National Assembly:   29th October 2009 

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS ON REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF SERVICE DELIVERY AT POLICE STATIONS AND 10111 CALL CENTRES OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICES

Mr Speaker,

For a medical practitioner to be able to cure a patient he/she needs to not only come up with the correct diagnosis, but the doctor must have the right tools at his disposal to treat the patient. Similarly, if you take your car to a mechanic he or she needs to be equipped with the correct tools and the knowledge on how to repair the car.

In similar vein, in a country where crime is rampant, our policemen and women need to be equipped and skilled to fight crime successfully and vigorously.

Yet, if we ask the ordinary man on the street whether they believe that the South African Police Service is adequately equipped and skilled to protect them; or whether they believe that phoning the South African Police Services' 10111 call centre will get them the help they need, you will be greeted with an resounding no.

Today, violent crime is the cancer that erodes the fabric of the nation and rampant crime prevents us from classifying our country as a normal democracy, or a country at peace with itself. We live in a country where criminals rob us of our precious lives and property.

A quick look at the findings of the Auditor General's report adds to this list of woes and does not give one any comfort that our police force is up to the task of fighting crime successfully.

The report revealed that, due to a lack of an approved policy, there were inconsistencies in the implementation of sector policing and in resource allocation between different police stations. Furthermore, there were instances where operational members did not possess driver's licences and the report also revealed that there was non-attendance and non-compliance with regard to training courses, while not all SAPS members were being issued with bullet-proof vests.

With regard to the 10111 call centres, the report found that there is shockingly, no fully functional 10111 call centre in the Mpumalanga Province; and with regard to the other call centres there are deficiencies when it comes to the reaction time between the call centre and the policing units.

Indeed, this report paints a dismal picture of a police force in distress. In fact, this report begs the question: how will we ever be able to beat the criminals at their own game when the SAPS is in such dire straits?

What, then, must be done to keep us safe and secure and to improve the effectiveness of the SAPS?

The IFP believes that we need to first and foremost develop a highly qualified, well paid and highly motivated cadre of crime fighters to make South Africa safe. We need to upgrade our training system, with a special focus on investigative skills and forensics. Government must provide adequate resources for effective, efficient and professional policing and this must be extended to our 10111 call centre as well.

The report also suggests that sector policing is not working in its current form. We are therefore calling for policing powers to be decentralised, even to the local level. Communities must be made equal partners in the fight against crime; there should be far more community involvement in crime prevention and in inculcating a culture of respect for authority; and the police should be made accountable to communities.

We therefore urge government to look at this report and to recognise the urgent need to fix the many problems that are current paralysing and rendering the SAPS ineffective. Only then will we be able to able start making headway in our fight against rampant crime in South Africa.