By Simon Nare
National Assembly police portfolio committee chairman Ian Cameron has raised the issue of under-resourcing of the SAPS, which he warns is affecting the combating of crime in the country.
Addressing Parliament’s weekly committee media briefing in Cape Town on Tuesday, Cameron said financial sustainability of various units within the police service needed to be reviewed.
“While the closure of the political task team has been condemned, the under-resourcing of the SAPS must be stressed and it must be addressed. Financial sustainability of various task teams not only that one and high-density operations must be reviewed,”
Cameron added that recently crime intelligence was forced to decrease the informer’s budget. And in a country where intelligence had to be capacitated and policing modules improved, it was critical that those budgets were not only adequate, but properly administered.
He said the crime intelligence division has been identified by the committee as a critical pillar or pro-active policing, and it seemed clear that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu understood the vital role of this division.
He added that while the committee did not agree with moratorium placed on the recruitment of staff and questioned the motives behind it, it welcomed the steps to review the process.
Cameron said the committee would also question the procurement of a R22 million hotel for the division and this would be brought before the portfolio committee on crime intelligence.
“I must stress that we are extremely concerned about the constant faction fights within the crime intelligence environment. It feels a bit like a political chess match being played within the crime intelligence environment. And while they fight, South Africans are left vulnerable.
“Its critical for us to emphasise that we will engage in robust sessions and discussions to scrutinise the chaos within that specific division and environment. The National Commissioner Lieutenant-General Fannie Masemola and divisional commissioner General Khumalo and all the senior manager in the division. We will question them objectively. We will go through the process as is needed,” he said.
Cameron also highlighted that last year, Parliament resolved that there should be a skills audit in the SAPS senior management and believed that crime intelligence was the best place to start.
He added that the audit should not only look at the skills to get the theoretical job done, but also fitness to hold office.
Cameron also raised the issue of the SAPS’s intention to shut down the inspectorate analysis centre and services complaints, saying that given the significant role the centre played in oversight and holding police accountable, the move was detrimental to strengthening governance within the police service.
SAPS has confirmed that consultations were underway to review the centre in an effort to arrange its operations in line with the law.
Cameron said the committee disagreed with the move and Masemola and Mchunu would be called to appear before the committee to explain themselves.
He said the committee alone received hundreds of complaints about service delivery from the police, which fell outside its scope, but it handled them because other offices within the SAPS did not have the resources.
“If it has come to a point where we cannot handle the amount of complaints we get, and then it becomes more worrying why they would consider to close a critical division like this.
“To get a comprehensive understanding of the rationale behind this proposed decision, the committee will summon the commissioner (Masemola) and the minister of police to provide a detailed explanation,” he said.
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