Hon Ministers here, Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament, hon Chairperson, law enforcement in South Africa is primarily the responsibility of the SA Police Service. The SA Police Service is established in accordance with the provisions of section 205 of the Constitution of South Africa. However, Cope is ashamed at how this constitutional requirement is violated by the very police service which is supposed to uphold it.
Hon Minister, this does not mean that there are no good policemen and policewomen out there. In fact, many policemen and policewomen in this country are committed to their work. They risk their lives to do this noble job. But I am afraid their good work is overshadowed by those who have become a law unto themselves.
Here is a selection of a few amazing, worrying accounts. The Goodwood Police Station commander, Siphiwo Hewana, was found guilty of tampering with the docket for the convicted fraudster Tony Yengeni after he was arrested for drunk driving in 2007. Hewana is now serving four years in jail, whilst Tony Yengeni walked free.
Former National Police Commissioner and former president of Interpol, Jackie Selebi, was convicted on corruption charges in July 2010 for receiving at least R120 000 from alleged crime syndicate boss Glenn Agliotti. Selebi got 15 years in jail, but Glenn Agliotti is still moving around a free man.
Former National Police Commissioner, Gen Bheki Cele, was found to be an active participant in the R2 billion lease scandal. He breached procurement procedures by taking part in the flawed leasing of two buildings owned by his friend Roux Shabangu, thanks to the investigations and findings of Judge Jake Moloi's board of inquiry. The current Commissioner, Riah Phiyega, is caught up in a complicated investigation of police recklessness that led to the death of 34 miners in one afternoon.
The current bill of R7 billion in litigation charges against the department by the South African public alone speaks volumes about the poor citizenship relationship that the SA Police Service suffers. That is shocking. The same police are being sued for R1,4 million for arresting a student who expressed his dislike for the noise being made by the motorcade of the President's blue light brigade.
The attitude of the general in charge of visible policing, Gen Mothibe, when he came to the portfolio committee recently in Parliament, was one of obscene arrogance - a type of degenerate attitude not suitable for this kind of work. But he remains in charge of the most powerful and biggest part of policing in this country, that is, visible policing.
It is a recommendation that the National Commissioner should resign and make way for a senior, knowledgeable and experienced police person with a proven legal and policing background. [Applause.] Command and control under this new leadership has disappeared. Minister, you know that yourself.
From today, 42 000 administration staff from the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, Popcru, are on strike to force the Minister to honour a salary agreement signed back in 2011 at the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council. Why have you not done anything about it, Minister? Your actions promote wage inequality and poverty amongst your very own members. Yet millions are spent on things that have nothing to do with serving the communities, for example building homesteads for one person, using public money.
Constitutionally, the SA Police Service, first and foremost, is meant to prevent, combat and investigate crime, to maintain public order, to protect and secure persons and property, and to uphold and enforce the law. Nowhere does the Constitution promote revenge or barbaric acts as raison d'tre, nor does it condone the display of corrupt practices, from street bribes to high-level international white-collar crime, by members of the police from a level committed by the likes of the Jackie Selebis of the world.
Cope observes with consternation how the department has become so vulnerable to political influence and orders from above, not least from the likes of former Commissioner Bheki Cele right up to the dreaded "Houdini" called Number One.
According to the 2011 Amnesty International Report, the SA Police Service was involved in cases of torture, electric shock and suffocation of witnesses and suspects, assaulting detainees with batons, fists and boot- clad feet. Police torture and physical abuse allegedly occur during house searches, arrests, interrogations and detentions that sometimes result in death.
According to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, Ipid, there were 966 cases, compared to 920 reported in 2010 - a 5% increase - of reported assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm committed by our police. Officers convicted of these charges were given sentences ranging from verbal to written warnings. The Ipid also reported 46 complaints of rape committed by police, compared with 24 complaints in 2010.
Andries Tatane's death in Ficksburg is a case in point. Minister, the public order policing sector needs retraining. The public order policing in this country is creating a situation where the relationship between the police and the communities is damaged. No police in this country will ever be able to fight crime without the assistance and participation of communities. It is important that you do something about it. I repeat, do something about the attitude of, firstly, visible policing in particular, and public order policing in general. [Time expired.] [Applause.]