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The Portfolio Committee on Police wishes to voice its concern and dissatisfaction with the South African Police Services (SAPS) and the Secretariat for Police following their input on the detective dialogue that was held by the Committee last year.
 
The Committee had requested that both the Secretariat and SAPS to report back on the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations made by the Committee following the Detective Dialogue. During the meeting this morning, it transpired that no costing or implementation plan was presented by either of the structures. Therefore the Committee asked the two to do more work in terms of implementing those recommendations and must come back to the Committee with timeframes and proper costing and implementation plan.
 
The Detective Dialogue had resolved that (SAPS), Civilian Secretariat for Police and the Public Service Administration establish the actual number of detectives. A skills audit should be done based on this number to identify the training needs of detectives. Furthermore, the ideal number for detectives must be established using scientific models appropriate to the South African context, under the leadership of the Civilian Secretariat for Police.
 
The Minister of Police declared last year as the year of the detective because of the concern about the success rate of detectives in the country. The success of detectives is key when it comes to crime-fighting efforts and will also assist with improving the conviction rate. So it is important that there is a proper plan on taking the detectives forward and to professionalise the detective services within SAPS.
 
There were clear contradictions in the two presentations and this is discouraging since the Committee was clear in its recommendation that the process should be led by the Civilian Secretariat of Police as the policy drivers.  Furthermore, it is important that within the public service, and specifically the SAPS, the understanding of the differentiation between policy and implementation be recognized.  Policy is the domain of the Executive and structure follows policy and budget.