Acting HoD, Ms Nchabeng Tsebe,
General Managers and Chief Finance Officer,
Senior Managers,
Managers,
Deputy Managers,
Good Afternoon.
You are aware of the announcement made by Premier Cassel Mathale on Wednesday to strengthen the Executive Council of the Limpopo provincial government. This announcement included changes in the Department of Safety, Security and Liaison which sees me assuming the position of the Executive Authority with effect from my swearing in on Wednesday afternoon at the Polokwane Division of North Gauteng High Court.
Before being sworn in as a Member of the Provincial Legislature and MEC, I was the Executive Mayor of the Vhembe District Municipality and the Provincial Deputy Chairperson of South African Local Government Association (SALGA) responsible for the Economic Cluster.
After my swearing in on Thursday, all these responsibilities are all in the past. In fact SALGA organised a Farewell Breakfast to confirm our formal parting of ways. The Acting HoD, Ms Tsebe, was kind enough to do the honour of representing me and speaking on my behalf at the Farewell Breakfast. Much as I had wanted to attend, I couldn’t as I was away to the Western Cape on official business.
The past few days since my appointment have been hectic with a lot of demands on my time and attention. More especially from the media who wanted to know what my Vision and Mission was for the department.
One journalist even told me that I was going into a male-dominated safety and security environment. This was said as if I was practically walking into the den of very hungry and angry lions, and therefore ran the risk of being swallowed up in no time. As a woman I was supposed to be scared, perhaps run back to the Vhembe District Municipality where there are no lions.
This statement by the journalist says a lot of how far we have transformed the South African society, state and its institutions. Why is it that the South African Police Service is seen as a domain for males, where females are an accidental presence?
What has been the impact of our transformation agenda in South African Police Service (SAPS)?
As I said earlier, on Friday I was in the Western Cape to attend the MinMec, the quarterly meeting between the National Minister of Police and the nine Provincial MECs responsible for Safety, Security and Liaison. An array of issues pertinent to the mandate of policing was discussed at this meeting. These issues and their resolution will be communicated to you in due course through the office of the HoD.
Ladies and Gentlemen, in all my preliminary encounters with the department my reception has been warm, welcoming and professional. I have already had brief meetings with the Support Staff in the Office of the MEC, Acting Head of Department (HoD) and the Senior Manager MEC Support.
I must confess that I have been left highly impressed by my first encounters with the department and hope that this is the general culture of the department - and not a once off treatment reserved for a new MEC and will soon be gone in week or two as we revert to the old and established culture and tradition of the department. If the latter practice is the case, it will be a sad day for the public of Limpopo who we are here to serve.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the mandate of the department is very clearly spelt out in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and subsequent legislation and policy pronouncements. These pronouncements are further elaborated in the Departmental Planning and Operating Tools like:
- Annual Performance Plan
- Strategic Plan
- Annual Budget
- Operational Plans like School Safety, Tourism Safety, Rural Safety, Provincial Crime
Prevention Strategy
The Safety and Security Summit held in 2010 under the theme: “Fighting Crime Together, Everyone Achieves”, enjoined the department to enhance the fight against crime in the following areas:
- Rural Safety
- Tourism Safety
- Partnership with the Private Security Industry
- Reinforcement of Business in the fight against crime
How far have we gone in implementing the resolutions from this Summit which was commissioned by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster? Have we integrated these resolutions in our APP and relevant programmes? Or are these resolutions accumulating dust somewhere in a cupboard, or are they changing the lives of our people out there?
The department also has a clear Vision, Mission and Core Values to guide us as we give a concrete expression to the mandate of the department. Most importantly we have men and women who constitute Team Safety, Security and Liaison; these are the employees of the department.
It stands to reason therefore that the wheel of the department has long been invented and needs no reinvention! I am not coming to the department pretending there was no department before I came in. I come to the department that has been here since the birth of our freedom and democracy.
All that we need to do now is to strive for more impact in the lives of our people – make them be safe and feel safe.
Ladies and Gentlemen, today’s session is for purposes of meeting and greeting. We are not going to go into substantive issues central to the core business of the department. Issues central to the mandate of the department will be dealt with in future focused engagements with individual programmes.
It is very important that all of us as employees of the department clearly understand our role in the value chain of implementing the mandate of the department. The difference between failure and success depends on us as foot soldier of the mandate. Whether we succeed or fail depends on our commitment or lack of commitment.
The success of the Department in relation to its mandate is therefore in your hands. I expect each one of you to do their best to help the Department realise its mandate. Your role is critical in this regard.
I will continue with these focused and individualized engagements in our districts and with SAPS. Our relationship with SAPS is clearly spelt out in the Constitution of the country. All we have to do is to give practical expression to these Constitutional provisions. Our mandate is well captured in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Section 206, Sub-Section 3 reads as follows: Each Province is entitled:
(a) Monitor police conduct;
(b) Overseer the effectiveness and efficiency of the police service, including receiving reports on the police service;
(c) To promote good relations between the police and the community
(d) To assess the effectiveness of visible policing; and
(e) To liaise with the Cabinet member responsible for policing with respect to crime and policing in the province.
The Constitution further empowers the Executive Authority and/or the Provincial Legislature, and by extension the Department, to perform the following functions:
- investigate, or appoint a commission of enquiry into, any complaints of police inefficiency or breakdown in relations between the police and the community;
- make recommendations to the Cabinet member responsible for policing
- Provincial Legislature may require the Provincial Commissioner of the province to appear before it or any of its committees to answer questions.
These Constitutional provisions must resonate in the work of all our programmes and sub-programmes.
I am aware that the department has taken a credibility knock after the HoD was charged with a series of serious crimes. This matter is with the courts and the police. The HoD is on precautionary leave until both criminal and internal processes have run their course.
I am confident that this matter will be closed sooner than later so that we can proceed with what we are all here for – deliver service to our people.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I look forward to a lasting relationship with you that is geared towards improving the lives of the people of Limpopo.
I thank you!
