CSPS & PSIRA Quarterly Reports with Deputy Minister

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Police

13 October 2020
Chairperson: Ms T Joemat-Pettersson (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee discussed the performance reports for the final quarter of 2019/20 and the first quarter of 2020/21 as presented by the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (the Department) and the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority.

Members questioned the continued failure of the Department to meet the target of a maximum vacancy level of seven percent and asked for details on the impact that COVID-19 had on targets in general.

Members expressed concern about limited capacity in the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences units. The Department offered to share with the Committee a report regarding the understaffing of the units. The units, the Department said, nevertheless had an improved conviction rate for gender-based violence and their work showed a general positive impact.

The Senekal [public violence] case was raised by members and condemned by the Department which said it will be investigated and addressed. Responding to a question, the Deputy Minister made an undertaking to report back to the Committee on progress in investigating the killing of Sergeant Donovan Prins.

The presentation of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority highlighted their second consecutive clean audit. The Members welcomed this achievement, along with the increase in successful prosecutions against non-compliant security companies and the robust strategies of the Authority to recover debt.

Members nevertheless expressed concern over the issue of debt collection, noting that the Authority was self-funded and the non-recovery of debt had substantial impact on their operations. Another issue raised was the issue of security companies employing foreigners who are not legally permitted to work in South Africa and of incidents where security companies abused people’s human rights. The Deputy Minister addressed issue of the use of excessive force on civilians by security companies and SAPS. He stated that he will follow up on such unacceptable behaviour.

Meeting report

Mr Alvin Rapea, Secretary of Police in the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS), introduced the team:

  • Ms Florence Matoma represented the Civilian Oversight, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit in the place of Mr T Ramuru who was unable to attend
  • Adv Dawn Bell - Chief Director: Legislation
  • Ms Lindi Mjeza- Director of Internal Audit
  • Ms Bilkis Omar- Chief Director: Policy Development and Research
  • Mr Benjamin Ntuli -Chief Director: Intersectoral Coordination and Strategic Partnership
  • Ms Dipsy Wechoemang -Chief Director: Corporate Services
  • Mr Tumelo Nkonjoana -Chief Financial Officer
  • Ms Itumeleng Moagi - Director: Strategic Management, leader of the Department’s presentation.
  • Mr Samuel Saluka -Director of Information Technology.

The Department gave a picture of CSPS annual performance of the previous year and briefed the Members on their COVID-19 procurement issues in the first quarter of the present financial year.

CSPS Fourth Quarter Performance Report 2019/20

Programme 1- Administration

The Department filled 148 of its 154 posts resulting in a vacancy rate of 7.79% at the end of Q4. It failed to reach the 7% target but aimed to prioritise and fill these posts. 1.41% of staff, or two people, were people with disabilities.

Programme 2- Intersectoral coordination and strategic partnerships

The Department overachieved in exceeding its targets for the number of Anti-Crime campaigns conducted per year by 5, and the number of public participation programmes held with communities to promote community safety per year by 7.

Programme 3- Legislation and Policy Development

In March 2020 the Secretary approved a draft Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy. The Department either achieved or overachieved on its targets in this programme.

Quarterly Financial Report

The Department underspent by 3.7% at the end of Q4 due to incomplete ICT projects and compensation of employees, in particular the non-filling of vacant posts.

CSPS First Quarter Performance Report 2020/21

The Department failed to reach the target of vacancy rate below 7%. The vacancy rate of 7.79% was unchanged from the 1st quarter of the previous year.

COVID-19 had an impact on targets relating to community outreach including public gatherings of Izimbizo, where the Department missed their target by 2. This was due to lockdown restrictions which prohibited mass gatherings. Overall this resulted in a 0% achievement of programme 2 targets relating to strategic partnerships.

A challenge encountered by the Department during this period was the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - employees had to use their own funds to procure this equipment.

The Department underspent by 18% of its original budget due to vacant funded posts that are in the process of being filled. A decrease in business also resulted in the decrease in spending on goods and services due to COVID-19.

