Budget Policy Speech Vote 9 delivered by the KwaZulu–Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Honourable S.E Hlomuka, at the KZN Legislature, Pietermariztburg, 19 April 2023
Madam Speaker; Honourable Nontembeko Boyce;
Deputy Speaker; Honourable Themba Mthembu;
Members of the Provincial Executive Council;
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature;
Director-General and Heads of various Departments;
Acting Head of Community Safety and Liaison;
Department of Community Safety and Liaison Management;
Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi;
Members of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster;
The Leadership of Community Safety Structures;
Members of the Media; and Citizens of Kwazulu-Natal.
Introduction
Madam Speaker and Honourable Members, I rise before this House to present the Vote 9 Budget Policy Speech for the Department of Community Safety and Liaison. Our budget allocation during this current finan- cial year of 2023/24 is R250,6 08,000.
This policy speech is very important as we strive to make significant inroads in our efforts to curb the high levels of crime in our society. We present this budget speech under the theme “Leaving no one behind in our journey of building a crime free Province”.
Honourable Members, today marks an important and very significant day in the history of our Province and the country as a whole, and to a larger extent our fight for liberation and self-determination from our op- pressors. History taught us that on this day, 19 April in 1906 INkosi Bhambatha kaManciza led the defiance campaign against the imposition of the “Poll Tax”. The bravery and leadership shown by Inkosi Bhambatha, to fight for that what was just, is precisely the same spirit we want to awaken inside all the people of KwaZu- lu-Natal - to unite and wage a war against all forms of criminality in our society.
Chairperson, in recent satisfaction surveys, crime features as the number one concern of a large majority of our population, regardless of race, gender, religious or political affiliation. During her inaugural State of the Province Address, the Honourable Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube mentioned crime as the number one ene- my of the people of KwaZulu-Natal and this current administration.
To this end, we understand the mammoth task we are faced with. We have the responsibility of creating safer living conditions for all the people of our Province. We must take decisive action and heighten our endeavor to make a significant dent against the rising level of crime in our society.
Central to our resolve to address the levels of crime in the Province are the resolutions taken by the previous Lekgotla of the Provincial Executive Council, African National Congress (ANC) manifestos, Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDP) and the National Development Plan 2030.
The Department`s budget is aligned to priority number six (6) of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), which is Social Cohesion and Safe Communities, with the emphasis on building a united and cohesive society. A significant portion of the Department’s budget allocation is toward safety promotion activities, such as Communities in Dialogue Programme (CIDP), mainly in areas where there is instability in the Prov- ince, safety against crime programmes, attending to issues of Gender Based Violence and Femicide (GBV & Femicide).
Furthermore, attention is given to promoting police relations with communities and support of community safety structures such as Community Safety Forums (CSFs) and Community Police Forums (CPFs) in communi- ties, as well as monitoring and evaluation of the functionality of police stations, monitoring of South African Police Services (SAPS) specialised units and looking into service delivery complaints received against SAPS.
Successes during the term of the sixth Administration
The Department successfully implemented 48 Communities in Dialogue Programmes. The conflicts that were resolved include family against family, village against village, taxi industry-related, traditional leadership con- flicts, farming communities’ conflicts, and hostels, just to mention a few. The programme has been success- ful in addressing conflicts in areas like Umlazi’s Glebelands hostel, KwaMashu hostel, Hluhluwe, Nongoma, Nquthu, Msinga, Newcastle, Ladysmith, Richmond, Umshwathi and many other areas. Through the Inter-Pro- vincial Peace Initiative, peace and stability in Gauteng hostels was restored.
Madam Speaker, following recommendations made by the Department, the Manguzi police station was ren- ovated to be better suited to address the scourge of cross-border crime.
