Chairperson, oNgqongqoshe abakhona, oSekela Ngqongqoshe abakhona beholwa ngowamaphoyisa uMnu. Mbalula, uSihlalo Wekomidi lePhalamende Lamaphoyisa, uNkk. Chikunga, uKhomishana Wamaphoyisa Kazwelonke, uJenene Cele neqembu lakhe, amalungu ahloniphekile, nani nonke. Kuyintokozo ukuthula loluhlahlo lwesabelomali lwalonyaka, siluthula ngaphansi komgomo esiwushilo uma uqala unyaka siwubekelwa nguMongameli ukuthi ngunyaka wokwenza lo. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.) [... Ministers who are present, Deputy Ministers present led by the Deputy Minister of Police Mr Mbalula, Ms Chikunga, the Chairperson of the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police, the National Commissioner of Police, Gen Bheki Cele and his team, hon members, and all of you, it is a pleasure to present this year's budget. We present it under the theme which we stated at the beginning of the year, which was declared by the President to be the year of action.]
This is the year of action. The fundamental aim of our government is to build a society in which our people will enjoy a dignified and improved quality of life and freedom. Crime and corruption, however, as well as the proliferation of firearms in our society, stand in direct opposition to achieving this noble goal.
Inevitably, freedom does not create itself. Crime does not simply disappear; we must create conditions that will make crime disappear. Our strategic perspective in the fight against crime is mainly premised on two considerations: firstly, that the battle against crime cannot be separated from the war on want; and secondly, that the deviant activities of the few amongst us should not be allowed.
As we said, 2010 is the year of action, ensuring that everyone in South Africa is and feels safe. As declared by the President of the Republic, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, on the occasion of the state of the nation address, government will accelerate service delivery. He further made a commitment that the work of government will be measured according to outcomes.
The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS, cluster is to ensure that all people in South Africa are and feel safe in their homes, places of work and businesses whilst they carry on with their lives. The "people" in this context refers to all law-abiding citizens.
It is important that, today, I reflect on the move we have commenced with towards a single police service. Section 205(2) of the Constitution says:
National legislation must establish the powers and functions of the police service and must enable the police service to discharge its responsibilities effectively, taking into account the requirements of the provinces.
Section 205(3) further states:
The objects of the police service are to prevent, combat and investigate crime, to maintain public order, to protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property, and to uphold and enforce the law.
We have tasked the Secretariat of Police to investigate the feasibility of implementing this very constitutional imperative of a single police service in this country. We are mentioning this to sensitise everyone with regard to the commencement of the process. We are under no illusion that this is going to be a protracted process if one takes cognisance of how long it took for us to integrate the Hawks into the SAPS.
The transformation of the police must, across the country, focus on the type of police service we want to see. It must ensure that our police service, at all levels, is reflective of the society it polices and the values we wish to promote within our society.
In order to fight crime, and fight it effectively, we need to recruit the right calibre of police officers. Whilst fitness and the ability to operate firearms are some of the essentials, it is in essence discipline, upholding of the Constitution, defending the weak, enforcing the law and being generally upright that should constitute the defining core values of the police. We have, therefore, taken a decision to implement plans to increase the number of police, as we have been saying over the last period.
During the 2009-10 financial year, the department increased its human resource capacity by employing 9 803 new police trainees, and as you have heard, we have plans to increase the recruitment, but also to focus specifically on specialised areas like detectives. To emphasise our good-police-officer approach, we are graced in this house by two exemplary police officers from Port Elizabeth, Captain Cornelius Pettit and Detective Warrant Officer Neil Killian. Three weeks ago, following a lengthy investigation, they arrested a suspected druglord. This is something that we have been emphasising lately, that it is important that we get the ringleaders in this drug field. In trying to secure his freedom, this druglord attempted to bribe them with an amount of R1 million each. The officers flatly refused the bribe, and instead added another charge to the charge sheet. [Applause.]
We also want to recognise and applaud four of our members who were recently released from Sudan following their abduction while they were on duty. The four are: Colonel Aucone, Captain Annett, Sergeant Melanzi and Constable Ramantsi, and they are back in the country. [Applause.]
These four unsung heroes have vowed to go back to Sudan and continue to raise high the South African flag by continuing to serve, with distinction, the region and the continent.
Gen Cele and I, as the current chairpersons of the Council of Ministers and Police Chiefs of the Southern Africa Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation, SARPCCO, respectively, shall strive to continue to promote and support our region in peace and stability efforts. On 12 January this year, a disastrous earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, in Haiti, taking away thousands of lives and destroying infrastructure. As part of the many nations who responded to the relief efforts, we commend our police dog unit members for their swift response in coming to the aid of the people of Haiti. This demonstrates our continued support, as the SAPS and a country, to relief efforts to those in need across the globe.
Any police organisation requires capable, innovative and upright leaders to guide its personnel. To this end, we have appointed new leadership to take charge of the SAPS. We have put in place a new National Police Commissioner, Gen Bheki Cele, to provide general operational leadership, guidance and direction to the SAPS. [Applause.] He looks disappointed there.
We have also reinforced our intelligence arm with the appointment at national level of Lt Gen Mdluli, as Divisional Head of Crime Intelligence.
