PSIRA Quarter 1, 2 & 3 performance; Firearms Amnesty Notice with Deputy Minister

Meeting report

The Chairperson said there are two items on the agenda, namely the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) quarterly performance report, and the Firearms Amnesty matter. She asked to start with the Notice of the Firearms Amnesty.

Firearm Amnesty

The Firearms Amnesty was dealt with in two previous Committee meetings. There will be no further discussion on it. According to Section 139 of the Firearms Control Act (2000), signed by the Minister of Police, Minister Bheki Cele, a period for amnesty is set to be between 1 August 2020 and 31 January 2021. The matter is put to the House. The Chairperson asked if there are any objections.

The Chairperson said the declaration of amnesty, according to Section 139 of the Firearms Control Act (2000), was presented to the Committee. The Committee dealt with the matter in two previous meetings. There is the outstanding matter of the Notice for Consideration by Parliament being dealt with in the current meeting. This Section said the amnesty period will start from 1 August 2020 to 31 January 2021. The matter is before the Portfolio Committee for any objections to the Notice.

Mr O Terblanche (DA) said he received the Notice, and supports the principle of amnesty, but reserves his rights.

The Chairperson asked if this extends to Mr Whitfield.

Mr A Whitfield (DA) agreed with Mr Terblanche.

The Chairperson asked for further objections.

Mr Whitfield said, for the record, he did not object to the Notice. He supports the Notice in principle. He supports the principle of amnesty but there are issues he wants to discuss. Discussion is not being permitted, and therefore he reserves his rights before the Notice is tabled in the House.

The Notice was passed and approved.

Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority PSIRA Performance Report 2019/20 Quarter 1-3

Deputy Minister of Police, Mr Cassel Mathale, thanked the Chairperson. He said the Director of PSIRA, Mr Manabela Chauke, and his team will present to the Committee.

Presentation Overview

He said he will present an operational overview of PSIRA and note key performance highlights. The presentation looks at overall performance measured against targets in Quarters One, Two, and Three. It also looks at PSIRA’s three programmes. These are:

• Programme One: Administration
• Programme Two: Law Enforcement
• Programme Three: Communications, Registration and Training.

After this, he said he will present on financial performance over the Quarter’s.

Operational Overview and Key Highlights

These include:

• PSIRA appointed a Council of Sector Advisory Committee in Quarter Three.
• 84 percent of planned targets were achieved in Quarter One, 96 percent in Quarter Two, and 83 percent in Quarter Three.
• 5258 security business inspections and 30 071 security officer inspections were conducted.
• 63 arrests were made out of 12 operations conducted.
• 1195 inspections were conducted at businesses with firearms.
• There are 713 successfully finalised prosecutions.
• Fines amounting to R18 719 24 were imposed with a prosecution turnaround time of 75 days.
• 96 298 security officers and 1529 security businesses were registered.
• 176 new training centres were accredited and 378 370 training course reports were captured.
• 179 213 renewal certificates for security officers and 4012 certificates for security businesses were issued.
• 171 public awareness campaigns were conducted.

Performance Report 2019/20 Quarters One-Three

Mr Stefan Badenhorst, Chief Operations Officer, PSIRA, presented the Performance Report. He said PSIRA’s overall performance in Quarter One saw an achievement of 84 percent of the planned targets. Quarter Two saw an achievement of 96 percent of the targets. Quarter Three saw an achievement of 83 percent of the planned targets.

Programme One: Administration

In Programme One, PSIRA achieved targets. A green progress rating reflected the target is on track. An amber/yellow progress rating reflects the annual target is on track or is achieved, but the quarterly target is not achieved. A red progress rating means the target is behind schedule and needs corrective action.

Sub-programmes of Programme One are:

1) Finance and Administration

2) Business Information Technology

3) Human Capital

According to Sub-Programme One, Finance and Administration’s overall performance in the Three Quarters is, all targets are achieved.

According to Sub-Programme Two, Business Information Systems, there are two key performance indicators (KPIs) dealing with the Business Continuity Plan and testing. The targets are achieved.

Sub Programme Three, Human Capital, had one target marked as yellow. This is because the annual target was achieved at the end of the Third Quarter. Employee Training and Intervention targets are achieved.

