KZN policing comes under spotlight next week
The Portfolio Committee on Police will spend next week (31 July to 4 August) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), assessing the province’s state of policing.
The Committee Chairperson, Mr Francois Beukman, says the decision to visit the province was, among other things, informed by the fact that the province has an acting police commissioner and the Committee would like to see how the person has been able to guide the police in KZN to achieve the state of policing espoused in the National Development Plan.
Mr Beukman said the Committee will also gauge the province’s ability to provide quality policing services in rural areas. “More often than not, quality policing services and resource allocation tend to favour urban areas, leaving rural areas disadvantaged. Therefore we want to see how they deal with resource allocation in this regard.”
Furthermore, the Committee will seek answers from the provincial leadership of the South African Police Service (SAPS) regarding allegations made against some members of SAPS in incidents of politically-motivated violence, which is under scrutiny by the Moerane Commission of Inquiry in KwaZulu-Natal. The Committee will also probe the allegations of unwillingness by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to investigate the claims against SAPS members during the inquiry.
The Committee will also visit hotspot police stations, such uMlazi police station. There will also be unannounced visits to various stations in the Durban area.
The province’s handling of domestic violence cases will also be probed.
The programme of the visit is attached.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Name: Temba Gubula
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8307
Cell: 078 735 8809 / 081 402 3531
Email: tgubula@parliament.gov.za