Discussion

Mr O Terblanche (DA) said that the Department has a history of underspending on vacant posts and accommodation. He asked whether they could indicate how they will sort this issue out. Secondly, he stated that there is a misalignment between the performance of the Department and the allocated budget and expenditure. He stated that it does not make sense and needs to be explained further in detail. He commended the good work done by certain areas of the Department for instance, they drafted the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy, which is what, he stated, is needed in these circumstances. He asked whether the draft policy has been implemented and if so, what was the outcome. Lastly, in terms of the basic training programme, he said there are serious problems with the police’s performance at the moment, so he asked to what extent has this basic training policy been implemented and what impact is it having on service delivery of the police?

Mr H Shembeni (EFF) expressed concern on the filling of posts. He noted that the presentation illustrates that from Q1 to Q4, 12 posts are still vacant and they must be filled. He asked why they are not filled? In terms of so-called police conduct, he stated that it is saddening to see what is happening in South Africa, to see police are being undermined and nothing is being done. He referred to the Senekal case whereby police vehicles are being burned, meaning police have to run away from civilians. He asked whether the community or the police must take charge. He stated that if the police cannot do anything, crime is getting out of hand. He stated that the civilian secretariat must provide an answer to what is happening. With regards to gender-based violence (GBV) cases, the South African Police Service (SAPS) mentioned that there are around 321 officers in training on dealing with Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) but to him it did not sound well because he was looking into how many FCS units there are in the country. He asked whether these 321 officers have any impact in SA in the investigation of these serious crimes during this period where there is a high number of gender-based crimes and femicide occurring? He said 321 is nothing. He asked if we look to Gauteng or Western Cape, how many units are there? He repeated that the 321 make up absolutely nothing. In terms of the vacancy rate, staff with disability was said to be two, he stated there is no target as to how many members with disabilities there should be and asked whether the Department can elaborate on this.

Mr A Shaik Emam (NFP) said it is very difficult for smaller parties at times like this when talking about dealing with budgets, and that they have to go from one place to another to do justice to their positions. He would like an explanation, particularly on the targets that are set, performance and budget that is allocated, because what is not seen in practice as opposed to theory, are that the indicators do not give a clear indication of what reality is on the ground. He stated that what is seen and experienced on the ground is completely different to the figures presented. There are various challenges in the police stations with officers, and there are numerous complaints in GBV cases about the attitude at the station when people go there. These illustrate some of the targets and indicators do not give a clear picture of exactly what is going on. He asked for guidance on how the Department measures to see that value is obtained and a difference is being made from the money spent. He does not see that thus far.

He stated that the Committee requested previously, from various structures in the SAPS, to provide a comprehensive breakdown on money that was being spent on COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The information received was not what was looked for. He asked when this comprehensive breakdown would be received. He stated that there were repeated reports particularly in the media where apparently there were vehicles donated for GBV specifically, and asked whether the Department knew anything about this and whether it has engaged the Department of Social Development or whoever because  if they were allocated they should be allocated with SAPS.  He asked what impact COVID-19 has had on the Department regarding workshops and training sessions for the different offices in the unit. He stated there appears to be serious problem in terms of vacancies which most departments seem to have a problem with. He asked what the Department believed was the problem? Was it a lack of capacity or skills? Was it an issue of the qualifications that people have? Was it an issue that the Department must speak to tertiary institutions about, to cater specifically to its needs in the future? If it does not address this [need for training] through tertiary institutions, they will run into the issues of having no candidates to employ because many skilled people are leaving the country currently. He asked whether the Department has also considered those who have gone into early retirement that may have the necessarily skills that it may be able to recruit?

Ms M Molekwa (ANC) expressed her appreciation of the presentation made by the CSPS and congratulated them on their performance, especially their fourth quarter performance.  Her first question was on the internal audit recommendation. She stated that she does understand that there was a plan in place to implement the recommendation by the internal audit committee, however there was a delay due to the process of consultation. She asked whether there was any plan or mechanism in place to fast-track the implementation of the recommendation of the internal audit committee. Secondly, on the first quarter report, she stated that she understands that Covid-19 had a negative impact on most of the programs. However, especially on program four, it was said that only three sub-programmes were performed. She asked whether there is any plan in place to make sure that those programs that were not achieved are implemented, especially in the current situation where the country is faced with serious crime.

