State of the Province Address
21 February 2007
On Monday, 19 February 2007, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa re-emphasised the
seriousness with which the government takes crime and its commitment to
improving safety for all people in Gauteng. In his State of the Province
Address, the Premier highlighted the following points:
* we would redouble efforts to reduce levels of crime in Gauteng
* we would ensure optimal utilisation of the police electronic performance
monitoring and evaluation system
* the 10111 Police Emergency Response System in Gauteng will improve
substantially
* we will be deploying volunteer patrollers in 26 specifically identified areas
throughout Gauteng
* we will be launching a broad-based movement against crime through our "Take
Charge" campaign
* we remain committed to reducing crime and violence against women and
children
* 27 youth desks will be established throughout the province
* a new School Safety programme will be rolled out
* we will be extending our efforts to reduce road accident fatalities by 30%
through the implementation of the Gauteng Road Safety Strategy.
It must be recognised that this government's commitment to improving safety
through reducing crime was clearly articulated at the time that this
administration took office in 2004. It was then highlighted that we would be
developing a Provincial Safety Plan to reduce crime in line with the National
Cabinet's commitment at the same time.
We recognised that the crime challenge facing our province was as a result
of a complex inter-play of historical and social factors. As I have repeatedly
stated, this means that there can be no quick fix to the crime challenge. Not
only do we have to strengthen our ability to tackle serious violent crimes in
the short-term, but we need to address the factors that contribute to people
thinking that crime is a viable option.
After an extensive process that looked carefully at the nature of the
challenge and the lessons of previous national strategies such as the National
Crime Prevention Strategy, we developed a comprehensive strategic framework to
guide and mobilise the resources of Gauteng to improve safety through reducing
crime. In August of last year, the Provincial Cabinet adopted this framework
known as the Gauteng Safety Strategy.
The vision of the strategy is as follows
"A globally competitive Gauteng City-Region characterised by confident
people, households and communities enjoying a high quality of life because they
live, work and travel in a law-governed society free from fear, violence and
crime."
The strategy contains the following pillars:
1. improving the quality of police through enhanced oversight
2. promoting social crime prevention initiatives throughout all government
departments
3. improving the institutional arrangements for government to better
understand, respond to and co-ordinate crime prevention initiatives
4. mobilising and supporting increased community participation against
crime.
This briefing document will provide you with what has been achieved to date
in achieving the objectives of the Gauteng Safety Strategy since its
adoption.
Pillar One: Improving the quality of police performance
This pillar will guide the provincial government in contributing towards
improving the quality of policing in Gauteng. As a national organisation, the
South African Police Service (SAPS) receives its budget from the national
Minister and is under the direct command of the National Commissioner. The
Constitution provides for provincial governments to play an 'executive
oversight' role through monitoring police performance and conduct. Where
provincial governments identify shortcomings they can engage with the national
Minister to rectify shortcomings through policy and budget decisions.
Furthermore, provincial governments can also assist to inform the SAPS
Provincial Management of public concerns around crime and closely monitor
police performance in tackling these crimes.
Enhanced monitoring of police performance
In line with the commitment made by the President and the national Minister,
the provincial government will be making optimal use of the police station
performance monitoring system.
The system will be based on the currently existing SAPS electronic Station
Performance Chart system as well as other additional sources of data. It will
focus on issues such as crime mapping, resource allocation and management (i.e.
personnel and vehicle management), and police performance in relation to
response times and detective performance in getting cases to court.
This information will allow the government to identify stations that are
performing well and those that are not. Where we are able to identify stations
that are not performing optimally, we will be able to assist in designing
targeted and decisive interventions where necessary. The system will also allow
the government to track changes in the performance of police stations following
these interventions. Furthermore, where we are able to identify police stations
that are performing well, we will be able to recognise and support the police
officers responsible.
Operation Iron Fist
At the beginning of July last year, I publicly announced the launch of a
six-month (from July to December 2006), high-intensity police operation called
Operation Iron Fist. The purpose of this operation was to address what I then
publicly stated was a spike in certain crimes in Gauteng. I had become aware of
this situation through the monitoring of policing by my department, as well as
my own interactions with various communities throughout the province.
So I met with the SAPS Provincial Commissioner and his management team and
asked them to develop a specific operational plan to address the increases in
some of the crime categories. In particular, it was highlighted that certain
objectives relating to police visibility and performance should be included in
the plan and that certain crimes should be prioritised.
I must make it clear that as a Member of the Executive Council of the
Gauteng Provincial Government, I have no direct managerial authority over the
police. The SAPS is a national organisation that is resourced nationally.
However, as an elected member of a provincial government with the
responsibility for community safety, I am responsible for expressing the safety
concerns of the public to the police and requesting that the police respond to
these concerns. My department monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of the
police's response to public concerns. In this way, we attempt to ensure that
the police are held accountable to the public.
