During this week, the South African Police Service will be presenting the Annual Report for the period which ended on 31 March 2013. It is an opportunity for us to account to the people of South Africa on how we performed against the set targets.
As I reflect on our performance, it is clear that the South African Police Service continues to deliver on its constitutional mandate of preventing, combating and investigating crime.
There are some challenges though and the key to unlocking the SAPS' ability to deliver optimally, for the benefit of all communities, is through continued acceleration of efforts to deliver on our mandate whilst simultaneously deepening the process of renewal and rebuilding the organisation.
If we are to break the back of crime, we need to adopt a different approach. As we analyse the main drivers of crime, it is evident that there are many underlying contributory factors.These include alcoholism, drugs, unemployment and the generally violent nature of our society. Failure on our part, and that of other key stakeholders, to address these elements will significantly hamper progress in our fight against crime.
Furthermore, there is need for us to reorganise, streamline and in certain areas redefine responsibilities. I want each and every individual within the SAPS to be called on to account for delivery on their responsibilities. We need new leaders who are committed and focused on delivering on our core mandate.
Integrity is fundamental to what we do. We cannot fight crime when our organisation has people who do not respect the law within its ranks. Crime must be fought with clean hands.
We will therefore have to get a sense of how many members who are in the employ of the service have criminal records and then see how we manage them. We must then also establish exactly how many members are facing criminal investigations as well as validate academic records. This work will be enhanced with the appointment of a new Integrity Manager sometime early 2014.
Another area that I wish to highlight is that of discipline, which is the cornerstone of policing. Without it, there can be no effective policing. This means that each and every officer, from the highest to the lowest rank, must deliver. I will make sure that this happens during my tenure.
We are attending to internal processes to ensure that there is a well-conceptualised resource plan, formulated through a participative process. It also includes the modernisation of our human resources environment so that hard work is rewarded and there is clear career planning. In addition, we will improve our performance management system and instil a sense of professionalism.
When I took over as National Commissioner, I inherited a strategic plan that focused on ten key areas of performance. These have been incorporated into five different programmes. In the majority of the performance areas we have performed well, whilst there are some areas that still require considerable attention.
The timeous completion of building and refurbishment of police stations within the set plan remains a challenge due to various reasons, including the control of many projects by the Department of Public Works.
In respect of the projects handled by the Department of Public Works, as the implementing agent, on-going efforts to establish a service delivery agreement between the two departments are continuing. Challenges in this regard have even been escalated to Ministerial level.
To enhance organisational capacity to deal with crime more effectively, a total of 5 045 new police officials were enlisted into the organisation during the reporting year. In addition, scarce skills were sourced externally to optimise the capacity of specialised environments. For example, the capacity of Forensic Services was improved massively to ensure that there is appropriate support for crime investigation.
Our Technology Management Services is an area of concern. A new Technology Investment Council has been established to drive the technology management turnaround strategy. This will also ensure that our information and communications technology (ICT) plans are aligned with the strategic priorities of the SAPS.
The second of the five programmes, visible policing, received positive attention through the SAPS conducting 34 428 crime-prevention operations to enhance police visibility across the country. This is despite the fact that protests countrywide continue to be a major challenge and are diverting our resources from visible policing responsibilities.
These operations resulted in 1, 68 million arrests. This is a twenty-two per cent increase over the number of operations conducted in the previous year. SAPS management will continue to focus on crime-combating measures in Gauteng and other seriously affected provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape.
Illegal firearms are still the main contributors to serious crimes, particularly in contact crimes. A campaign was intensified to recover as many illegally owned firearms as possible. A total of 12 982 firearms were recovered: a forty-eight per cent increase over the previous year.
Although the SAPS arrests thousands of suspects every year, the incidents of escapes from lawful custody continue to pose a serious challenge to the organisation. For example, there were 810 incidents of escapes during the period under review. The national plan to prevent escapes from police custody, focusing on compliance aspects by the relevant members and commanders, will be revised during 2013/14.
The killing of police service members continues to be a major concern. During the 2012/13 financial year, 84 members were murdered. Gauteng recorded the highest number of murders (27, 4 per cent), followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 21, 4 per cent).
The training of members within the investigation of crime environment was a priority and 14 089 detective members were trained. From this number, 13 779 were declared competent, i.e. a competency rate of 98 per cent. The overall number of detectives across the country increased by 8, 29 per cent to 25 844 as part of the Ministers’ call for 2012/13 to be the year of detectives.
The Criminal Record Centre has expanded its Automated Fingerprint Identification System capacity by an additional eight Local Criminal Record Centres to enhance service delivery and support stations and detectives in the investigation of crime. Technological capacity was also enhanced through the opening of a state-of-the-art Forensic Science Laboratory in Plattekloof, Cape Town. This laboratory will enhance crime investigation within the province and beyond.
The capacitation and the resourcing of detectives remains a challenge.The roll-out of the remaining 8 212 laptops will be finalised in the coming year. Another area of serious concern was that the target for the detection rate for crimes against women (18 years and above) and that for crimes against children (under 18 years) were not achieved. These are two focus areas for the 2013/14 financial year.
In conclusion, I wish to thank the Honourable Nathi Mthethwa, Minister of Police, for his leadership and strategic guidance. We would also like to express our appreciation for the on-going support from the Deputy Minister and other strategic entities in the Ministry of Police.
I also wish to thank the Portfolio Committee for their oversight role, in particular the chairperson, Ms Annalize Van Wyk. I appreciate the frank and robust relationship and fulfil its objective of helping the SAPS to continually improve. This is healthy situation as, at the end of the day, we share a common goal. We want the police to deliver on its core mandate for the benefit of all South Africans.
Ours is a tough and thankless task. It would therefore be remiss of me if I didn’t use this opportunity to thank the men and women in blue for their commitment and dedication. The good results and the confidence that I have in our ability to successfully continue the fight against crime is because of their efforts and sacrifices.
