Thank you, Madam Speaker. Minister, let me take this opportunity and congratulate you and the hon Enver Surty on your appointments, and also welcome you into the security cluster.
The former President, Thabo Mbeki, during his state of the nation address early in 2008, indicated the need for government to overhaul the criminal justice system in order to improve its effectiveness in dealing with crime in general and organised crime in particular, as highlighted by the Minister of Safety and Security. Organised crime is a challenge that affects South Africa at all levels. It creates fear in the community and contributes to economic instability. Even the Khampepe Commission, amongst other things, found that organised crime continued to present a threat to the country's young democracy and that a comprehensive strategy to address this problem had to be found. In response to the above, the executive eventually decided that there was a need to address organised crime in a more comprehensive fashion and, to this end, to amalgamate selected special investigators of the Directorate of Special Operations, DSO, with selected members of commercial crime and organised crime components of the SAPS into a new division within the SAPS, namely the DPCI.
As a result of the challenge of dealing with organised crime effectively, the Cabinet came up with amendments to the South African Police Service Bill and the National Prosecuting Authority Bill. These Bills were referred to the Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security and the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development. In line with the former President's state of the nation address, the South African Police Service Amendment Bill proposed the establishment of the DPCI. Both committees agreed that this piece of legislation, that is the South African Police Service Amendment Bill, was a very weak and poor Bill. It was also agreed that the Bill, in its current form, would not pass any legal or political test for creating an effective organised crime-fighting unit.
The Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security, the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development and the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Affairs started with extensive public hearings in Parliament from 5 to 8 August 2008. The said committees visited all nine provinces for public hearings on the two Bills, from ll to 15 August 2008. It was obvious from the public participation that the majority of the participants supported the disbandment of the DSO in all nine provinces. Through persistent engagement, the committees were able to get all political parties in the committee to agree to the general principles of an effective organised crime-fighting unit. But parties disagreed on the kind of model that was best based on the agreed principles. We wish to thank Dr Delport who came up with this idea. Five models were proposed by different parties and each party was expected to consult with its caucus in Parliament. The ANC caucus agreed on model 4, which was the improved model 3, as proposed by the South African Police Service Amendment Bill.
The principles I referred to earlier are as follows: the multidisciplinary approach; the unit to be located within the SA Police Service as a division; the Minister of Safety and Security to be the political head, with the unit's budget as a subprogramme within the SA Police Service; the unit to have the necessary independence to perform its functions; the head of the unit to be appointed by the Minister of Safety and Security in concurrence with Cabinet; and the head to be at the rank of a deputy national commissioner.
The Minister shall report to Parliament on the appointment of the head of the directorate. The unit will not have a separate crime intelligence function, but it will draw intelligence experts from the SA Police Service crime intelligence unit and use crime intelligence in the performance of its functions.
I must indicate that this was not an easy exercise due to the fact that the original proposal from the executive was very poor. We had to convert some of the Members of Parliament from all parties into drafters, and we went to the extent of drawing in technical and legal experts from civil society to assist in the redrafting of the South African Police Service Amendment Bill.
This review of the DSO was a complex issue, especially when it came to the location of the crime-fighting unit. We must note that this had been raised by opposition parties when the DSO was established and debated on 31 August 2000. As much as the DA supported the establishment of the Scorpions, the hon Sheila Camerer, in her speech then, had this to say, and I quote:
However, the questions of where to situate such an elite group of cops, their reporting lines, authorities, liaison with other police units, ministerial responsibility and so on, were never going to be easy.
In that same debate on 31 August 2000, the FF Plus was the only opposition party opposed to the establishment of the Scorpions. Dr P W A Mulder raised very serious concerns then, which are now, unfortunately, the challenges we are faced with. Dr Mulder, in his speech then, had this, amongst others, to say, and I quote:
... to establish the elite unit outside of the police in our view does not work because it is a slap in the face of the police. The government is in fact saying that the police are not doing their job properly. Perhaps one could still establish such a unit in the police, but out there it will create tension. The cross-control, in particular, we said is going to cause chaos instead of combating crime.
Furthermore, Dr Mulder had this to say, and I quote:
... we predict that this is going to create more tension in the future.
In consultation with all affected parties, from 30 September to 2 October 2008, the portfolio committees visited the staff of the DSO and the organised crime unit of the SAPS to inform them about the effects of the legislations and to listen to their concerns. Arising from the concerns and issues that were raised by both parties, it was agreed to establish a joint task team of both members of the DSO and members of the SAPS in order to deal with all concerns raised, including the transitional provisions.
It is important to note that the DSO has a skill that we need within the SAPS. It is also obvious that the SAPS organised crime unit and commercial crime unit are doing very good work, but they lack the skill to communicate their successes. I believe the DSO, with the special skill in publicity, will be able to strengthen the SAPS crime unit.
In conclusion, allow me to take this opportunity to thank all members of joint committees of Parliament for the support they have shown to us as co- chairpersons of both committees. I also want to commend the SAPS on the good work they are doing. It was clear from the SAPS' briefing that they have the capacity to deal with organised crime. Keep up the good work. I know you can do even better.
Comrade Yunus, I will miss your brief contributions and the abnormally late working hours that we spent without any signs of tiredness. I thank the opposition party members who engaged us and criticised us constructively. Please give this unit a chance, and within three years, we will evaluate its performance. I thank you.