Operation Iron Fist demonstrated that the law enforcement agencies were able
to mobilise their resources to increase visibility and arrest rates. During the
Operation we saw a reduction in overall crime rates, especially for property
related crimes. Cash-in-transit heists were reduced substantially and the spike
in vehicle hijacking noted in the beginning of 2006 was stabilised. But
specific types of violent crime remain at unacceptable levels, especially house
robberies and business robberies. The focus now will be in improving the
capacity of the police to better identify, arrest and prosecute armed criminals
who rob people in their homes, places of work and on our streets. We are aware
that successfully tackling armed criminals requires a specialist approach to
policing that relies on timely and targeted action driven by crime intelligence
and analysis. We are working on a project to assist the police in developing
this capacity.
It was also clear from the evaluation, that where relationships between
Community Policing Forums (CPFs) and police management were effective, better
results where achieved. Typically, partnerships result in increased and better
intelligence being provided to the police in relation to individuals or groups
committing specific crimes in various communities. These results demonstrate
that it is possible to get on top of serious and violent crimes if we work
together and focus our efforts. Over half (56%) of Gauteng policing precincts
saw a reduction in priority crimes including places such as Alexandra,
Atteridgeville, De Deur, Eldorado Park and Mamelodi.
The SAPS restructuring process
Towards the end of 2006, the SAPS underwent a major restructuring process
initiated by the National Commissioner. The reason for this was to ensure the
redeployment of larger numbers of better skilled police managers and officers
to police station level to improve local level service delivery.
Through the restructuring process, the police stations recording high levels
of crime received 3 000 additional police officials including senior ranking
and better experienced station commanders. There are already indications that
there are improvements at various stations. Examples include Johannesburg
Central, Hillbrow and Booysens.
We will be carefully tracking police performance at station level to monitor
the extent to which local level service delivery improves as a result of the
restructuring.
The new 10111 police emergency response centre
The South African Police Service has allocated R600 million to building and
equipping a new, world-class police emergency response centre in Midrand. This
centre will replace each of the six existing centres which will close down. The
latest technology is being introduced to ensure that each emergency call can be
attended to as quickly as possible. Gauteng is being piloted for the new
model.
Currently there are six centres in Gauteng that together receive well over
350 000 calls per month on average. Most of these calls are not for emergencies
but relate to administrative inquiries, general crime related reports and a
high number of hoax or abusive calls.
While a vast majority of the emergency calls are responded to appropriately,
there are still too many examples of poor service delivery where for example,
the call operator is disinterested or the police do not respond timeously. This
is the result of overworked and demotivated staff, technological failings and
poor responses from station based vehicles. Given the importance of consistent
and immediate police response to calls for assistance, the entire 10111 system
is set to change during 2007.
Specific features of the new system will include the introduction of
satellite tracking devices into all police emergency response vehicles and
radios. This will allow the 10111 centre operators to identify the exact
location of the police vehicles nearest to the place from where an emergency
call is being made. Dispatch operators will then be able to direct specific
police vehicles to the scene of the emergency along the shortest possible
route. The system will digitally track the response of each police vehicle and
record all communication between the caller, the 10111 Centre operators and the
police official responding to the call. Furthermore, new systems will be
established to recruit, train and supervise the call operators so that the
highest service standards are upheld.
The system will also include the Metropolitan Police Department and other
emergency response vehicles (such as ambulances) to allow for improved
co-ordination of all emergency response services.
Pillar two: Promoting social crime prevention
This pillar of the Gauteng Safety Strategy seeks to guide the provincial
government towards proactively addressing the risk factors that are associated
with people becoming involved in crime. Furthermore, it also seeks to provide
support and assistance to vulnerable people with a focus on women and children
who have been victims of violent crime.
Gauteng school safety programme
The Gauteng Department of Community Safety is to support the implementation
of a Provincial School Safety Programme together with the Gauteng Department of
Education. Implementation will begin with high risk schools.
Key elements of the programme include:
* The establishment of a pool of provincial implementers (comprised of
educators and officials from key departments such as Community Safety, SAPS,
Social Development, Transport and Health) who shall assist in implementing the
programme at all schools.
* School Safety Committees (comprised of school management, learners,
educators, parents and key relevant departments) shall be established or
strengthened.
* School safety plans shall be formulated by each committee, with the
assistance of the pool of implementers.
* School-level and district and provincial level education officials shall be
trained to establish and maintain a school safety monitoring system that shall
identify and act on information relating to school safety threats and
incidents. Action shall take the form of preventative interventions involving
Department of Education and external role-players, while incidents shall be
reported to the police and tracked to monitor progress and ensure appropriate
victim support.
* Information relating to school safety needs shall be utilised to develop
effective provincial multi-agency responses in the form of programmes and
campaigns.
Implementation of the start-up phase of the programme is expected to begin
in March 2007.
Extending victim empowerment
The aim of the victim empowerment programme is to assist victims of domestic
violence and sexual abuse to recover from and escape repeat or secondary
victimisation. The flagship of this programme is the Ikhaya Lethemba Victim
Empowerment Centre which provides a comprehensive package of services to
victims in one location. These services include counselling, medical, legal,
police and prosecutorial services to victims of violence. The Department of
Community Safety has been extending the provision of services throughout the
province through establishing new victim empowerment centres attached to police
stations. During the SAPS restructuring process, the Department played an
important role in bringing various victim service providers together with the
police to minimise disruptions of police services to victims.
