Members of the media;
Ladies and gentlemen.
The Ministers of the JCPS Cluster have convened this media briefing to elaborate on the security issues that were outlined by His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa in the SoNA delivered in Cape Town on 10 February 2022 and also when he responded to the issues raised by political parties during the SoNA Debate on 16 February 2022.
As Ministers tasked with ensuring national stability, we want to reassure the public and the world at large that we are committed to maintaining law and order in South Africa. We are also committed to restoring the integrity of the country’s safety and security machinery that has been eroded by a number of challenges and shortcomings, which were highlighted in the various reports that have been published.
We are addressing the capacity and resources issues within the security and justice system in order to ensure that the security sector meets the demands of the country. This includes appointing experienced professionals and using modern, cutting-edge technologies to ensure that the security machinery remains fit for purpose and meets international standards.
IMPROVING THE CAPACITY OF THE JCPS CLUSTER
Despite the challenges, including those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the public will have seen that the wheels of justice in relation to corruption are starting to move more quickly and effectively. A number of notable arrests and court processes have been initiated in recent weeks involving accused persons in the public and private sectors, including priority state capture matters.
The efforts by law enforcement and criminal justice agencies are indeed starting to pay off, and more will be achieved when all are adequately capacitated to meet the extreme challenges of addressing state capture and high level complex corruption.
Specialised commercial crimes courts (SCCCS)
The Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services has established two SCCCs in Mthatha and East London in the Eastern Cape to bolster efforts to fight against corruption. Two more SCCCs in Palm Ridge and Pretoria North in Gauteng have also been enhanced to deal swiftly with corruption. These courts are in line with the commitment made by President Ramaphosa to the National Council of Provinces when he responded to questions pertaining to COVID-19 corruption/procurement irregularities.
The department has also directed the DoJCD to establish new SCCCs to give effect to the commitment made by the President. To date, SCCCs have been established in provinces where they did not exist before, namely Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West.
South African Police Service (SAPS)
Within SAPS, the department has embarked on a nation-wide recruitment of at least 12 thousand youth to join the Police Service before the end of the year. The recruitment of the 7 000 is in its final stages, while later in the year the SAPS will recruit 5 000 to undergo training next year The seven thousand are from the 2019/2020 intake that was ready to embark on the Basic Police and Development Programme when the country was put under hard lockdown in March 2020. The training of this 7 000 plus an additional 3 000 made up of SAPS Reservists and Public Service Administration members, will commence in the 2022/2023 financial year.
This past week, the department also advertised to recruit graduates, hoping to attract Bachelor of Science graduates as well those from other academic fields.
This will increase the strength of SAPS in its mandate to prevent and fight crime in communities. We will continually assess the capacity levels within SAPS and recruit accordingly to ensure that we increase the strength of the Police from 180 thousand officers to service the county’s population of more than 60 million people.
Furthermore, units like the Public Order Police, the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigating Unit, Frontline at Police Stations as well as Detectives, will be beefed up with the apportionment of the new trainees to these much stretched units. Not only will the efforts of the police be bolstered to restore law and order in communities, but priority attention will also be given to the investigation of crimes against women, children, the elderly, and other vulnerable persons.
Intelligence services
Ministers are also re-evaluating and assessing the capacity and strength of the intelligence services to undertake surveillance and monitoring of stability in the country. The Report of the Expert Panel on the 2021 July unrest pointed shortcomings in this area of work. The State Security Agency (SSA) and Crime Intelligence will ensure that critical posts are filled, which were left vacant by suspensions, resignations, promotions and deaths.
There is a 46% improvement in the filling of vacancies between 2019/20 and 2020/21 financial years. The vacancies at foreign stations have also decreased significantly;
A forensic investigation was initiated and a forensic investigations firm has been appointed to conduct an investigation into all malfeasance in the Agency. The agency has recently dismissed about four members already who have been found guilty of fraud and corruption. The Agency has also made much progress in terms of working with the Investigative Directorate to ensure that the persons who were involved in criminality will be prosecuted.;
South African National Defence Force (SANDF)
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) stands ready to support law-enforcement agencies to deal with any threats to the security and stability of the country. In this regard, the SANDF will continue to be on standby to protect all national key points as well as economic corridors of the country from any disruption or blockages, either arising from protesting truck drivers or any disruptive elements.
The SANDF continues to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic and as such continues to conduct border-safeguarding operations - in particular land borders. This is in order to curb cross border movement of undocumented persons, illicit goods and drugs, weapons, livestock and stolen vehicles. The defence force has registered spectacular successes in this regard by intercepting many luxury cars that were being smuggled into neighbouring countries and the interception of drug smuggling.
As our nation continues to grapple with service delivery challenges, the SANDF has been there to lend a hand in particular as it relates to infrastructure.
As announced by the President in the State of the Nation Address, the SANDF will continue to avail the capacity of the SA Army Engineers to land a hand to assist government in low cost bridge building in our rural communities as part of the Welisizwe Rural Bridges Programme.
These bridges will assist in curbing the drowning of school children whilst trying to cross swollen rivers to get to school and assist pensioners to access their pension grants. Already we have constructed 16 bridges in KwaZulu-Natal and 18 in the Eastern Cape and thus enabled thousands to cross dangerous rivers in order to reach clinics, schools and other service delivery centres. In the coming months and years, we will intensify this programme, consistent with the marching orders from the Commander-in-Chief.
