Security, Ms Susan Shabangu, MP
1 June 2006
There are young people who have come to this House today, Madam Speaker,
special invitees of the Ministry for Safety and Security in keeping with our
programme in celebration of the 30th anniversary year of the Soweto
uprisings.
Nine of them come from our provinces and they are:
a) Siphosethu Ndalasi from the Eastern Cape
b) Sonia Mulaudzi from Gauteng
c) Mamello Octavia Makhatla from Free State
d) Albertina Chueu from Limpopo
e) Esther Masega from North West
f) Unathi Dyani from Western Cape
g) Mary Nokukhanya Hlangu from KwaZulu-Natal
h) Sphiwe Skhosana from Mpumalanga
i) Grace Kokwe from Northern Cape.
Four of the girls, Sphiwe Skhosana, Nokukhanya Hlangu, Grace Kokwe and
Unathi Dyani were part of the editorial team that cleaned up my speech. If
there continue to be mistakes as I read on donât blame me, blame them.
The other group of young people sitting in the gallery are 66 children that
our Ministry has reintegrated with their families in terms of a programme we
launched in July 2004, among others, to assist homeless children. All of the 66
young people come from the Western Cape. They are not only back at home but
also back at school as we speak. We commend the South African Police Service
(SAPS), communities, parents and schools for the parts they have played in
ensuring that these prodigal sons and daughters enjoy the love and care of
their families once more.
This year we dedicate our Budget speech and the results of our hard work not
only to those children, but also to our youth and South African women. We are
celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising. It was in 1976 that
we, the youth, bravely resisted the oppressive yoke of apartheid in general and
the inferior education in particular. We pride ourselves in the sterling
contribution to our democracy and freedom.
Secondly, I would also want to honour and commemorate the 50th anniversary
of the Womenâs March on the Union Buildings. The women of the 50s were able to
confront and identify issues that impacted on their daily lives which were
designed to turn them into perpetual slaves. This has inspired the current
boldness with which these matters are confronted.
Our policies and strategies continue to focus on crime prevention as part of
governmentâs agenda to provide a better life for all. Social crime prevention
becomes the focal point for the creation of a crime free environment in law
enforcement and policing.
Youth programme
The context in which the youth programme is currently being run needs to be
reviewed in order to include partnerships with police stations and sector
policing. The role of the Station Commissioner in co-ordinating cross-cutting
matters on schools within their precincts needs to be considered.
Let me appreciate business against crime for their continuous support
through the implementation of Tiisa Thuto in order to address safety matters in
schools. This enhances our partnership with the Department of Education on an
ongoing basis. An illustration of this is that recently a successful drug
reduction programme in schools was launched in Gauteng and Western Cape with
the assistance of the Tiisa Thsuto programme.
Missing children
Recently a three-year old boy disappeared in Wallaceden while in the company
of his uncle. The little boy was not found for days and his mother appealed to
communities to help find her son. The boy was found days later in a childrenâs
home in another area. He was found wandering in the streets. A similar incident
occurred in the Free State where a two-year old girl from a farm outside
Bloemfontein disappeared without trace. The little girl disappeared after she
was left with her siblings in the care of neighbours. Her parents had gone to
look for wood. The little girl has not been found.
These two incidents are just the tip of the iceberg of the cases of missing
children handled by police daily through-out the nine provinces. However, the
difference in the Western Cape is that they have a Child Rapid Response Unit,
which has high recovery and success rates.
The fact that the child in Wallaceden was found unharmed is proof of the
turn around strategy we have piloted and implemented in regard to dealing with
missing children and change the perception that these cases can only be
reported after 48 hours.
The Western Cape has a child rapid response programme which works hand in
hand with Bambanani volunteers in their efforts to deal with issues of missing
children. And this has resulted in huge success rates of missing children who
were found. Between September 2005 and April 2006, a total of 133 children were
reported missing in the Western Cape. Of this total 126 were found alive, three
were found dead and four are still missing.
An aspect we have to consider is how best we can employ relevant modern
technologies in speedy identification, tracking and securing of these children
in order to ensure that early interventions can be implemented to safeguard
children.
Children living in the streets programme
The homeless childrenâs programme was launched in July 2004 following
concerns that the situation of children living and working in the streets
renders them vulnerable to involvement in crime, either as victims or
offenders.
Homeless Children Provincial Capacity Building Workshops for SAPS, aimed at
providing the members and other stakeholders with skills to deal with children
living in the streets, were conducted and finalised in all provinces by July
2005.
The Social Crime Prevention component is in the process of developing a
policy as well as guidelines for the SAPS with regard to children living in
streets. A literature review has been done and the data analysis incorporated
into the draft report.
Part of the actions conducted to support the homeless childrenâs programme
include Project Childhood in the Western Cape, which focuses on the development
of children. This is the project that has yielded results of the 66 children we
referred to earlier. An aspect of this programme is to ensure that these
children have responsible adult supervision that includes developmental
activities such as sport and education. Also the Eastern Cape has a sports
programme which involves soccer games with major clubs every June.
Despite the efforts I have already mentioned above, we continue to review
our means of addressing matters of children living in streets in order to
encourage the partnerships with other relevant institutions. Shelter for
children living in streets continues to be a challenge to government and
communities.
Also as part of the same project, we have guests of 66 children and their
parents who are our guests. These were prodigal sons and daughters of South
Africa. It is with pride that we launched the programme to re-integrate these
children with their families. They are not only back at home but also went back
to school.