Chairperson, in the past four years all 184 police stations across the Province were monitored and evaluated. After that process, the identified challenges such as the non-compliance with the implementation of the Do- mestic Violence Act (DVA), Muden Police station (uMzinyathi) ranked as the worst performing station on DVA compliance. Following our intervention, it is now ranked at number four (4) in the country. This is indeed a good story to tell. In Harry Gwala District, Swartberg Police station was also amongst the worst performing at 28% and have now seen a significant improvement and are currently at 79%.
Honourable Members, we have seen a remarkable improvement in all police stations in uMzinyathi District following a series of Domestic Violence Act workshops facilitated by the Department. Through our interven- tion as the Department, all police stations have officially appointed DVA coordinators to oversee the handling of all domestic violence cases.
Madam Speaker, through the Department’s complaints management policy, the following categories of com- plaints were successfully dealt with:
• Police negligence;
• Lack of feedback given to complainants;
• Poor investigation;
• Poor control and management of SAP 13 (evidence store and register);
• Poor handling of gender-based violence cases.
PROGRAMME ONE Administration R123 642 million
PROGRAMME TWO Civilian Secretariat for the Police R126 966 million
Building the capacity of the Department
Chairperson, it is well documented that the Department is amongst the least funded. We are, however, do- ing all we can with the limited resources to expand the services rendered by the Department and to have a footprint across the Province. After decentralizing the Department to all districts, we continue to capacitate all personnel in an endeavour of ensuring that services are rendered effectively.
We are also progressing with the filling of critical posts as part of building stability in the Department. We are also moving with speed, guided by the Office of the Premier, in finalising the appointment of the Head of Department.
The approved organisational structure will be finalised in June 2023, to bring about the following improve- ments in the Department:
- Strengthened visibility and impact at a district level in line with the District Development Model (DDM);
- For district offices, the proposed structure will contribute to the reduction in operating costs as all business processes will be planned, implemented, and monitored at a district level;
- There is going to be improved efficiencies, productivity, and service delivery impacts as all resources will be managed at the district level.
Whilst the process of the new organisational structure is being finalised, workload analysis exercise is cur- rently being conducted to identify critical sections in the Department that require urgent intervention in terms of allocating additional human resources.
This will help determine the urgent human resources needs in terms of quality and quantity in accordance with the goals and strategies of the Department and improve efficiency.
The Department has further accommodated 24 interns, who will be with the Department for the next two years. The internship programme aims to provide experiential learning to recruited graduates targeting youth and further capacitate them with relevant skills.
Technological Advances to Improve Business Processing
Honourable Members, I am pleased to report that the migration from physical Information Technology (IT) infrastructure to Cloud Computing has helped the Department immensely as it delivers more flexibility and reliability, increased performance and efficiency whilst cutting IT costs.
The Digital Signature System has been introduced to improve high-speed document processing and better security from fraudulence in transactions. This will make it easier to track the status of documents when the system is fully functional.
Madam Speaker and Honourable Members, a remarkable progress has been made in introducing the Elec- tronic Complaints Management System, which will be introduced in July 2023. The system will make it easier for civilians to lodge complaints relating to SAPS service delivery through an App that can be downloaded onto a smartphone.
Audit Matters
Honourable Members, the Department continues to maintain an unqualified audit opinion, however, we are still committed to obtaining a clean audit report. That can only be achieved if we speed up the rectification of the findings and ensure that matters raised by the Auditor-General receive urgent attention. I have spoken to the management about the matter and expressed my concerns regarding the issues raised and the urgen- cy required in resolving the findings. I must say that I am optimistic that we are not far off from obtaining a clean audit because looking at the findings by the Auditor-General it is not something we cannot rectify as a Department if we apply our minds to it correctly.
Fighting fraud and corruption
According to the National Development Plan, the vision for 2030 is zero tolerance for corruption. The De- partment, through the Risk and Integrity Management Directorate, has performed risk assessments and has put measures in place to mitigate risks of fraud and corruption within the Department. The Department is tightening its internal controls informed by its risk-mitigating strategy.