Rev K Meshoe (ACDP) expressed concerns over vacancies. Firstly, he asked how the staff morale in the secretariat was. He stated that where there is a person going into the Department and then less than two years to going into retirement, there could be something that is making them leave early. He stated that maybe it has to do with the staff morale. When staff members choose to be moved or transferred from one department to another, in a number of occasions it is due to unhappiness about where they are. Therefore, he wanted clarification on the state of the staff morale within the secretariat. Secondly, a study was made on police living quarters. He requested some elaboration on what the findings of the study were, particularly on issues of security and cleanliness. He stated that the Committee have seen dilapidation in some living quarters that is very concerning. He wanted to know, out of this study, how did they find the living quarters? Were they suitable? Were there any recommendations on renovations?

Responses by CSPS

Mr Rapea spoke to the issue of underspending on funded posts. The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) had set the standard target that there should be no more than 10% of posts vacant [in any government department]. The CSPS, because it is a small department, had actually put its target at a maximum seven percent vacancy level [- that is, at a more challenging level] than the 10% allowable in terms of the DPSA standard. The CSPS tried to make sure it increased the spending. However, as it fills some posts, others are exiting posts. In his 30 years in Human Resource (HR) management, the Secretary stated that he had never seen 100% of positions filled. This is due to the pace at which these posts are filled as they become vacant, and the issue is that the Department is trying to fast-track the pace for replacement appointments. As it stood now in the present quarter, the vacancy level is sitting at 6.45%. The Department is trying to make sure that as people leave, [they are replaced] because in the public service they find that they are competing to get very good, competent senior managers who are women. These people will always be moved, as they will be appointed in other departments for promotional positions in the Senior Management Service (SMS). Looking at the people who are leaving, he stated that they are not leaving to the private sector, most of them end up in [other posts in] the public service.

Mr Rapea stated that the accommodation is something that is beyond the Department’s control. Where they are in currently is not conducive. This is also having an impact on employee morale. He indicated that the morale is not that great and that they are overcrowded where they are sitting. He stated that it is the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure that is responsible for organising the Department’s accommodation. Accommodation was allocated to the CSPS but when the new administration came into place, the Departments of Arts & Culture and Sports were merged. They had to move Sports into the building that the CSPS had been allocated because they [needed to be together with] with Arts and Culture and it then had to start the process from scratch. He said the process has advanced currently, that is the tender process with Public Works, and that they are in the final identification of a building.

On the issue of the misalignment on spending and performance, Mr Rapea stated that if you look in terms of the Department’s performance, they have achieved 86%, improving from the previous year at 78%. But as was said, the issue about expenditure is about the pace at which they fill in positions when they become vacant. It is found that people who leave during the year might have already delivered the work they were supposed to deliver. But also on the issue of accommodation, the Department was given about R6 million to spend but they only spent about R3/R4 million on the current building. In terms of their budget, the R2 million differential is a huge amount compared to if one looks into a department that doesn’t have as many people like it has. This is why there is that misalignment.

With regards to the Integrated Crime Prevention Strategy, the Department has a draft that has been developed. In the State of the Nation Address, the President said that the strategy must be consulted on extensively. The Minister has approved that the Department go on the consultation process which it is currently busy with. It had not started its implementation yet. This strategy came as a result of the review of the White Paper of Safety and Security and the National Crimes Prevention Strategy. Once the consultation has been completed the strategy has to be approved by Cabinet. The Department’s intention is that the strategy will be approved in the current financial year.

Mr Rapea said that the issue of police being undermined in the Senekal case is matter of concern and an issue they will have to make an assessment on from where they sit. So far, they had not done that assessment because it has got a number of permutations. The Department was being proactive through intelligence gathering so that they will know whether people are planning to be violent so they are ready for it. It also has to do with whether the Department has enough people, especially the Public Order Policing (POP) unit, in terms of if they have responded effectively. In terms of how they have been trained, it is an issue that the Department will look into now that the Members feel it is a matter that needs to be addressed.

Regarding staff with disability, they have 3 staff members who have a disability which gives them 2%, which is the national target. Therefore, he stated that they are only looking into appointing another person with disability then they will meet the national target.

On the vehicles donated for tackling GBV, the Department is not aware of the issue and does not know who has been allocated those vehicles, although they are part of the task team that deals with GBV.

