverts where we are recruiting police ... we are recruiting 7 000 police to be in college this year. We have put some categories there. There is a new category - stream 3 - where you must have a junior or second degree so that you come for specialisation.
However, besides that, there are those who have been reservists and loyal to the SAPS for a very long time. Out of this 7 000, we have given them 3 000 so that we can absorb them. However, we agree that their conditions cannot be stringent because they have been in the system, though not fully trained. They have been in the system. Even ... age, they are allowed to have a little bit out of 30 ... not very young, but because they have been in the system.
The question ... answered ... do we give an extra opening to the people that are in the system as reservists? The answer is yes, and this year we have really pushed up their number ... about 3 000 of them to be trained, be fully fledged and be permanently employed. Thanks.
Thank you House Chair. Hon Minister, while it is well and good that you are recruiting and training a new intake of police officers, what other training do they undergo, because we are getting complaints from the communities ... from the disabled due to their conditions and people in general ... that police officers cannot write a simple affidavit? What measures would you put in place to take care of the disabled?
Well, maybe today is an opportunity to speak to this hon House about this question of affidavits. I will request the members in this House to understand and request their communities not to go to police stations to write affidavits because they are clogging the system. All councillors are commissioners of oath. They can write affidavits. All principals of schools, bonke umfundisi [all pastors], all members here are commissioners of oath. Why do you clog the police station? The police station needs to work with criminal matters. [Applause.]
So, I'm making the call today to discourage communities from going to police stations but to go to the offices of
councillors and the offices of members here, and allow the police to deal with core crime issues as their work rather than clogging the system.
However, having said that, the police know how to write these very well. [Interjections.] They know. Well, if they did not know ... and write them well, not so many long queues would be going to the police station. They would be going to these people I'm talking about; the councillors. Councillors don't have much work so they must do these things. Thank you.
Question 230:
The South African Police Service has together with the Justice Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS; cluster compiled a multidisciplinary and integrated plan to implement during the festive season, in 2019-20. The operation was launched on 25 October 2019 in Umlazi, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and will be conducted country wide until 31 January 2020. The plan focuses on the most affected police stations informed by the crime pattern and threat analysis.
The activities included the following: High visibilities to maintain weekly from Mondays to Wednesdays, including social crime prevention campaigns and community engagements; Thursdays are for compliance inspections and operations in terms of enforcement of Fire Arms Control Act, conduct compliance inspections and identify private security companies, fire arms retailers and taxi ranks; enforcement of the Liquor Act of 2003, conduct compliance inspections, as well as cordon and search operations at identified liquor outlets; enforcement of Secondhand Good Act, conduct inspections and compliance inspection at the identified secondhand goods; Fridays to Mondays mornings are for combat operation that is cordon and search, roadblocks and intelligence-driven disruptive operations including policing of events that are associated with the festive season.
Preparations are in place in terms of resources and enough personnel will be available for operation deployment. With the minimum number of SAPS personnel that will be on plant leave. A total of 5000 police students are due to complete their academic training at the end of November 2019 and will be deployed as part of
the in-service training to increase visibility. A maximum number of reservists have also been called up to be placed on duty throughout the country; the project of fixing and fitting blue lights and marking of all visible policing vans is being finalized in order to intensify police visibility. Thank you very much.
House Chairperson, hon Minister as we have witnessed Operation Okae Molao, as an initiative taken by the Gauteng Government on daily basis. Will this initiative be rolled over to other provinces, as part of the SAPS's festive season safety plan, to ensure the safety of our people during these festive holidays? Thank you.
Well, yes this operation of Gauteng Government is one of the good principles and good activities that South African Police are doing, but there are other provinces that are doing even better operations, maybe they are not very much loved by the media as Gauteng is more loved by the media. As I am saying, those good principles and those good activities will be shared among all other provinces and you must
remember by the way that South African Police is a national competence, is a one structure so is easy for them to work together, sharing all these.
Indeed what was launched in KZN about two weeks ago has been rolled out starting with Gauteng last week and this coming Friday is Western Cape and on 12 is Eastern Cape, all provinces will be sharing these good practices and these good principles that they use so that we can get a better outcome in terms of the safety of the people of Republic of South Africa.