The Department has an Ethics Management Strategy in place and has continued to conduct fraud and cor- ruption awareness campaigns in various districts to institutionalize and enhance ethical behaviour in the working environment. The Department has been working with other Departments such as the Office of the Premier to investigate allegations of corruption within the Department.
Opportunities created for Youth and Other Vulnerable Groups
Women constitute 59% of the total establishment in all employment levels in the Department whilst youth employees constitute 36% of the total staff establishment. The representation of women in Senior Manage- ment is at 50%. Disabled people constitute 1.7% of the establishment. Various interventions are in place to attract people with disabilities to apply for vacancies in the Department.
80 Internship opportunities were created in the past four years. The aim is to give graduates much-needed experience that would help them compete in the job market whilst creating a pool of suitably qualified can- didates that the Department can recruit from in the future. 25 more opportunities have been advertised and the new Interns will commence on 01 July 2023.
29 students, mainly from FET Colleges, were offered opportunities for Work-Integrated Learning to help them gain the experience that is required by their respective institutions for them to graduate.
Volunteer Social Crime Prevention Programme (VSCPP)
Madam Speaker, this programme is part of the interventions by the Department to reinforce the work of the police in their quest of eradicating crime in our communities.
Honourable Members, 64 of these social crime prevention volunteers are placed at various police stations assisting law enforcement with victim empowerment in cases of GBV. 80 volunteers are actively involved in the fight against the scourge of stock theft.
Chairperson, these are unemployed young people recruited from communities to assist with crime detection and prevention, working closely with law enforcement.
In uMkhanyakude, for example, along the Kosi Bay borderline, we placed (37) social crime prevention volun- teers who are dealing with cross-border crimes. During this current financial year, we are going to recruit 13 volunteers to reach our target of 50. Between the period of 2019 to 2022, these volunteers assisted with the recovery of more than sixty (60) stolen vehicles. These vehicles are stopped before even crossing the border
- that is how committed these young people are. They are leading from the front in defending vulnerable communities.
Chairperson, we pride ourselves as the Department by the fact that some of the volunteers who joined the programme, some with only a matric certificate and others with tertiary qualifications have now sought greener pastures elsewhere, some within the JCPS cluster. Some are my special guests this afternoon include.
- Ms. Wandi Diko from eThekwini Metro, who is a former VEP volunteer is now a member of the SAPS in Mariannhill;
- Ms. Nokuthula Moskoena from Amajuba is now a member of the Public Order Police (POP) in Port Shepstone;
- Ms. Nompumelelo Mdletshe from uMkhanyakude District is now a member of the SAPS;
- Ms. Mafungwase Zulu from eThekwini Metro) joined the programme with a Grade 12 certificate and is now a qualified nurse;
- Ms. Samkelisiwe Mbuyisa from iLembe is currently studying towards a Diploma in Public Manage- ment at Umfolozi TVET.
Madam Speaker, as part of the contribution to job creation, the Department will appoint 37 youth as general workers on a 24-month contract. They will receive a stipend of R4500 per month. Their duties will vary from rendering cleaning services at all our offices, handyman duties and preparing refreshments during meetings.
Graduate Development Program
Madam Speaker, in the previous financial year we recruited 15 law graduates. These graduates are currently attached to 7 private law firms and 8 at the Office of the State Attorney.
Chairperson, we are happy to report that all 15 law graduates are currently registered with the Law Society, which sets a trend for the attainment of the objectives of the programme. We are anticipating that next year, at the end of their in-service training within the programme, they will be confirmed as qualified attorneys.
Madam Speaker, in addition to the law graduates, the Department also recruited ten (10) researchers with the aim of providing them with work experience.
These placements afford the graduates the opportunity to achieve professional accreditation and/or the ex- perience they need, whilst this Department benefits by building an additional pool of expertise available of professionals in the fields contributing to its work.
Read more: Department of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison 2023/24 Budget Policy Speech