In terms of the impact COVID-19 has had on the Department, there are units that did not achieve anything, for example with the izimbizo there was zero achievement in terms of community participation. This had a serious impact on the Department.

Regarding those areas that were not achieved, the Department has plans. It made an addendum to their Annual Performance Plan (APP), which they presented to the Portfolio Committee, which says that in some areas, they know they are not going to achieve this year. However, the Department is using alternative service delivery methods like online programmes, for example the GBV programme on TV.

Rev Meshoe had raised an issue on those retiring within two years and Mr Rapea said that maybe this does not mean that a person had worked two years and retired, but that they had resigned. He said that Ms Wechoemang will address some of the reasons for leaving that people state in their exit interviews.

Ms Omar (Chief Director: Policy Development & Research) spoke on the issue of the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy. She said that because the Department are not the only implementers of the strategy—it’s a whole of government and society approach and they are finalizing the consultation process—it has developed a roadmap as seen on the Q4 presentation, which entailed the Department assisting two provinces in implementing the strategy. However due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Department was unable to travel but will be picking it up in future. They will also be facilitating the implementation of strategy.

On the question on the impact of its performance, over the years the Department has produced a lot of research and policies that SAPS has been using. For example, in 2017/18 it finalised the Police Resource Allocation Research Project where it found that a large percentage of members at police station level are sitting in management and administrative posts. It knows that SAPS is re-looking at the whole configuration of the deployment of members in terms of police stations. Similarly, they know that SAPS is looking at their State of Policing Report as well, to look at their internal transformation processes. Regarding impact on society directly, Ms Omar stated that she thought the Department has an indirect impact because their recommendations tend to want to professionalize SAPS and if SAPS is using [the Department’s recommendations] in this way, they do have a direct impact on society.

Ms Matoma (Civilian Oversight, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit) said the Department has a total number of 183 FCS units in the country. It has found that for now there is some impact that the FCS units have had and they are doing a good job. They are dedicated and have contributed to the improved conviction rate of offenders in GBV cases. The main challenge is the lack of resources, especially the human resources, as has been indicated. But what it can do now is engage with SAPS and make sure there is enough capacity that is given to the FCS units. She believed they will continue to do a good job and improve conviction rates.

Ms Wechoemang (Chief Director: Corporate Services) commented on the impact of COVID-19 in the Department. The Department had 11 cases and one death, but it cannot confirm this death was COVID-19 related because the person who passed on was declared to have recovered from COVID-19. During the time of the 11 cases, the Department closed for 1 or 2 days where it would conduct contact tracing as well as compulsory isolation and quarantine of those who might have come into contact with a person with COVID-19. That had an impact on the time the Department would have used to maybe implement some of the programs that it had in its targets. Based on this, the Department would have maybe not achieved in some of the things they might have planned. In terms of partnership, Mr Ntuli would explain further to the Committee because they must have contact with partners and stakeholders out there, and he could explain better how it impacted on them.

Mr Ntuli, Director in the Intersectoral Coordination and Strategic Partnerships Unit, said that by the nature of partnerships, the unit is outreach-driven. Therefore, most of its tasks/programmes were curtailed in compliance with COVID-19 regulations. It then had to try and find out alternative means, like leveraging on the ICT. Some of the izimbizo already tried to utilize ICT means to communicate with people out there. However COVID-19 had impacted heavily on their programme.

Mr Nkojoana (CFO) responded to the implementation of the internal audit recommendation. He stated that the plan is to implement the recommendation before the planned time of implementing it. The reason for this is related to debt recoveries. There was a change in the policy by National Treasury whereby before it used to write letters of demand to the affected individuals. But now according to the new regulations of Treasury, it must first investigate before it actually demands. Responding to matters related to the procurement of PPE, the Department can confidently say that its prices are aligned to the prescribed national treasury prices. The only instances in which they departed is where they bought their face masks for more than the prescribed amount because they had to put an emblem on the cloth masks. Also if one looks at things such as the 5 litres of sanitisers, the prescribed amount by the national treasury is about R900, but the Department bought them at about R400. The suppliers from which they bought these items, are mainly black-run service providers who are based in Gauteng. The only instances where they bought from different suppliers is where individuals had to procure for themselves because there was high demand. In these instances, people would have bought from Pick ‘n Pay, Makro and pharmacies and the Department would reimburse them.