Children in conflict with the law
My Ministry and the Department have participated on the Inter-Sectoral Child
Justice Committee with the view to addressing challenges faced by the police in
ensuring that their constitutional and legal obligations to limit children kept
within police custody are addressed. In September 2005, the police tabled a
report on the situation of children being kept in their custody in Mpumalanga,
Limpopo and North West provinces. I am happy to report that the integrated
justice system is starting to yield results.
Domestic violence
A number of 91 trainers were trained by December 2005 on the reviewed
domestic violence training package by the social crime prevention component.
Success will be informed by our commitment to training and improving service
delivery.
As government, our services to victims of domestic violence would also be
greatly improved by a concerted effort in integrated multidisciplinary and
preventative services.
Implementation of the anti-rape strategy
The SAPS continues to participate in the interdepartmental management team
for the Anti-Rape Strategic Framework. The strategic framework focuses on
prevention, the criminal justice process and support to victims. Although the
SCP focus is mainly on prevention, the component also co-ordinates the
implementation of the responsibilities of the SAPS in terms of the approved
strategic framework.
One of the key achievements in Gauteng was the launch of a Womenâs Centre at
Orange Farm during May 2005. The centre provides for preventative advisory
services and victim services to be provided in an integrated fashion.
During womenâs month (August), the anti-rape strategy was implemented in
different provinces. The continuous intervention of social crime prevention at
station level enables a better understanding of the anti-rape programme.
From 25 November to 10 December 2005 with the focus on 16 Days of Activism,
provincial, area and station anti-rape reviews, indabas, public awareness
campaigns or workshops and road shows were conducted throughout the
country.
In KwaZulu-Natal traditional leaders, religious leaders and community
members were involved in public mobilisation against offending behaviour.
Workshops on rape and domestic violence, aimed at improvement of service
delivery and addressing stereotypes in society were conducted.
Part of the preventive actions include review sessions on the anti-rape
strategy, public awareness campaigns on rape and sexual offences, workshops
with regard to abuse aimed at improvement of service delivery.
We will continue to work with other departments and communities in order to
improve services to victims of rape and engage in preventative activities.
Victim empowerment programme
A process for building victim friendly facilities on a national level has
begun in terms of uniform standards that will ensure the comfort and acceptable
environment for the victims prevails.
This database indicates that at the end of March 2006 victim friendly
facilities had been established at 583 police stations, spread all over the
country, with 21 more having been established from 1 April 2005 to 31 March
2006.
About 387 members were trained in victim empowerment. We will continue with
this establishment of victim-friendly facilities and training.
Substance abuse
The issue of alcohol and drug abuse comes up often and remains a thorny and
contributing factor to contact and violent crimes in our country.
This problem manifests itself in many ways. We might need to revisit the
legalisation of taverns and shebeens. They continue to pose a threat to our
communities and schools.
The Department of Health has passed a law which regulates smokers. The big
challenge for some of our children is that they begin to experiment with
smoking especially when they witness their own parents smoking. Children start
experimenting with cigarettes at a very early age. As they progress with their
experiment, they mix the cigarettes with something stronger like drugs. Before
they even realise the consequences of their actions, they already are addicts
and lose their soul and touch with communities. We must declare war against
peddlers and druglords who kill our communities and destroy our children as
future parents.
It is therefore imperative that local authorities also effectively exercise
their duties in forcing owners of such establishments in the entertainment and
leisure industry to comply with policy and municipal regulations.
The SAPS is participating in the development of the National Drug Master
Plan (NDMP) together with other government departments. A Guideline Document
for the Demand Reduction Strategy for Drugs (DRSD) has been finalised in order
to define the role of the SAPS in reducing the supply and demand for drugs.
Crime reduction programmes
Against Crime Together (ACT)
We are more than ever mindful of the need for an intensive and extensive
communication and awareness programme in regard to social crime prevention
focusing on our members and communities.
The ACT campaign to be extended to all other provinces later this year seeks
to increase public awareness about safeguarding our children during Child
Protection Week, Youth Month and indeed throughout the year by focusing
attention on crimes in selected public frequented places.
Another important goal is that of strengthening partnerships between the
public and law enforcement agencies in ensuring a safe and secure environment.
We would be more than satisfied if no other messages imprinted themselves on
the memories and hearts of communities that day than the following two;
a) we can no longer afford to have our children living in the streets
b) we can no longer tolerate not responding when crimes are committed against
our children.
Restorative justice programme
There is no time to be resting on our laurels and after the successful pilot
of ACT in the Western Cape. We believe restorative justice is a solution in
addressing the youth programme.
Operation Basadi
As part of the crime reduction programme focusing on the Reduction of
Contact Crimes, Operation Basadi was launched during the 16 Days of Activism
which also coincided with the United Nations No Violence against Women
campaign, International Day of no violence against women and the International
Human Rights Day.
The objective with Operation Basadi was to fast track all cases and ensure
all participants work together with detective services. We will soon roll out
this operation within the Justice Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster
in a way to create an environment which is friendly to women and children.
Employee Assistance Service (EAS)
The SAPS works from the premise that our members are our most valuable
assets. For this reason the Employee Assistant Service (EAS) programme enjoys a
high priority focusing on both proactive and reactive measures. Proactive
programmes enhance membersâ well being while the reactive programmes serve
members who need emotional support. The programmes also provide a telephone
counselling service, one-on-one counselling and a referral base to the EAS
namely psychologists, social workers and spiritual workers. The EAS offers
standby service for SAPS members which include a 24-hour toll free number. A
SAPS specific training video has been a valuable tool in alerting peers and
commanders to the warning signs of potential suicide victims so that emotional
support can be secured. We acknowledge the challenges that our members are
facing and therefore we will soon re-visit the current programmes to ensure
that members can cope with the complex issues that they have to deal with on a
daily basis.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Safety and Security
1 June 2006
