Chairperson, to all Ministers and Deputy Ministers present, the Acting Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ms A Van Wyk, hon Members of Parliament, the National Commissioner of Police and your team, MECs of community safety and liaison from provinces - I see the MEC from my own province, Ntate Khompela, is here - ladies and gentlemen ... [Applause.] ... we are almost at the end of a very remarkable, yet consuming second decade post-apartheid, both as a country and as the SA Police Service. It is time for this ANC-led government to take stock of how far we have gone in achieving the national agenda of improving the quality of life of all South Africans, especially the historically disadvantaged communities of South Africa.
It is not only about taking stock of progress, as mentioned by my chairperson, Ms Van Wyk. We are equally identifying our challenges and shortcomings as the Department of Police collectively. Most probably, the most blatant challenge of all that we are facing as a nation is the high level of substance and alcohol abuse, rape, sexual abuse and violent crime against the most vulnerable of our society, children, women, the elderly and the disabled. Indeed, that challenge informs our shortcomings as a nation.
Contrary to the saying that "when all has failed, government becomes the last line of defence for any societal challenge, including fighting and preventing crime", as the police leadership we are saying that the community must become the alpha and omega of the defence line for the most vulnerable. It is the people closest to the community, particularly, who commit crimes against our most vulnerable people and it is difficult to detect and detain the perpetrators as long as the community is distant from the police.
That is why, as far back as 2001, His Excellency President Jacob Zuma, in his capacity then as the Deputy President of South Africa, had this to say:
The apartheid history of this country left behind a legacy of a serious breakdown of the moral infrastructure of our society ... The lack of respect for the sanctity of human life for the next person, private property, disregard for the law of the land, lack of parental control over children, and the general blurring of the lines between right and wrong are continuing to plague our communities ... Moral regeneration is not something which can be left to either government or religious communities alone ... We require the participation of all sectors in this campaign ...
... against child rape and sexual violence in South Africa.
The reality is that most crimes committed in South Africa are crimes arising out of factors over which the police have little or no control whatsoever. Factors which stimulate crime, such as poverty, unemployment, gender inequality, and the decline in the standards of morality or moral fibre, have nothing to do with the core mandate of the police per se. This means that a broader notion of safety and security must be sought, a security that is not solely defined in policing terms, but a security of the most vulnerable that is defined in human terms.
Indeed, all our departmental initiatives and programmes to combat and prevent crime point in the direction of humanising the combating and prevention of crime. And this approach is not far removed from the founding policy document of my party, the ANC, entitled: Ready to Govern.
From the onset, the first democratically elected government founded its policy of safety and security on one basic principle: a national security that acknowledges political, economic, social and environmental dimensions. It resolved that:
Underdevelopment, poverty, lack of democratic participation and the abuse of human rights are regarded as grave threats to the security of the people.
Our departmental programmes as the SA Police Service are thus geared towards national security that builds a nation that is coherent, cohesive and co-ordinated towards a better life for all. The Department of Police is therefore zealously active in all the relevant interministerial committees especially the interministerial committee on alcohol and substance abuse, as well as that on the causes of gender-based violence, both of which are led by the Department of Social Development under Minister Bathabile Dlamini.
In the IMC on the root causes of gender-based violence, the SA Police Service is providing specialised national management services in prevention, protection, response, care and support through the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit.
As the Department of Police, we are aware that one of the most important spheres of work to curb child abuse and any other youth-related crimes is the school environment. Since educators spend a great deal of time with abused children, who are their learners, it becomes important that educators know how to manage these children in the schoolyard and in the classroom. In this instance, the Minister of Police and the Minister of Basic Education signed a protocol implementation agreement in April 2011 to partner for the promotion of safer schools and to prevent the involvement of young people in crime.
Already, out of 25 474 schools, 16 810 have been linked to police stations with functional safe school committees since the protocol has come into effect. The two Ministers, the Minister of Police and the Minister of Basic Education, have now delegated to their respective Deputy Ministers to formally launch this protocol.
The launch will sensitise parents and inform schools, the media and all other parties with a vested interest in school safety to know about the programmes. It will also highlight the responsibility of both the SAPS and the Department of Basic Education in promoting an environment that is conducive to learning and teaching. We are partnering and collaborating with the Department of Home Affairs and the Film and Publication Board by facilitating the reporting of child pornography cases for investigation.
The SA Police Service is also actively collaborating with the Department of Social Development and the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Sanca, through the Safe Schools Programme to address drugs, crime and violence in primary and secondary schools. SAPS schools- based crime prevention co-ordinators visit schools and facilitate awareness- raising on the negative impact of drugs and gangsterism. Hon Khompela, I have seen this working in your province in a small town called Koffiefontein, which I visited.