Mr Rapea said that the Senekal matter was an unfortunate incident that happened and should not have happened. However, the Department is doing everything possible with regard to the hearing that was going to take place on Friday 16 October 2020. He said the Department can assure Members they are ready. On the question by Mr Shembeni on whether it is the community that determines what happens, Mr Rapea responded that it will not happen this way, the Department will be in charge of the situation and will respond appropriately. He reiterated that it was unfortunate that what happened, happened and the Department condemns the conduct of the people who were there calling themselves white farmers. The Department knows that they do not represent the farming community in South Africa. Their conduct was completely unacceptable [involving the burning of police vehicles], and it cannot be tolerated by government and an incident like this will not be allowed to happen moving forward. However, the Department is making all the necessary arrangements to deal with the situation on Friday.

Follow-up Questions

Mr Terblanche stated that the National Treasury reported that this Department has a headcount of 158, whereas the Department indicated that they have 154 funded positions. Can they explain this difference? Further, he stated that there is a serious problem with civil claims against the SAPS and apparently the Department has done an assessment on this. He wanted to know what the findings are and what they will do to rectify the position.

Mr Shembeni said that the SAPS mentioned that they have 321 officers in training so far to beef up the FCS units. He stated that it is known that FCS is doing a very good job. His concern is that FCS is understaffed by a lot of members in one unit. He remembered more than eight members within a year had been transferred to other units. He believed that something must be wrong here and that the resourcing must be increased to standard. He stated it cannot take a year or so to make arrangements and turn-around strategies in these units because of violence and crimes being reported. He thought that since the President also mentioned in his State of the Nation address (SONA) the issue of GBV, it was being prioritised. He stated that 321 members is absolutely nothing out of 56 million people. If 321 is divided into 183 units, how many members are going to be given to each unit? Meaning that if the Department prioritised in the next intake, it should make sure that out of the 7,000 trainees, maybe 1,000 will be trained specifically for the FCS unit. From the college to whatsoever crime investigation institutions where they will be doing specific courses, these members must go straight to the FCS units and not wait till they maybe get people from stations. Mr Shembeni stated that the Department must also encourage other experienced members in the detective services to join the FCS units and set out how they will do this. He stated that he has always mentioned that the Department must take care of its investigators, this was not being done. When they are working on stand-by, they are not paid, they are given rest days. This does not make sense. He stated that the Department must go back to paying them for their stand-by duties because they are working holidays and Sundays but are only getting rest days. He said that these people must be remunerated and compensated for their work including getting resources like cars and offices, which they do not have. They must have private rooms where they to do private interrogations. He suggested that the Minister, Deputy Minister and the National Commissioner go around all these 183 units to check whether they do have offices, where they are located and whether they have cars. He noted that there are other units that currently do not have commanders. These units are saving without commanders and it takes time for posts to be advertised in such a very important unit.

Mr Shaik Emam agreed with Mr Shembeni regarding the lack of capacity in the FCS units and stated that it was matter that needed urgent attention. Over and above the shortage of resources, particularly vehicles and interview rooms, there was so much that was going on in the FCS units. He stated that many years ago, with the previous minister of police, it was agreed that SAPS would try to put in a work-together with the Department of Basic Education to try and perhaps introduce policing and crime [as a subject] in the curriculum of grades 10, 11 and 12, so that after matric, those that have finished will go and do a 2 or 3 year diploma or degree course in policing. Then those with passion and commitment can become police officers and investigators. He asked how far the Department was in terms of that.

His next question, he said, was directed to the civilian secretary concerning one of his very own. He stated that he had asked this before and he thinks it was misunderstood. He did not ask for any investigation of anything. He wanted to know what the Secretary was doing to push the SAPS on [the killing of Sergeant] Donovan Prins, which was one his very own that was brutally murdered. What was he doing to ensure there was justice? He noticed that in certain offices when a member is killed, the entire police force is included, and others do not hear about it all. His question was whether it meant that some of these police officers’ lives don’t matter? What was he doing to ensure that justice is done for Donovan Prins?

The Chairperson said that Mr Shaik’s question was also a question the Committee must ask SAPS.