Programme Two: Law Enforcement

Programme Two’s Sub-programmes are:

1) Compliance and Enforcement

2) Legal Services and Prosecution.

The overall performance saw a 78 percent achievement of targets in Quarter One, 100 percent achievement in Quarter Two, and 67 percent in Quarter Three.   

The performance up to Quarter Three showed PSIRA exceeded targets on the number of business and security officer inspections conducted.

PSIRA overachieved in the percentage of criminal cases opened against non-compliant Security Service Provider (SSPs).

PSIRA underachieved in Quarter Three’s targets for firearm inspections. The number of businesses licensed to possess firearms, which must be inspected, will increase by mitigation measures of allocating additional resources in Quarter Four.

The number of inspections at businesses using dogs is yellow because the annual target was achieved in Quarter Three.

In the Legal Services sub-programme, the percentage of cases of non-compliant operators in the sector, successfully prosecuted according to the Improper Conduct Enquiries Regulations is achieved. Overall legal services deal with investigation and prosecution matters to enforce compliance. There is an overachievement in the percentage of debt collection files referred for litigation.

Programme Three: Communications, Registration and Training

Programme Three sub-programmes were: 1) Communications and Stakeholder Management, 2) Registration, 3) Industry Training, and 4) Industry Research and Development.

Programme Three saw 100 percent performance achievement in the Three Quarters against the Annual Performance Plan (APP) targets.

Overall, the sub-programme breakdown showed a general overachievement of targets.

The Communications and Stakeholder Management sub-programme achieved and/or overachieved on targets.

The Registration sub-programme has two key performance indicators (KPIs), the turnaround times for individuals and businesses. Both are achieved.

There is an error on the Industry Registration sub-programme slide. The KPIs refer to industry training and increasing the capacity for Training Centres.

On the additional Training Centres, there was a moratorium held two years ago, discussing boosting the training capacity in the environment. This set the target for 200 more registered and accredited Training Centres per year.

Industry Research and Development sub-programme has four targets/indicators. These include the number of completed research topics, surveys, completed policy documents, and published research studies. The progress is on track, and the targets are achieved.

Financial Performance

Ms Mmatlou Sebogodi, Deputy Director: Finance and Administration, PSIRA, said the revenue collected was above nine percent. The main sources of income are from registration fees, fines and penalties, and late fees payments.

Expenditure is three percent above budget. A main expenditure item is Postage, which is 31 percent above budget. This comes from postage costs of couriering registration forms.

Financial Performance as at 31 December 2019

From the overview of the entire organisation it is clear registration fees, annual fees, fines, and penalties resulted in R46 million surplus, as of December 2019.

Financial Overview – Expenditure

The highest cost contributors of the organisation are staff leave pay-outs. Another high contributor already mentioned is postage and courier expenditure. The consultancy costs are mostly as a result of costs relating to the Private Security Indaba.

Legal fees stand 169 percent above budget. The Legal Department is involved in several high-profile code of conduct cases, resulting in more costs than usual. This also generated revenue from fines.

Financial Position as at 31 December 2019

PSIRA’s financial position is shown using ratios and ratio analysis. These are the metrics used by the Auditor General and many other companies to assess concern levels in financials. Ratios are used on a quarterly basis.

Ratio Analysis

The debt ratio is 46 percent. The equity ratio is 54 percent. This relationship indicates the organisation’s funding through debts and equity ratios. These ratios need to improve because of the nature of billing used by PSIRA to remain operational.

Ratios Overview

The working capital ratio norm is a 1:1 ratio. PSIRA’s is 1.74:1 which indicates, as at 31 December 2019, PSIRA is able to pay off its total current liabilities using total current assets.

Debt collection assesses the time it takes to collect debt owed to PSIRA. PSIRA takes 118 days to collect debts on average. This period usually changes in the final Quarter as people are often given time by PSIRA to pay instalments received / completed in the current quarter. This is indicated in a previous meeting with the Committee. PSIRA is working on a new debt collection strategy to enhance collection.

