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The Portfolio Committee on Police has resolved that it urgently requires an update report on the implementation of the recommendations made by the panel of experts’ Report on Policing and Crowd Management to assess progress. The committee received a presentation from the panel and believes that the next step is to assess implementation of recommendations.

The committee considers the report’s recommendations credible and says they must be implemented. Furthermore, given that it is more than two years since the report’s release, implementation should be at an advanced stage. The committee also underscored the need for a clear and measurable implementation plan with clear short-, medium- and long-term implementation targets. “This report must not gather dust on some desk and implementation must be completed,” said committee Chairperson Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson.

Some of the report’s key recommendations include the need for the professionalisation of policing, greater accountability within police governance, compliance with human rights principles when force is used, capacitating the Public Order Policing Unit as a specialised crowd management capability, and the amendment of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Act.

The committee has also urged the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service to monitor the implementation of the recommendations to ensure that maximum benefit is derived from the report. For its part, the committee will continually request progress reports on the implementation of recommendations.

Regarding the annual crime statistics, the committee questioned the apparent lack of strategies to resolve challenges in hotspot areas. “The SAPS continually present the top 30 stations on reported contact crimes and there is seemingly no tangible intervention, either by focusing more human resources there or engagement with communities to ensure the turning around of hotspot areas,” Ms Joemat-Pettersson said.

The committee’s concerns are based on the fact that stations such as Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Umlazi and Hillbrow are perpetually among areas with high murder and contact crimes. The committee has instructed the SAPS to provide detailed plans to resolve hotspot areas. The Chairperson also called for a new policing partnership with the communities.

The committee welcomed the reduction of rape cases, but emphasised that the effective prosecution of perpetrators of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) is one of the major pillars in the fight against GBVF. The committee emphasised the urgency in resolving perennial challenges at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to enhance the fight against GBVF. The 36 330 reported rape cases are still too many and paints a bleak future for women in this country.

The committee also raised concerns regarding the increase in cash-in-transit heists and truck hijackings, which undermine the drive to grow the economy. “Crime is one of South Africa’s weakness in the quest to have a fully functional economy that is able to provide job opportunities for its people. We must anticipate areas of concern and pre-emptively implement solutions,” Ms Joemat-Pettersson emphasised.

The committee also emphasised the centrality of intelligence-led policing. Without a functioning Crime Intelligence Division, SAPS’ efforts will always be reactive. This undermines the fight against crime.

The committee has also resolved to interact more closely with provincial commissioners to understand the challenges on the ground. In line with this, the committee will schedule an urgent meeting with all nine provincial commissioners to find lasting solutions and exchange best practices to fight South Africa’s crime problem.

 

Issued by Parliament of South Africa