Parliament, Tuesday, 8 October 2023 – The Portfolio Committee on Police will tomorrow undertake an in-depth analysis of the 2023/24 annual report of the South African Police Service (SAPS) but at first glance the report identifies a litany of worrying matters of emphasis identified by the Office of the Auditor-General. The committee will demand answers from the senior leadership of SAPS on causal factors leading to material irregularities, remedial plans for identified deficiencies, and consequence management implemented to prevent recurrence.
“The reversal of identified deficiencies within the SAPS is critical to ensuring a viable and fit-for-purpose police service that is able to fight crime and create an environment conducive for economic growth and development. A sickly organisation that cannot achieve its set targets will not give the necessary confidence that it will be able to stem the tide of crime in the country,” said Mr Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of the committee.
In a period when South Africa is struggling with extortions, it is mindboggling that the SAPS reported serious underperformance, having achieved only eight of the planned 18 targets. “This underachievement provides a plausible reason why there has been an increase in this trend in the recent past. The downside of the underachievement is that the cases are strangling economic development as infrastructure projects are delayed,” Mr Cameron emphasised. The annual report highlighted that the SAPS had targeted to make 4 883 arrests for economic infrastructure-related crimes but only achieved 1 637 cases, an underachievement of 3 246.
Another enabler to fight crime is the effective functioning of the 10111 command centre, a long-standing challenge that has not been resolved. The national average rate of abandoned calls was calculated to be 26.44%, with some centres recording an average response time ranging from eight to 35 minutes. “The speedy response to criminal emergencies will lead to the SAPS regaining confidence from the public and will deter further criminal acts. The fact is that the SAPS has not managed to resolve the challenge despite it being around for a long time,” Mr Cameron emphasised.
The committee has also noted a worrying concern that the Detective Services Division decreased considerably, from 26 000 in 2016/17 to 17 000 in October 2023. The committee has always emphasised that an effective crime-fighting effort must be anchored on the ability of the SAPS to investigate cases and ensure prosecution. The reduction of detective services will cripple the effectiveness of the SAPS in implementing the reactive pillar of policing and will lead to perpetrators of crime not being prosecuted.
It is also concerning that some of the reported achievements do not represent the lived realities of many South Africans. For example, the committee does not consider it realistic that the Crime Intelligence Programme achieved 100% of its targets, as SAPS reported in its annual report. “The continued increase in extortion crimes, rampant cash-in-transit heists, cross-border crimes and kidnapping are symptomatic of a limping Crime Intelligence Unit. It is thus disingenuous that the intelligence unit has overachieved in the previous financial year,” Mr Cameron said.
The committee would also like to understand the impediment in performance of critical targets in the fight against crime. For example, the SAPS had planned to finalise 100% of forensic investigations but only achieved 25%; planned to identify organised criminal groups and neutralise them with arrest but could only achieve 20% of the target. Also, the DNA analysis backlog is now at 70 000, which impacts negatively on the ability to prosecute gender-based violence effectively.
“We consider this meeting to be very critical to get to the root cause of underperformance within the SAPS because resolving those challenges will ensure a more effective service that is able to fight crime successfully,” Mr Cameron conclude.
Details of the meeting
Date: Wednesday, 9 October 2024
Time: 09:00
Venue: S12A, Gound Floor, NCOP Building
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON POLICE, MR IAN CAMERON.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairpersons, please contact the committee’s media officer:
Name: Malatswa Molepo (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
Arrange a tour