Ms Z Majozi (IFP) posed a question directed to the SAPS as well, and maybe to the Minister and National Commissioner. She asked whether they would ever consider rolling out a vetting process for existing police officers and also a lifestyle audit so that they minimise what has been seen in the last few days.  Would they consider doing vetting internally before they even start with the process of the incoming police officers that they will be taking?

CSPS Response

Mr Rapea said with regards to FCS, the Department has a report they have available and they agree with the Members’ concern regarding the understaffing of the FCS units. He said that they can share the report with the Members.

Ms Matoma stated that on the issue of the civil claims, the Department’s analysis had found that the actual amount paid for the civil claims against the Department had increased by 55.9% between 2018 and 2019 – by an amount of R535 million. The root causes for these civil claims against the SAPS were issues around unlawful arrest, detentions, general police action, shooting incidents, assaults, unlawful search and seizure, defamation and negligence. She stated that these incidents are reflective of misconduct characterised by non-compliance with organisational controls, including not adhering to the SAPS Code of Conduct and the Standing Order 361. This calls for more efforts within the SAPS to inculcate professionalism and democratic principles into the members of the SAPS. She said that overall, civil claims have increased and have continued to increase, which is a problem.

Mr Cassel Mathale, Deputy Minister of Police, asked whether his team had spoken on the issue of the headcount difference between the reports of the Treasury and the Department.

Mr Rapea said that the Department has an allowance of 4 posts which are in temps, so they are temporary in nature, which makes the figure 158 instead of 154.

  Deputy Minister Mathale said on the issues that Mr Shembeni raised, the Department should take note because he was asking them to do things that make sense. For example, the visiting of FCS units to see what is happening, though they have done that. He said that when last he was in East London, he did visit a facility where they work from at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital, where there is a section that is put aside in one of the centres there. He noted the Member’s points on the issues he raised and will take them forward.  In terms of what they will do in specific cases, they will need to get the operatives, specifically to give an updated report to the Committee on particular the issue of Sgt Donovan Prins. In terms of how far the Department of Education has progressed of introducing policing in the grade 12 curriculum, he said he would have to verify the facts around Mr Shembeni’s statement about the agreement.  He said he noted what Members were proposing. He thanked the Members for their presentations.

Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority on Quarterly Reports Q4 (2019/20) and Q1 (2020/2021

The virtual delegation from the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) comprised:

Mr Manabela (Sam) Chauke       : Director

Mrs Mmatlou Sebogodi             : Deputy Director: Finance and Admin

Adv Linda Mbana                      : Deputy Director: Law Enforcement

Mr Stefan Badenhorst                : Chief Operating Officer

Mr Oupa Mamabolo                   : Acting Deputy Director: Training & Communications

Achievements of Q4 2019/20

  • Second consecutive Clean Audit obtained – 2019/20
  • 88% of the planned targets achieved
  • 7 155 Security Business inspections and 37 136 Security Officer inspections conducted
  • 81 arrests out of 8 operations
  • 1 582 Inspections conducted at businesses with firearms
  • 1 028 Successfully finalised prosecutions
  • R7 014 800 of fines imposed against security service providers (SSPs) and prosecution turn-around time of 75 days
  • 33 749 Security Officers and 454 Security Businesses were registered
  • 241 New Training Centers accredited and 506 710 training course reports captured
  • 81 870 Renewal certificates for Security
  • Officers and 1 564 for Security Businesses have been issued 196 Public Awareness Campaigns

Quarter 1 of 2020/21

PSIRA achieved 78% of its overall performance targets, having encountered issues mainly regarding debt collection due to the negative impact of COVID-19. However, PSIRA held many non-compliant SSPs to account through investigations and operations that led to arrests and criminal cases instituted. There was an overall improvement in quality of investigations.

Discussion

Mr Shaik Emam expressed happiness over the fact that PSIRA is self-sufficient and does not rely on government funding. At the same time, he needed an explanation of the liabilities of 92% compared to assets (slides 51 and 54). He said he was worried that the Authority talked about success, particularly with the number of fines that they have given. He said that there are two ways of looking at this. It is fantastic job they have done in that they have fined people who have not complied. However, he asked whether the Authority thinks it is a worrying factor when there is such a high level of non-compliance. Does that organ work well for the industry if these people who are supposed to provide and protect the people on the ground are themselves violating these conditions that have been set by PSIRA? He asked about the number of firearms that have been stolen while in possession of security officers. Very importantly, he asked what number of illegal firearms were found. He asked about the number of inspectors that have to conduct oversight over these people because he sees PSIRA is doing a fantastic job in visiting these places and fining them. He noticed that a lot have not been paying their annual fees which makes it very difficult for the authority to operate since it relies on these for its operational costs. If they do not pay their annual fees, are they in compliance with employees, employee benefits and other matters?