The staff costs ration did not go above 60 percent compared to total expenditure. As PSIRA is a service delivery organisation, and does not possess many capital items as a result, this ratio is therefore justifiable as a service-driven organisation.

Discussion

Mr Whitfield asked Deputy Minister Mathale the following:

• He asked for an update on the current status of the PSIRA Amendment Bill, as well as the Regulations on Public Participation in 2019.
• He said it is a Bill which went to the President, and asked if it is coming back to Parliament.
• He asked where the Executive was with the Bill and the Regulations.

Mr Terblanche said the presentation shows underperformance on matters important in the industry. The first is firearm inspections. He asked for clarity on this, and asked what PSIRA intends to do.

On employee training, it is as important for any organisation to be successful. PSIRA needs to train people, and it had only reached 85 percent of the target.

Many people were arrested. There are 713 successful prosecutions. He asked what type of offences these arrests are for, and if it is making a difference. Lastly, he asked who was arrested.  

PSIRA is apparently not very good at budgeting. On budgeting, in slides 35-41, there are many instances where PSIRA under-budgeted or overspent. There are many cases where there could have been proper budgeting. Mr Terblanche said Personnel Training is an area of concern for him.

On the issue of 159 guards arrested during COVID-19 for not being in possession of essential permits, and the 742 guards not in possession of PSIRA Identification Document’s, Ms J Mofokeng (ANC) asked what the state of this was, and what happened.

On the matter of the Reaction Unit South Africa in Durban charging security guards, she noted there is a R20 million fine which is reduced. She asked why the fine is reduced. She also asked why the Company is allowed to continue operating when it faces charges of criminality, grievous bodily harm (GBH), assault, and murder.

She said she did not see slides in the presentation on conviction rates. The number of cases are provided, but this must be accompanied by the conviction rates.
She welcomed the Security Personnel Training. PSIRA is doing well in this regard.

Regarding the nine people in firearms confiscations, she asked if these people are arrested and what is happening on this matter.

Mr H Shembeni (EFF) said he is disappointed with the visual issues occurring during the presentation.

Members could not hear what was said but are expected to participate in the discussion.

He asked the following:

• if study leave is given to staff members of PSIRA, and if so, he asked why employees use annual leave for study purposes.
• He asked what PSIRAs relationship with trade unions is, in efforts to root out unfair labour practices, exploitation, employment conditions, and occupational health and safety. ‘
• He wanted PSIRA to explain the process around vetting regulations.
• Mr Shembeni previously asked a question based on the Mpumalanga Nkomazi municipality with companies who did not follow the rules. This led to many retrenchments of Members who are qualified, with certificates. The employer is employing people at its own rate, not at regulated rates.

The Chairperson said her network is bad. She said if she is lost, the Whip, Mr Maphatsoe, must step in as Chairperson.

Mr A Shaik Emam (NFP) asked what number of employees in the industry tested positive for COVID-19 thus far. He also asked what measures are in place to ensure compliance, and what is done to ensure compliance.

He said he is concerned about the 169 percent over-budget on legal fees. This troubled him, and the 21 external debt collectors PSIRA has to employ. He asked what measures are implemented to prevent this and to ensure compliance in the industry.

The industry is one with high staff turnover numbers. He asked how security companies are monitored. Some are employing people ‘overnight’ and provide these people with firearms. More often than not these employees did not go through necessary training, and did not have the required security clearance.

He wanted to know, in the last period of time, what percentage of security businesses did companies find provided firearms to officers without the due authority or licenses to own firearms.

Ms P Faku (ANC) was not impressed with the report. There must be improvement regarding expenditure. She said the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) needs to monitor expenditure. Expenditure is currently above 30 percent. There are issues such as the telephone bill and legal fees. Legal fees are sitting at 169 percent, for legal fees. She is unhappy with this. This is something which can be monitored. She asked how the legal expenditure number was reached. The postage and telephone bills can also be managed. She said she knew sometimes senior officials did not look into the matters. This creates havoc in financial statements.

She welcomed the bad debt recovery of 70 percent, and asked how small businesses are accommodated regarding debt recovery.

