Lieutenant General Lebeya
Lieutenant General Dramat
Lieutenant General Moonoo
Lieutenant General Mbekela
Major Generals and other senior officers
SAPS investigators
Good morning colleagues
Ladies and gentlemen.
I hope that you are all well rested and eager to tackle the packed schedule of discussions which will take place over the next few days, here at the most appropriate venue, the SAPS Detective Academy.
I have gone through the programme that has been scheduled from today until Thursday afternoon and the first thought that came to mind was that the organizers of this Convention are taking an integrated and coordinated approach towards this project. This was really pleasing as, to win the fight against crime, we have to work together, in harmony as one, and not in a disjointed and overly competitive manner.
For the rest of the week “general” detectives and detectives from the DPCI will be sitting side by side, interacting with each other, and together interacting with other vital role players in the criminal justice system. This they will be doing with a common objective, to take the investigative capacity of the SAPS forward TOGETHER in the best interests of the system as well as the best interests of the victims of crime, our most important clients in this process.
The Minister of Police, Mr Nathi Mthethwa, recently issued a media statement congratulating the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) on the many successes achieved through the manner in which they operate and run events. Those of you who have served on the NATJOINTS will realize that this Detective Convention is, in fact, being managed in a similar manner to NATJOINTS operations, a coordinated and cooperative effort, with equal inputs by all major role players. For that I thank you and ask of all the delegates that this spirit of oneness be sustained throughout all deliberations and conversations. All inputs here will be of equal importance and the outcome will be as a result of collaboration and agreement.
During this convention you all have the opportunity to acquire additional knowledge which will be shared with you by experts in their respective fields, both from within the detective environment, from the uniform environment and from outside of the SAPS as well. If I look at the list of discussion-leaders I see names such as Advocate Mahlangu, Professor Saayman, Advocate Du Rand, Joan van Niekerk, Yusuf Abramjee, Ken Maggs – all experts in their fields, and all willing to share their time and expertise to advance the detective cadre in South Africa.
The mandate that the Constitution bestows on the SAPS to ensure that all people in South Africa are and feel safe poses great challenges, given the context within which the SAPS operates, which is characterised by many complexities and an ever-changing combination of circumstances and influences. These factors impact on the functioning of the SAPS and make it all more difficult for SAPS members to fulfill the extraordinary role that this organisation has to play.
Our priorities as an organisation are informed by numerous inputs. The State of the Nation Address by his Excellency, President Jacob Zuma, the National Development Plan (NDP) and various other Government strategic priorities and policy imperatives, specifically the Delivery Agreement of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) with its aim to ensure that “all people in South Africa are and feel safe.” The President emphasised among others the following:
- Focused and deliberate Public Order Management
- Services for children, women, vulnerable old women as well as those who endure sexual abuse
- Corruption
All these areas are matters that require the seasoned capabilities of detectives. It is at this point that I must emphasise the fact that territoriality and polarity have no space in delivery of the demanding crime intervention agenda. It really does not matter what type of a detective you are a “general detective” or a “detective with DPCI”, what matters is that you are a detective. Your roles should be complementary and synergized, in the words of Halford Luccock “no one can whistle a symphony, it takes an Orchestra to play it.”
In addition to the detective-specific topics that are listed in your agenda, I hope that other topics which are vital to the drafting of every division’s strategy are incorporated. Here I am specifically talking to Minister Mthethwa’s 10 point strategy and government’s. These ten point plan of Minister Mthethwa was clearly key in the minds of the organisers when drawing up the programme, and I would like the organisers to ensure that the NDP and the expounded Minister’s 10 Point plan be distributed to the delegates and for related key issues to be brought to their attention.
Without knowing how we, as divisions, sections and individuals, fit into the bigger picture, it is difficult – in fact impossible – to strive towards our common SAPS goals.
The 2007 Review of the South African Criminal Justice System recommended a seven-point plan, which was adopted by Cabinet and which advocates an integrated, holistic approach with regard to all CJS systems and equipment driven by a new, coordinated management structure at all levels.
The Minister of Police has therefore emphasised the need for the synchronisation of the SAPS’s Information and Communication Technology Systems and the interface of these systems within the broader CJS, which includes key initiatives such as the Electronic Case Docket Management System (E-docket), the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and the Crime Management Information System (CMIS). The interfacing of these and other associated systems is at an advanced stage of implementation and will be expedited during 2013/14.
Corruption and fraud undermine the rule of law and hinder the State’s ability to effect development and socio-economic transformation. In this regard, the SAPS will support Governments’ 2030 vision of zero tolerance for corruption, in which SAPS members are held to account and in which leaders hold themselves to high ethical standards and act with integrity.
SAPS as an integral role-player within the JCPS Cluster has the resources and powers to investigate corruption and these investigations will be expedited. In addition, the JCPS Cluster has embarked on a process of ensuring that all departments within the Cluster have effective anti-corruption capacities to ensure the effectiveness of these departments in the fight against corruption, both within the Cluster and country as a whole. This process will culminate in the developing of an Anti-corruption Framework specifically for the Cluster that will guide and coordinate the individual corruption combating capacities within all JCPS Cluster departments.