In my own constituency in the Free State, under the leadership of the Premier of the Free State, hon Magashule, we have recently launched a Free State Provincial Crime Prevention Strategy that calls for a multi-agency approach in addressing crime. During this launch, I had an opportunity to engage with youngsters who are addicted to drugs. It is sad to inform you, though, that two of these youngsters are already dead due to mob justice or vigilantism.
Re a kopa. Re a kgalema. Re bua le setjhaba, re re uwele hle, le se ke la inkela molao matsohong. Ha re sebedisaneng le sepolesa. Polao yona ha se yona; marumo ha a be fatshe. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[We are pleading. We are cautioning. We are speaking to the nation to say, please do not take the law into your hands. Let us work together with the police. Killing is not the way to go; lay down your arms.]
Our festive season operations for the 2012-13 financial year have indicated the trend of a high number of arrests owing to drug and alcohol-related crimes, with the Western Cape registering the most affected, at 3 511 arrests. It is clear, then, that the visit the President paid to Eldorado Park was spot-on. Drug-related crimes are on the increase. The biggest increase on the ready docket rate was recorded at a 17,01% increase.
As the department, we are thus hopeful that these integrated programmes with the Department of Social Development and the SA National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence will begin to educate parents on how to spot the signs of drug addiction and gang association, so that they are able to recognise if their child is involved in drugs and with gangs, and be able to seek appropriate intervention.
With these programmes, we are constantly reminding parents, families and educators that they are unwittingly "front-line officers" in identifying children or youth who could potentially pose a risk to the peace and order of our communities. They are indeed the alpha and omega of the defence line.
Only three days ago, a 14-year-old youth who was suspected of being under the influence of a certain substance almost wiped out his entire family. With the help of the community, this young suspect was arrested immediately after killing his mother and two siblings, and leaving his grandmother fighting for her life in hospital. Indeed, the leadership of the SA Police Service welcomes this "working together" with the police to apprehend the suspect of this shocking crime. We also hope that this partnership will conscientise the community of the extreme conditions the police work under.
Let us all imagine the psychological condition of those police officers that were the first to respond to the crime scene of a hacked family. Let us all take home the fact that the work of a police officer, as alluded to by the Minister, is often traumatic, dangerous and exhausting as a result of being part of or having witnessed a traumatic act such as murder, rape, brutal assault or the remnants of a brutal and unspeakably violent murder.
It is for this reason that, as the management of the SA Police Service, we are not only seeking to improve the working environment, but also the general health and wellness of the police officer. Yes, hon Van Wyk, the department is busy reviewing a policy that will make trauma counselling compulsory for all police officers. At the moment, we all know that it is voluntary.
We are also pleased to announce that the promise made by the President way back on 5 September 2011, at the Police National Commemoration Day, that an SAPS Education Trust Fund would be established to provide for the families of those members who died on duty, especially their children's educational needs, is yielding good progress.
The SAPS Education Trust Operating Structure is now in place and the verification of the database of deserving beneficiaries has been done. The SA Police Service Education Trust will be officially launched on 25 July 2013 as part of the Mandela Month activities. As the SA Police Service leadership, we want to ensure that the dependants of these fallen heroes are not destitute.
We have a duty as the Ministry of Police to ensure that the quality of life of all our members is improved equally, whether active, retired or deceased. In this case, we are still continuing with realising the project that I announced in last year's Budget Vote debate.
We are on course to establish an SAPS Non-Statutory Forces Project Task Team with the support of the SA National Defence Force Integration Project Office, to fast-track the implementation of promotion, full recognition of service, pension and privileges, leave days and skills development of those former NSF members who were integrated within the SA Police Service.
Coupled with this SAPS-NSF Project, is the intake of 1 586 SAPS reservists who were trained during the last financial year and permanently employed as security guards. A further intake of 570 is planned for the 2013-14 financial year to address the outstanding security needs of the SAPS.
There are high hopes for linking the successful implementation of the above two programmes with the SAPS centenary celebrations. Policing in South Africa reached a milestone 100 years of existence just last month. The SAPS centenary celebrations will also serve as a means to recognise contributions made by the police officers in the fight against criminality in our country within the democratic dispensation.
One of the visible achievements made by the SA Police Service since the advent of democracy is its recruitment, as mentioned by the Minister. It is befitting, then, that the SA Police Service has won the bid, with the full backing of our government, to host the 51st International Association of Women Police Conference to be held from 22 to 26 September 2013 in Durban, the first of its kind in Africa. Since becoming a member of the IAWP in 2010, the SAPS have been actively taking part in IAWP programmes of uniting and raising the profile of women in criminal justice and international agencies. [Interjections.]