About the staff ratio of 59 percent on slide 22, it appears most of staff members are not at work. The presentation said a mitigation is coming up. She asked where the compliance is. The targets for compliance are supposed to be met. Also on slide 22, small business security companies’ firearm licenses are not inspected. She asked how compliance is met in these cases. Increasing the staff ratio is a mitigation factor to improve this.

Ms N Peacock (ANC) said some tables have reasons for deviation and mitigation plans. Other plans are not mentioned. She asked why these are not mentioned and the reason for not putting the deviation explanation and mitigation plans into the table.

Speaking on the slide from Ms Faku’s question, slide 23, which gave data on the number of security businesses licensed to possess firearms which are inspected, she noted it is under a red zone. She referred to the mitigation plan for additional resources to be allocated to address underachievement in Quarter Four. She asked why the plan is for this to be additional resources. Looking at the matter, it is not about getting additional resources, it is about managing institutional resources. There needs to be checks on skeleton works.

Mr K Maphatsoe (ANC) said most Members asked the questions he meant to ask the Department. The question he always asked is about the security of the country. He asked if PSIRA knows the number of illegal immigrants who are being used by security companies in the whole country. He said he knows it is a security threat to have foreigners protecting national key points, buildings, and departments. He wanted to know if there is a law allowing this, however, he did not have a problem with the matter. The Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill,found full Bill speaks to how PSIRA can increase generating income.

Dr P Groenewald (FF+) said he did not receive the Notice/email, the link for the Committee meeting. He had to make numerous phone calls to join the link. He wanted to put it on record. He is not satisfied with the matter. Members must receive the link to the meeting the day before it is scheduled to take place. This will ensure it is functional. He said with respect, he will not ask questions. He wants to put on record he was unable to see the presentation.

He was also not present to approve the Firearms Amnesty Bill. He objected to the Notice.

He hoped the Administration will ensure Members receive the meeting link in due time to be able to participate in meetings.

The Chairperson said she will not apologise for the Administration. She repeatedly asked Administration to check Members have the necessary documents and to check with each individual Member if that Member received notices and links to meetings. She said the Committee needs a professional service. She will not apologise on Administration’s behalf. As a Chairperson, she had many preparations to do to ensure the smooth running of meetings. The Notice was received late on the day. Dr Groenewald only joined the meeting 30 minutes ago. This is unacceptable. She will not apologise on Administration’s behalf because she is also very unhappy. She said she will ensure the matter is dealt with.

Dr Groenewald said he appreciates and supports the Chairperson on the matter. Such things must not happen. If it is a meeting held in Parliament, all the Members will be present. Such occurrences are detrimental to the concept of democracy. Members are representatives of the public to put views forward. He said he knows the Chairperson will deal with the situation.

The Chairperson said she will not leave the matter. She assured Dr Groenewald and the Members, oversight on administration must be tightened up. Members must be informed and receive the link in time. Such things must not happen. She said she also becomes agitated and impatient when mistakes are repeated. She shares the frustrations.

She was surprised when the Firearm Amnesty Notice was passed without Dr Groenewald. She said if need be, Dr Groenewald can have an opportunity to state his position on the matter. She wants to give each Member the opportunity to state the Member’s position on record.  

Mr Chauke thanked the Committee for its input. He asked Deputy Minister Mathale if he wants to say anything.

Deputy Minister Mathale said he did not.

Responses

Mr Chauke said the Deputy Director: Law Enforcement, Advocate Linda Mbana, will lead the responses.

Adv Mbana said she will address questions asked relating to law enforcement.

On the question by Mr Whitfield about what happened to Regulations published in the past financial year, how far it was and its status, she said:

• PSIRA consults with the public on three matters. These are uniforms, firearms, and working with animals. PSIRA received comments and inputs from the industry. These were incorporated into the final draft. The Minister is proofreading and checking all comments are curated.

On the question from Mr Terblanche about firearms non-performance in Quarter Three, she said this was asked by many Members. PSIRA did not perform well on the matter in the Third Quarter. The reason is a lot of its Members are on study leave during the Third Quarter.