Mr Shaik Emam said he noticed that a lot of these companies are employing foreign nationals. Does PSIRA have mechanisms to track and see whether these people are legitimate in terms of documentation. He asked whether they are doing checks together with Home Affairs in order to ensure that the people are absolutely compliant and have the right to be in the country and be employed because he noticed there is such a large percentage of foreign nationals employed particularly in the security industry. PSIRA said there were 115 successful prosecutions. Could the authority say how many of these people are repeat offenders and are the fines a deterrent or do they think they need to do more? He said he saw that they have employed a lot of debt collectors which indicates that they are having a tough time in getting the money. He asked about PSIRA’s successful model and how they are keeping their head above the water and meeting all their commitments despite the difficulty in getting in the contributions.

Mr Shembeni asked how many debt collection companies PSIRA had contracted to collect outstanding debt? He asked whether the COVID-19 restrictions affected the court proceedings against the Durban-based company RUSA in that the court date was initially set for July. He asked if companies are given a contract of 3 years for instance, when it comes to the registering of security guards working in that company. What does the law say? Is the company allowed to register members for one month and re-register them each and every end of month, or are they supposed to register the members for the 3 years or a period exceeding 12 months? He wanted to understand this because he stated there is a company that is registering members every month, and they must re-register every month. He asked whether this was in line with PSIRA’s regulations.

Secondly, he stated that money is being deducted from members, the provident fund money, which is supposed to be paid to Salt according to the regulations. [Salt Employee Benefits have served at the administrator of the Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF) since 1 September 2016)] But it is found out that money is deducted from the members and is not paid to Salt. He asked what PSIRA was doing about these companies that are not paying the provident fund of the members to Salt? Lastly, he asked how many security guards tested positive for COVID-19 so far?

Ms Majozi welcomed the presentation and stated that it was always nice to get positive feedback from PSIRA and also congratulated it for obtaining a clean audit. On the issue of their targets on the training of employees and inspection of businesses, she said that to avoid what has happened with not reaching its targets, considering it was COVID times, PSIRA must adjust to digital migration quickly so that it avoids not meeting their targets in the next quarter. She was not sure whether PSIRA had this information, but she stated that there were complaints that were received where there are police officers that were patrolling with a security company that was led by Somalians, and they were beating up people. She does not know how this can be addressed so that issues of xenophobia can be avoided. She said she has received several calls that such incidents were taking place particularly in Johannesburg. She stated that she was not sure whether PSIRA or the police department was aware of this. Lastly, she said she was happy with the performance of PSIRA.

Ms Malekwa expressed her appreciation of PSIRA’s presentation and its performance in obtaining a clean audit. Regarding the annual performance, especially on finance issues, she said there was a slide [#30] that indicated that COVID-19 impacted negatively on private security and therefore PSIRA had difficulty in terms of its assessment on the compliance and enforcement. She said she also understood that most of the security companies weren’t working due to COVID-19 and are also negatively impacted by the pandemic, hence most security companies have retrenched workers. As the President had made a call on economic recovery, she wanted to check whether there was any plan in place for PSIRA to support, especially emerging companies that were affected badly by COVID-19. If so, she asked what kind of support there was to make sure that these companies were uplifted because they are clients of PSIRA, as PSIRA is collecting revenue from them.

Mr Terblanche commended PSIRA on its performance, particularly its clean audit. He heard about quite a few people that got arrested, charged and even successfully prosecuted. He asked how many businesses were also charged and successfully prosecuted. He wanted to a get a sense of the percentage of business operating in the industry without licenses. Quite often it was found that companies and their people are wearing uniforms, insignia and vehicles that are very similar police uniforms. He asked how many were charged for this offence and what is being done to prevent this in future?