As government, we took a stance to fight crime, and fight it tough and smart. To realise this objective, certain steps have been undertaken. Amongst these is the transformation of the police ranks to ensure clear lines of command and control while instilling a sense of discipline amongst the members.
It is important to emphasise that the change in police ranks is an operational matter and has no constitutional implications whatsoever. Section 199(1) of the Constitution talks to the police service and so do the Polokwane and prior resolutions of the ruling party. Section 207(1) of the Constitution speaks to the issue of the national commissioner, and this will continue to be the case. There is therefore no desire, from anybody amongst us, to tamper with the policy underpinnings that inform our approach to policing.
The issue of how we mobilise and galvanise the material and attitudinal resources of the police to help to enhance discipline, instil confidence and resolve and uplift the morale within the ranks does not, and should not be interpreted to mean or suggest a policy reorientation.
Transformation should not be viewed in isolation from the other pillars of our strategy; for example, strengthening partnerships with the community to make life difficult for criminals and utilising intelligence as a nerve centre of policing, thereby strengthening the legislative framework. This specifically refers to the strengthening of the Independent Complaints Directorate, ICD, and the Civilian Secretariat of Police and the review of the entire criminal justice system.
We shall take no chances with the lives of police officers fighting against criminals. We shall also not allow abuses by individual police officers to go unchallenged. To address this we have also strengthened the ICD by appointing Mr Beukman as the head of the ICD, in August 2009.
Whether people judge us from the national elections, the festive season or even the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup, there is a clear trend that we are making an impact in the fight against crime. Government is in charge and gaining new ground each day.
The review of the crime scene management standard operational procedure has been developed and was completed in January 2010. Processing before Parliament of the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill is at an advanced stage. The Bill has been split into two, and the portfolio committee will speak more on this. They know better as this is their area.
The e-docket system is a key component of the criminal justice system, CJS, review. Within the SAPS, the e-docket system has been introduced in 193 police stations around the country, and the scanning of more than 260 000 dockets has been finalised to date. Within the CJS review there is now a process that has been developed to speed up the roll-out of the e-docket system to all stations across the country.
With regard to our fight against corruption, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, DPCI, otherwise known as the Hawks, is currently made up of 2 633 members. We have already appointed deputy provincial commissioners in eight of the nine provinces and additional personnel are currently undergoing vetting processes.
The Hawks have already scored successes in a number of fields in their short time in existence. On 6 July 2009, 287 projects of the former Directorate of Special Operations were transferred to the DPCI. The SAPS now has an effective process for dealing with organised crime projects investigations.
To date, the following statistics of operations of the DPCI show the following: for organised crime, there have been 3 850 arrests and 573 convictions; and for commercial crime, 8 186 arrests and 4 960 convictions. The Hawks have also placed a target for themselves of catching all of the 50 most wanted criminals, starting at the end of last year. To date, 28 of them are in custody and the work continues.
Other notable successes include: a drug laboratory with drugs to the value of R200 million recovered in an operation in Midrand in August last year; a transactional drug bust to the value of R600 million recovered in Phoenix in September 2009, which included the arrest of two South Africans and four British citizens; and the discovery of a drug lab valued at R1 billion on 4 December 2009.
Other drug busts include the arrest of a school teacher in possession of ephedrine to the value of R35 million in Kempton Park, in February 2010. A drug lab was closed down and drugs to the value of R5,4 million were seized in Benoni in March this year.
I am relating this because the public may not know about it, simply because we have emphasised the point that we want police to do policing work and not some Hollywood stunts, where, when they go to make arrests they have to call in the media to bring the cameras with them. They must just be effective.
There have been numerous allegations of fraud involving municipalities. Operationally, we remain confident that the Hawks will continue with their successes in fighting organised crime. The successes of the Hawks have proven sceptics wrong.
With regard to crime intelligence, we have over the past year emphasised the important role that crime intelligence needs to play in the fight against crime, and the need to rejuvenate our crime intelligence to service all aspects of policing. A strategy which will include utilisation of visible policing personnel for the provision of intelligence, especially during patrols, is being developed.
During last year's Budget Vote we committed ourselves to increasing by 19% the number of detectives at levels one to seven by the end of the financial year. We have surpassed this target and our growth now stands at 22,4%. This demonstrates the seriousness with which we take the criminal justice system's outcomes.
In this growth we have 20 022 detectives as we speak. When taking into account 2 153 who are currently undergoing basic training, the total comes to 22 175.
Building on these successes, we have set ourselves ambitious results for the next five years, targeting a detection rate of between 43% and 60%.
During last year's Budget Vote emphasis was placed on the need to review the establishment of specialised units with particular emphasis on violence against women and children. Following on from this, extensive work has been done on the feasibility of the re-establishment of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences, FCS, units.
FCS structures will be aligned with the cluster policing model to serve the stations. Best practices have also been identified where FCS units and nongovernmental organisations will be able to work together.
Ultimately, we seek to work with other government departments and civil society to create a one-stop centre where all services required by victims of FCS-related crimes will be integrated.
A deadline has been set that by 1 June 2010 all vacant funded posts will be filled, and that the FCS units need to be fully operational by 1 April 2011.
We are happy to announce the appointment of Lt Col Bafana Peter Linda to head this unit. As he was based in the United Kingdom, where he acquired extensive expertise in this field, we believe he will be a valuable asset.