PSIRA tried its best to assist its Members to increase skills. It provides bursaries for Members to perform and ensures Members have the time to go and study. PSIRA knew, in Quarter Three, if it did not perform well because of study leave, it will channel all resources and capacity to firearms inspections in the next Quarter. Therefore, in Quarter Four, it overachieved on the annual target.

Regarding the question from Mr Terblanche on the 793 people arrested, yet PSIRA’s prosecution numbers being low, she said, prosecution numbers provided in the presentation refer to discipline and improper conduct internal enquiries matters. Arrests are a separate matter. It has nothing to do with internal prosecutions.

Answering the question from Mr Shembeni on the relationship between PSIRA and trade unions, issues of cost of employment and unfair labour practice, she said:

• PSIRA held meetings and engagements with Unions to receive all necessary information for investigation. Over and above, there is the Provincial Industry Compliance Forum (PICF) which is a platform where PSIRA collects all complaints from Unions and the industry at large for investigation. Co-operation with trade unions assist PSIRA a great deal.

Regarding the issue from Mr Shembeni about the Mpumalanga matter and Pax Security Services, Advocate Mbana said, following the complaint, PSIRA conducted an inspection and investigation involving asking all sides questions. The finding of the investigation is all officers employed by the Company are registered with PSIRA. The allegations around underpaying Members are true.

The Directors of the Company acknowledged it did not pay its workers well. Advocate Mbana said it is not PSIRA’s problem. The Company must be allowed to penalise employees for the Company Executive’s own mistake. Therefore, at the beginning of July 2020, an inquiry into the matter begins.
Replying to the question from Mr Shaik Emam about the number of illegal firearms found during inspections, she said it seldom or never happened where illegal firearms are found. More often, it is personal firearms of the private security officers which are found.  According to the Act, firearms utilised in the industry are supposed to be those of the employer. These personal firearms are seized in operations. Moreover, PSIRA often found firearms loaned from one Company to another. This is also illegal. It can be linked to nine instances of firearms seized during operations of the lockdown. Operations were conducted together with PSIRA’s counterpart South African Police Services (SAPS). The seizing role in the operation was done by SAPS who has the mandate to seize firearms. Seven firearms were seized from a Company whose license was withdrawn, but it continued operating. These are in the custody of SAPS. The eighth instance is where an illegal company loaned the firearm from another company. The ninth firearm was found in possession of a security officer. Firearms used in the industry must be firearms legally issued by the employers. Employees must not utilise personal firearms.

Answering Mr Maphatsoe about illegal immigrants, the Advocate said, she did not have the number of illegal immigrants. When arresting illegal immigrants, it is because immigrants are not registered or linked to any Company registered with PSIRA.

Regarding the notorious Company in Durban, Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA), there were many court battles. PSIRA eventually managed to gather all the evidence on the Company from an internal prosecution side. Once all the evidence was gathered however, PSIRA lost all witnesses. Some changed statements. Others disappeared, and the approach to the case had to be reconsidered. This did not mean there were not instances of assault or illegal actions undertaken by the Company. PSIRA continued to investigate. Thereafter, the Company showed remorse for everything it did and wanted assistance with training and interpreting relevant legislation.

PSIRA issued a R20 million fine, R17 million of which was suspended on condition the Company not be found guilty of any misconduct for three years, as it will be difficult to return to Court without the witnesses. This was however followed by instances of misconduct and mistreatment in Durban again.

A new court date was set for July 2020. PSIRA will bring back the suspension, or the Company will be withdrawn following the proper processes, if there is sufficient evidence.

Adv Mbana said she covered everything from a law enforcement perspective.

Mr Chauke said he will assist with outstanding areas, and asked the CFO to deal with the finance questions.

Ms Sebogodi said, on the issue of why PSIRA has under expenditures in areas of the budget over and over, Members are referred to slide 34. She said, because of self-funding, as pointed out in the background of the presentation, PSIRA has to deal with annual fees differently. When billing the industry R100 million for example, it cannot project if the amount will be recouped by PSIRA. When budgeting, the projection must be made so it shows 20 percent of debts owed will not be recouped. Under COVID-19, some security industry businesses are unable to pay PSIRA. Therefore the budget is what PSIRA plans to recover from the industry to use in the organisation. PSIRA recovered more than it anticipated. The notion of budgeting for 100 percent recovery is impractical. Most often PSIRA will not be in this situation.