Mr Gen O S TERBLANCHE: House Chairperson, hon Minister the South Africa Police Service together with Vodacom launched the My SAPS-App in attempt to create a safer society for all South Africans. Minister I just want to know; is this also part of your preparation for a safer festive season and if it is, how many people have signed up and what is the estimated cost for the police over the festive season? I thank you.
Yes, indeed the country has responded very positively to this launch, it is only for
festive; it is going forward far beyond and we are making it a permanent feature of the South African Police. It is also the way of improving technology within the South African Police. Up to this point more than 30 000 people have downloaded on the South African app. What it does is - this question is here but you have put the cart before the horse now for me to respond to it.
What it does as you put it there it helps to tell you which nearest police station is around you, which is a nearest van and police activities that are there and as you send it at the centre instead of calling the van from your police station, the van next to where you are responds to you. Instead of not knowing which police station that is in that area, the app tells you which police station, but also tells police station to respond to you. So it's making life much easier for the victims of crime in those particular areas, you don't pay anything for downloading it. Thanks.
House Chair, Minister your crime statistics says very clearly that most crimes are committed late at night and are alcohol related, in the
festive season that is approaching, you will be having a serious challenge in terms of alcohol related crime particularly in all the townships. What added measures have you put in place, are speaking to relevant departments, including local authorities to deal with these issues of taverns, shebeens and liquor which is causing havoc in terms of the crime in our townships particularly?
Well, as a South African Police, National Commissioner and I, we are working hard to work with the provinces and local governments. The premier that we have been very closely with on these matters is the premier Gauteng Province, but I am glad to announce that yesterday, this Minister speaking met with the Premier of Western Cape Province and we have agreed how we are going to work together in combating crime going forward. I thought that DA people will clap the hands. [Appluase.]
The people that are murdered in South Africa 70% of them are murdered over the weekend and their murder starting on Thursday evening to Sunday morning, early hours, five
or three in the morning, so which means your deployment need to speak to that. One thing that we are speaking with premiers is to say to them they must ask their liquor boards to respect the people of townships especially, because these taverns and shebeens, we don't find them in Bishops Court, you don't find them in Camps Bay, and you will find them in Gugulethu and Khayelitsha and all that. There, they must be respect of law, for instance you can't have a license that closes at four in the morning and those are granted by liquor boards, we are asking premiers to say to the people, please give the proper thing.
If it is there illegal, at least it closes at 12 o'clock and all that, which is the first one. We are saying to South African Police be very hard to those that are selling liquor illegal, even if they have certificates and their licenses, for instance Commissioner and myself we went to one shebeen in Gugulethu, it was 02:35 in the morning, when we came there, they were still operating and everybody was dancing, the license must be closing at 02:00. Using your eyes, you can see that people that are here are 14 years, are 16 years and 17 years, the law in
South Africa is very clear, even if is legal but if breaks law, hit it hard. So we are not going to be nice with shebeens because many people die around shebeens, we are going to very hard on them, and please they must respect the law.
House Chair, hon Minister it is very evident that the competence with regards to the usage of alcohol, is the competence of provincial and your municipal bylaws, however it is clear over the festive season that when it comes to use and the imbibing of alcohol particularly in public spaces there is an abuse of alcohol even though it may be prohibited by law, but there is an abuse, not just of alcohol but there is also marijuana and other prohibited substances that are openly been used publicly particularly over the festive season.
Then you have people have been stabbed, bottles being broken and the public at large becomes threaten. Can you take the public into confidence that over the festive season not just with alcohol but every other burn substance that the police will act hard and swiftly on those who compromised the law in this regard? Thank you.
Yes, we will do that. Thank you.
Question 220:
Hon
House Chairperson, yes there is an integrated working relationship between the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the mentioned departments. The interface occurs at various levels and through multisectoral governance structures and formations.
I can mention that at the level of Cabinet, there is a Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster which is supported by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS, Directorate General Forum. The director- generals of the department chairs an intersectoral committee on the management of sexual offences matters which is constituted amongst by the Director-Generals of the Departments of Basic Education, Health, Home Affairs, Social Development, Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, and Commissioners of the SA Police Service, SAPS, correctional services and the National Director of Public Prosecutions.
Also, in 2017 Cabinet approved an Integrated Criminal Justice System, ICJS, strategy, which enhances co- operation and collaboration across the departments and law-enforcement agencies that constitutes the criminal justice value chain.
Gender-based violence, GBV, and femicide are one of the pillars of the