We are determined to ensure that we have a well-capacitated defence which is combat-ready and capable of discharging its constitutional mandate. Our 2022 recruitment programme is currently underway. Approximately 2000 young women and men will be joining the ranks of the South African National Defence Force as new recruits this year. They will be reporting in the second week of March 2022 at various services for their basic military training.
Ladies and gentlemen, as Ministers in the Security Cluster, we are committed to creating a safe and conducive environment that will reassure both citizens of this country and international tourists and investors alike, that they will be safe when they come and do business in this country. We therefore call upon all peace-loving people of this country to work with us as we transform and improve the security machinery that will serve all of us without fear or favour.
FIGHTING FRAUD AND CORRUPTION
We wholly support the call made by the President that all those who are implicated and benefited unlawfully in state capture corruption and corruption related to the procurement of personal protective equipment must face the full might of the law. The NPA and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) are collaborating to ensure that all implicated persons are brought to justice swiftly and appropriately.
After a challenging set-up phase, the NPA’s Investigating Directorate (ID) is entering a new phase of impact under new leadership that will be appointed soon. With the right skills and resources to deliver on its mandate to tackle the most complex crimes with a prosecution-guided investigation model.
In a joint effort to tackle corruption, law-enforcement agencies have collaborated with the Financial Intelligence Centre. These agencies – which include the DPCI, NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit, Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, Investigations Directorate, Financial Sector Conduct Authority, Special Investigating Unit, Crime Intelligence, SSA, South African Reserve Bank and South African Revenue Service – have issued 55 high priority financial intelligence reports that have been used to identify high-priority investigations.
Whistle-blowing
All the measures that are put in place to fight corruption will not succeed if they are not supported by an effective whistle-blowing and witness protection system. A team reporting to the Anti-Corruption Task Team has been appointed to review the Protected Disclosures Act, 2000 (Act 26 of 2000) and other applicable legislation, and undertake a comparative study of other jurisdictions to strengthen whistle-blower protection.
ENFORCING THE RULE OF LAW
The other area of concern for us as the JCPS Cluster is instances where individuals and organisations deliberately undermine the rule of law during community protests. Our stance is very clear in this regard; our officers will enforce the rule of law without fear or favour where people deliberately undermine the authority of the State. No one has the right, irrespective of their grievances or dissatisfaction with anything, to break the law.
We are also concerned about the low level of trust between the law-enforcement agencies and the public. We will therefore endeavour to rebuild the trust between the officers deployed in the communities and community members. This will entail reviving the Community Policing Forums, which will work together with the local police stations to fight crime. This will ensure an inclusive approach to assessing the threats that exist in the communities and putting in place necessary responses.
We acknowledge the deaths of officers in the line of duty. In the last three months of 2021, 27 police officers were killed.
FIGHTING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND FEMICIDE (GBVF)
In terms of fighting GBVF, we believe that the three pieces of new legislation – the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act, Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act and Domestic Violence Amendment Act – will improve the conviction rate on sexual offences.
The three Acts were finalised in collaboration with civil society, which is proof that social compacts work. Furthermore, we are working with partners in the communities to ensure that the victims of GBVF have easy access to courts.
The Department of Police has trained over 90 thousand officers in an effort to sustain the decline in sexual offences; and established GBVF desks at police stations across all provinces which will be managed by trained GBVF Desk Officers. It is envisaged that these GBVF desks will be finalised by end of March this year and government will be prioritising the identified GBVF hotspots.
DEALING WITH IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS
We urge all people to report any illegal activities that they witness in their communities to law-enforcement agencies rather than take the law into their own hands.
Border Management through Border Management Authority (BMA)
The Commissioner has been appointed and all the relevant departments are contributing to make it a reality.
Department of Home Affairs Counter Corruption
The Department of Home Affairs Counter Corruption unit continues to ensure the credibility of our enabling documents and processes throughout the Home Affairs value chain.
In November, they worked with other law enforcement agencies to take down a criminal syndicate that was undermining our immigration laws at the Lebombo Border Post. This syndicate consisted of six Home Affairs officials, a policeman and a Mozambican hawker. Their criminal trial is scheduled to start on 16 to 18 March 2022.
In October 2021, the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Cape Town convicted former Home Affairs official, Joseph Lebitsa, on eight counts of corruption. He is now serving eight years direct imprisonment. Lebitsa worked with eight foreign nationals. One has turned state witness and the trial for the other seven is scheduled to continue this week, on 03 and 04 March 2022. Lebitsa was dismissed by the Department after a disciplinary process found him guilty.
Nine senior Home Affairs officials based at Head Office in the Immigration and Human Resource Management and Development Branches are going through various stages of their disciplinary processes.
In conclusion, we are still appealing to all South Africans to ensure that they get vaccinated against COVID-19 virus. The virus has not yet been defeated and with winter season approaching, we must all remain cautious. We may have survived Omicron and other variants but we do not know the severity of the next wave which is predicted to start during the winter season. Vaccines have been proven to prevent serious illness, hospitalisation and even death. In order for us to return to normal life everyone must be vaccinated!
Let us join hands to improve our national security where everyone feels safe and secure. Let us all ensure that no one is left behind in rebuilding our beautiful country. Working together we can ensure a safe, stable and prosperous South Africa.
I thank you.
Enquiries:
Siphiwe Dlamini
083 645 4294
Head of Communications at the Department of Defence