On looking thoroughly at expenditure items, PSIRA stays and ensured it stays within expenditure budgets. Some items, like legal fees, go to 169 percent above budget. PSIRA does not budget much for legal fees, yet it was challenged in court many times. PSIRA pays legal fees to ensure codes of conduct in the cases are finalised. On the flip side, the fruit of the legal fee payments are shown in the increase of fines paid to PSIRA. By winning cases, the other party paid PSIRA court cost order fees.

Mr Badenhorst replied to questions on security personnel training  and staff training. He said the slide is not being read correctly. The annual target is 85 percent. The target up to Quarter Three is 50 percent. PSIRA overachieved target in the Quarter in question.

The presentation only highlighted mitigation areas where the target was not achieved (red dots). Targets are highlighted yellow where the quarterly target was not met, but already met the annual target.

Regarding law enforcement on firearms inspections not achieved in Quarter Three, and the allocation of additional resources within the Law Enforcement Programme, there are sub-programmes. These are Compliance, Enforcement, and Inspectors. These have a role in ensuring law enforcement and compliance from the industry. There are interchanges of resources between these. The staff component changes within the Law Enforcement department for example. If complaints are received, compliance officers are shifted to Law Enforcement to assist there, and vice versa. Resources are interchanged to meet targets. In the case of the firearms inspections, it is the remit of the Compliance Department, but resources are shifted from the Law Enforcement Department to ensure targets are met. He announced the annual target according to businesses using firearms achieved at 96 percent.

On the question of conviction rates, from the context of the question, it was understood as conviction rates regarding criminal matters. Mr Chauke said he did not have the rates of convictions with criminal matters because it is dealt with by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). PSIRA is reaching out to the NPA for collaboration and training of members who investigate matters in order to achieve better conviction rates.

On how many officers in industry tested positive to COVID-19, he did not have the data. A communication is being put together for the industry to present data. He is aware “one or two” staff members from security companies tested positive. The data will be provided in the following Quarter.

Regarding staff members at PSIRA who got study leave, often took more days off over and above the study leave to prepare for exams. This came from the annual leave.

Mr Chauke handed over to Deputy Minster Mathale to deal with the Bill.  

Deputy Minister Mathale said the Bill is still with President Ramaphosa. The Secretariat interacted with the President’s legal office. Something positive will come out of the matter.

Follow-up Questions and Answers

Ms Mofokeng corrected Adv Mbana on the use of her surname. She said PSIRA never answered the question on the Durban-based company fined R20 million.

She had a question on confiscated firearms as well. As PSIRA confiscated the firearms, she wanted to know if cases were opened for the firearms bearers.

There is an issue of reporting. PSIRA did not have a table where it showed the conviction rate. This is a suggestion for the future.

Ms Z Majozi (IFP) asked about performance on slide 23. She wanted to know about the number of regulations finalised. There is a red dot regarding a new process introduced by State Law Advisors. She asked if the process was entered into late or if PSIRA was late to finalise the regulations. If PSIRA introduced the process / regulations late, she asked if it wrote a letter to indicate the time frame. She said it did not need red dots unnecessarily on its performance.

Ms Faku wants to go to COVID-19 response operations. She said she heard the reply saying the Committee will receive the statistics in the next Quarter, and this is fine. She said she was going around where she stayed, some security officers did not even have the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE). Employers are not providing employees with professional equipment. She asked if there are any sites to visit to check the compliance of certain companies in this regard.

Ms Peacock said the problem is, when sitting at home reading alone, the documents showing all indicators and performance, do not show the reasons and deviations for why performing was low or good. She asked why this was omitted.

The Chairperson said connection with Mr Shembeni is lost. She gave Deputy Minister Mathale the opportunity to speak.

Mr Shembeni came back to welcome the overachievement of inspections of businesses using dogs. PSIRA did a good job. The annual target is achieved in the Third Quarter. He asked why the target was removed from the 2020/21 APP.

He also asked what affected the revenue collected from the sale of goods.

The Chairperson asked Deputy Minister Mathale to contribute.