Pillar Three: Improving institutional arrangements for understanding and
responding to crime
This pillar seeks to improve the extent to which the provincial and local
governments in Gauteng are able to understand and respond to crime and safety
challenges. It will do this through establishing systems for gathering and
analysing safety related information and through establishing strategic
structures for co-ordinating different agencies for addressing crime throughout
the province.
Crime and safety information
Crime statistics reveal the numbers of crimes reported to the police with
regards to broad categories. In some cases there is under-reporting (e.g. where
people do not think that anything can be done about the incident) and in others
there is over reporting (e.g. where people need police case numbers for
insurance purposes).
Crime statistics provide the government with indications of broad trends
with regards to crime and do not reflect the real experiences of people who are
victims of crime. As the Premier said, "we recognise that improved statistics
by themselves are not enough if our people continue to feel unsafe."
An integrated crime and safety information management system will be
developed to provide the provincial government with better information about
safety (e.g. crime patterns and information about hazardous locations on roads)
through accessing different sources of information.
Improving co-ordination between provincial and local government
The Department of Community Safety has started the process of improving
vertical alignment between the provincial and local governments with the aim of
developing a consistent approach to improving community safety. Yesterday, the
first meeting of Gauteng Intergovernmental Safety Co-ordinating Committee was
held between me and the elected Public Safety representatives from Local
Government. A number of areas for mutual co-operation were identified and a
process has been put into place to better align our planning processes.
Improving the co-ordination of the criminal justice system in Gauteng
The Gauteng Safety Strategy has identified the need for better co-ordination
between the various departments of the criminal justice system in Gauteng. The
department is therefore working on the establishment of the Gauteng Criminal
Justice Co-ordinating committee that will seek to improve the ability of the
system to deal with cases of violent crimes. The first meeting is scheduled to
take place in March.
Pillar Four: Community Participation
Launching the "Take Charge" Campaign
Next month we will be launching the "Take Charge" campaign which is aimed at
educating all of us about how we can help reduce crime. We will be calling on
each one of us to "Take Charge because crime stops with me!" The campaign will
provide information on how to report crime and what we can do to prevent crime
in our communities.
The build up to this campaign has consisted of a number of 'Crime Summits'
with various sectors of Gauteng. We have already held various summits with over
150 representatives of organisations involved in the following sectors: youth,
labour, business, gender, Community Police Forums, hostel dwellers, faith-based
organisations and non-governmental organisations.
Each sector will develop a sector specific campaign against crime that will
contribute to the provincial "Take Charge" campaign. In this way we hope that
the "Take Charge" campaign will serve as a catalyst for a broad-based movement
against crime in Gauteng.
Strengthening Community Police Forums
We see CPFs as having a very important role to play in promoting the "Take
Charge Campaign" so that we can improve the safety of our communities. For this
reason we will be offering members of CPFs skills based training in areas such
as project management, financial administration and leadership skills. We are
exploring the possibility of having the training accredited so that CPF members
will have marketable skills in the long-term.
The new set of Provincial CPF Directives and Guidelines have been developed
and adopted which aim to strengthen CPFs by providing minimum standards
according to which CPFs must operate. In addition, these guidelines stipulate
the kind of logistical support that will be provided by the SAPS such as use of
office space and access to a telephone and fax. These initiatives will assist
CPFs in playing an even bigger role in encouraging broad based community
participation in policing and crime prevention at a local level.
Rolling out a volunteer patroller programme
The department will be launching a volunteer patroller programme throughout
the province. This programme will be integrally linked to our Community
Policing Forums.
An amount of R6 million has been allocated for an initial rollout of the
patrollers in 26 specific areas throughout Gauteng. To date, 800 patrollers
have already been screened. Furthermore, we are in the process of exploring the
possibility of training our volunteers at accredited institutions in Gauteng to
assist them in becoming eligible for employment in the job market.
Gauteng Road Safety Strategy
We are determined to achieve the Premier's target of reducing road
fatalities in Gauteng by 30%. We have already managed to achieve a reduction of
16% and with our new Gauteng Road Safety Strategy we are hoping to build on our
successes and achieve even better results.
Some of the elements of the strategy that will be implemented this year
include:
* Improved identification of hazardous locations on our roads through the
development of an integrated information management system that provides data
that is verified and timely.
* We will be undertaking detailed audits of hazardous locations on our roads.
This will help us understand the reasons that lead to certain locations on our
roads contributing to fatalities. Our system will also help us better identify
new and emerging hazardous locations while also evaluating the extent to which
our interventions at specific locations have been effective.
* We will also be putting in place processes that draw in traffic officials
from all relevant agencies to jointly plan specific interventions to reduce
road fatalities.
* A process will be put into place that contributes towards a consistent
approach to dealing with law enforcement on our roads.
* Targeted education and awareness programmes to encourage compliance with road
laws and to improve safe road behaviour.
* Developing a strategy focused at reducing fraud and corruption in relation to
traffic law enforcement and vehicle testing.
Thank you.
For more information contact
Thapelo Moiloa
Cell: 084 805 2247
Issued by: Department of Community Safety, Gauteng Provincial
Government
21 February 2007
