Statistician General Pali Lehohla and personnel
National and Provincial members of the SAPS
All men and women in blue
Distinguished guests
All role players in the safety and security fraternity
Members of the media
The Nation at large
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Our gathering today presents an opportunity to outline our collaborative agreement, a result of the relationship between the South African Police Service and Statistics South Africa, which dates back to 2011.
Considering the continued co-operation, mutual awareness and support between these two Government Departments, we have decided to officially and publicly announce that we have established an important partnership that will enhance the quality of the crime statistics we produce. We are fully aware of the importance of this day to both organisations.
The beneficiaries of our partnership will be the citizens of this country to whom we account and serve. In order to ensure continuous improvement in the quality of crime statistics that we present to the public, our collaboration will go a long way in enhancing the integrity of the SAPS’s crime statistics.
Approximately four years ago the South African Police Service began consulting with independent researchers, civil society organisations, and other key National and International stakeholders to explore ways to enhance the management of crime statistics. This includes, amongst others, local entities such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Statistics South Africa. Further consultations were conducted with countries such as the United Kingdom, United States of America, Mexico and, closer to home, Botswana. Notably, we have also consulted a former member of the Orkin Committee which is an intervention that was commissioned in 1997 by the former Minister of Safety and Security and led by Dr Mark Orkin, the former Head of Statistics South Africa. The intention of the particular engagement was to enliven and deduce recommendations from that Committee’s report that would enrich the product of the overall consultation process.
This collective, collaborative approach will enhance the reliability and validity of our crime statistics.
Ladies and gentlemen,
To date, it is worth noting that we have covered good ground in laying the foundation for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding. This includes:
- The development of the Crime Statistics Policy in line with the quality dimension requirements of the South African Statistical Quality Assessment Framework (SASQAF) and international best practice;
- SAPS National Instruction to guide the process of collection, collation and processing of crime statistics;
- Enhancement of crime statistics Information Technology capability;
- Development of the MOU that we are signing today.
As confirmed by the Statistician General, the crime statistics content generated by the South African Police Service is an important leg in the value chain of the statistics system that informs policy development and planning in the Criminal Justice System. Therefore, the formalisation of this partnership serves as the foundation for the enhancement of the quality of crime statistics, alignment and integration of information management in the Criminal Justice System’s value chain.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is important to note that this MOU is a culmination of much work evidenced to date and therefore this will not just be signed and shelved. Accordingly, we have constituted a Joint Working Party (JWP) comprised of members of the South African Police Service and Statistics South Africa that will advance the realisation of the agreement.
I thank you