Deputy Minister Mathale allowed the CEO and PSIRA team to reply.

Mr Chauke asked advocate Mbana to repeat her answer on the Durban Company for Ms Mofokeng.

Adv Mbana addressed the question from Ms Mofokeng. She apologised for pronouncing Ms Mofokeng’s surname incorrectly. Regarding the issue of the opening of criminal cases and what was done after confiscating firearms, PSIRA opened cases for all found guilty for being in possession of the nine firearms.

On the question of the notorious Durban Company, RUSA, PSIRA was in and out of courts. Eventually it lost the criminal side. A departmental inquiry proceeded. When setting the matter down, witnesses vanished. There were allegations of witnesses being killed and the families did not know what happened to the witnesses. Other witnesses withdrew statements. PSIRA however continued, knowing allegations of misconduct existed. Having set the matter down, the Company ended up coming on board, apologising profusely and admitting to doing things wrong because of lack of knowledge of the Regulations. PSIRA was asked to provide training to prevent similar occurrences in the future. R17 million of the subsequent fine was suspended on condition, if any further misconduct occurred within three years, it will be put down. PSIRA received further complaints in 2020 from people in Durban and Members of the Company itself. The matter was coming before inquiry proceedings in July 2020. There was the possibility for PSIRA to claim R17 million and or withdraw the Company depending on how the matter unfolds.
Answering Ms Majozi’s question about:

•  the reason for the red dot which related to regulations, and
• PSIRA introducing new processes late, or
• PSIRA not receiving co-operation from the other side,

Adv Mbana said PSIRA introduced measures late. When forwarding regulations to the State Law Advisor, the advisor’s plates were full. This resulted in the Regulations being delayed in coming back to PSIRA. That financial year the measures were put in place to ensure no red dots.

The Chairperson asked for any more input.

Mr Chauke said, on operations done during COVID-19, it is true companies are not complying with providing employees with PPE. During COVID-19 operations, PSIRA dealt with companies concerning non-compliance charges. Companies are advised to follow the Department of Health with regard to employees who test positive for COVID-19.

Answering Ms Faku’s question for clarity on omissions from the tables, she said:

• the columns are given according to the framework,
•  the reasons are given where PSIRA deviates from the target.

In most cases, performance is in line with targets. This therefore does not need explanation. For example, on slide 29, there are two cases of targets achieved. One has a reason, and another does not. The reason for providing detail in one case is because there was overachievement. Therefore, this needed an explanation to justify targets are not made too achievable. Otherwise, the reports normally do not have to explain, only where there is the possibility of overachieving targets excessively. PSIRA normally only provides comments where it deviates from it, or if it is below achievement.

The Chairperson asked for any further questions.

Mr Chauke replied to Mr Shembeni, who wanted to know why the target with dogs was removed in the Strategic Plan for the year ahead. PSIRA sought to review and reprioritise law enforcement activities. This did not mean complete removal. The matter is merely relegated to operational targets. These are not normally part of the APP.

On the question of what affected the sale of goods, he left it to the Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Mr Badenhorst said the sale of goods is mostly affected by renewal of registration certificates. PSIRA used to require security offices to renew certificates every year. It is currently allowed to be done every second year. This results in en-masse renewals whereby the people skip the following year. This has a huge impact on the sale of goods.

The Chairperson opened to the Members.

Ms Peacock referred to a question asked by a Member, but she could not remember the specifics. It was about slide 23 and the target, on why it was not planned.

Deputy Minister Mathale said it was Ms Majozi's question

The Chairperson asked Mr Chauke to return to the question.

Deputy Minister Mathale said Ms Majozi’s question was about slide 23. The problem is the Council provided the information late. This results in the red dot. A new process was introduced by State Law advisors recently. This will be communicated in future. It needs to be brought to attention earlier to avoid similar red dot situations.

The Chairperson thanked Deputy Minister Mathale. She asked it the Members are happy.

Mr Chauke said he wants to finalise a question. There is a communication with State Law Advisors saying the delay affected targets. Nothing can be done with the process. He indicated it was part of the APP and PSIRA will be informed in the future of such issues.

The meeting was adjourned.