These priorities constitute the main thrust of SAPS’ focus for 2013/14 and will direct its human and physical resources over the forthcoming financial year. It must be noted that we are aware that some of these issues and challenges that will be faced by the SAPS in 2013/14, were already identified in previous APPs, which implies that these issues have long-term implications that go beyond the stipulated one-year period and the outcomes of which, may not necessarily be achieved during a specific financial period.
During the planning process of the development of the APP for 2013/14, a thorough and comprehensive consultative approach was followed to ensure accountability and transparency with regard to the content of the APP 2013/14. However, the success of the implementation of this Plan lies with each member, irrespective of their functional level.
I therefore call upon every member of the SAPS to focus their actions towards implementing our APP.
The 2012/13 financial year was declared The Year of the Detective, and what a year it was. Several initiatives were undertaken successfully with the sole aim of improving the capacity of the SAPS detective service.
A drive was undertaken to increase the total number of detectives and to this end 479 members, who were previously at the detective service and who were performing duties at other units within SAPS, were placed back to the detective service. 332 new recruits completed the Resolving of Crime Learning Programme and 192 new recruits who were busy with their field training reported for this learning programme on 8 April 2013.
A total of R42 million was allocated to the training of detectives and 4 415 members were trained in various programmes, with 4 091 members undergoing short term intervention courses as well.
Twenty one thousand seven hundred and eighty six (21 786) laptops were purchased and distributed to the provinces, 338 vehicles were purchased for the Detective Service Centres, 96 new vehicles were purchased for the FCS and Stock Theft Units, 10 500 steel cabinets were acquired for the safekeeping of dockets and thousands of fridges, cooler boxes, freezers and digital cameras were also acquired and disseminated for evidence collection and preservation purposes. I am sure that you will agree that a lot of interventions have been made to, at least, make your working conditions a bit more conducive to achieving the results which are being demanded from us.
However, let’s be realistic, our performance will not significantly and sustainably improve by the acquisition of resources only, nor by the streamlining of SOP’s, National Instructions and processes related to investigations alone. It is indeed important that we constantly evolve, but this is only a part of the ingredients needed to improve performance. To sustainably change performance, we will have to give more attention to the following questions: (1) Who are the good detectives and (2) what makes them good detectives. The answers to these two questions must then be included in the recruitment strategy for future detectives.
Professor Jim Collins from Harvard University and the best-selling author of the book “Good to Great” researched thousands of US-based companies to determine what truly successful companies do that others don’t. The findings were staggering. One of the key findings was as follows: Load a bus with people, get the wrong people off the bus and move the right people to the right seats in the bus, and only then to ask them, “Where to”? So with the right people in our team, we can go anywhere. We accept that it is not that simple, but we do recognise that human resources are not our biggest asset but that the right human resources are, and we are working towards it.
When the community and the media expose police officials whose value systems are out of tune with what the SAPS stands for, we must be thankful. If an individual’s value system has moved away from what is morally acceptable, that person must be helped to move out of this organisation and account for his/her actions.
The SAPS Detective Service will only improve if the people behind the case dockets are of the correct profile: people who passed the detective test battery, are driven, passionate to serve and have a high administrative maturity.
The core function of Detective Commanders should be to administer accountable command and control over their members. Excuses on why things can’t be done and why goals cannot be achieved are simply unacceptable and against everything we try to accomplish in relation to serving the community. Let me repeat that. We must command and control without any excuses!
If the conductor turns his back on his orchestra, or becomes distracted during a performance and loses contact with the musicians, the performance of the musicians will be greatly compromised. Command and control is the ‘Achilles tendon’ of the SAPS. Command and control does not mean wielding the big stick, it means inspirational leadership and consistently leading by inspiring example. The core function of a Detective Commander should be to create a healthy environment for his/her detectives wherein their personal excellence can be harvested as investigators of note.
I know that you have a very loaded programme ahead of you and I do not want to take up too much of your time, but one last issue that I hope will be discussed thoroughly is that of providing feedback to the victims of crime or their loved ones. Time and time again, complaints stream in and are reported in the media, that victims or – in the case of deceased victims, their loved ones – get no reports from the SAPS on the status of the investigations.
Although I am painfully aware of your workload and the pressure that is placed on your shoulders, we have to work out a methodical and effective system of providing feedback to the victims. I appreciate that you have a media expert present in the form of Mr Abramjee, but I most definitely would have liked to have seen SAPS communication experts in attendance as well, specifically to address this concern.
I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for the good, no - the excellent, work you have being doing. The prisons are not overflowing with criminals who walked in and handed themselves over, those convicts were arrested by you or your counterparts in visible policing who then handed the cases over to you for investigation and prosecution. The fact that there is over-crowding in the prisons is testimony to your dedication and commitment.
Good luck on the road forward and I look forward to seeing you all at the end of the programme.