PSIRA Response

Adv Linda Mbana, Deputy Director: Law Enforcement, PSIRA, responded  to the question on how many businesses or directors of the business were arrested, charged and prosecuted. She stated that there 115 matters that were successfully prosecuted in the last quarter [slide #13]. Some of the companies that are included in the 115, flow from the previous quarters so PSIRA does not have a percentage from the current quarter they can present. With regards to the percentage of businesses operating without licenses, she replied that they do not have these stats because such businesses are not supposed to be operating in the first place without registering. As soon as PSIRA gets its intelligence, complaints and information from the community and people out there who see them operating, PSIRA will do its own investigations and open criminal cases against such businesses. If it transpires that the owner and/or manager and/or director of that particular business that is operating illegally is registered in his/her own personal capacity as a security officer, PSIRA deals with it internally by following its prosecution processes. It either suspends the person or withdraws their registration in their personal capacity.

Lastly, responding to the concern of uniforms resembling those of SAPS or soldiers, PSIRA has published regulations on uniforms and it is following that up as law enforcement. It has circulated the approved regulations and every company currently knows that the regulations have been approved and are being implemented. In terms of the number of people in the industry that were found to be COVID-19 positive, after its previous engagement with the Portfolio Committee, PSIRA requested the directors or the owners of the companies to inform PSIRA of how many people had tested positive, what measures they had put in place to protect these people, and whether they were following the COVID regulations and guidelines. They all came back and gave PSIRA proof, where it needed proof, indicating what steps and measures they put in place to protect their members. At the end of September 2020, the Authority was sitting at 4,500 members that were reported to have tested positive. It was doing a follow-up on how many from those have recovered. It did not get a report from the industry that indicated serious casualties. It also got feedback that indicated that some of the members recovered but no stats are available.

Regarding the provident fund question, PSIRA is following-up, investigating and forcing the companies to pay the money into the provident fund. These are the matters that they sometimes fine the companies for because they do not warrant withdrawing [i.e. de-registering] these companies.

Adv Mbana responded to the question concerning repeat offenders within the 115 prosecuted matters. She stated that there are repeat offenders and PSIRA has systems, guidelines and fee models that advise the Authority on how to penalise those offenders. If the person is a repeat offender and the matter does not warrant a withdrawal or is not a serious matter in terms PSIRA’s annexure that indicates and dictates who must be charged for what, PSIRA fines the person, and heftily so. She indicated that PSIRA does not deal with repeat offenders where the matters or allegations fall within Schedule A.

In response to Mr Shaik Emam’s question about the number of stolen and illegal firearms and the impact of criminality by the security guards within the industry, she stated that there are instances where people have been accused and after investigation, it transpired that they indeed have committed such misconduct. Those security officers are suspended and eventually withdrawn. Further, the authority targets the owner of company by saying that if they took precautionary measures, the incident would not have happened. PSIRA deals with matters where there are criminal elements amongst security officers. They do not have data on firearms and illegal firearms that have been seized by SAPS, as SAPS conducts the seizure.

Regarding the RUSA case, the Authority had indicated in the previous meeting that the matter was coming before its tribunal in July. The hearing took place and it was rolled over until August. She indicated that the letter before the tribunal spoke only to one charge—one of the members of the company impersonated the SAPS. As previously mentioned, she stated that there are instances in which PSIRA not only focuses on the actual security officer but also the company, and this was the case in RUSA. It said to the company that they should have guarded against this incident and this is why RUSA was charged in this instance. RUSA came showing remorse and indicated that since their previous fine of R20 million, they are trying to live by the book. It didn’t end there, as much as they pleaded guilty, they were fined another R1 million to show that PSIRA is keeping checks on them.

Ms Mmatlou Sebogodi, Chief Financial Officer, responded to the question on the 92% debtor’s ratio. She compared what their debt ratio looks like in the beginning of each financial year. For example in Q1, they are at 54% because when one raises debtors, they form part of assets but as the year goes by and those debts are collected, they are moved from assets and the money is used, which is ideal. But also, they are not making profit there. She stated that it starts low and ends high at the end of the financial year. This is the debt model they talk about, where they raise debt and bill service providers and then they pay them. When debt is raised, they are classified as assets.

To ensure annual fees [are collected] in terms of this model, they have a debtor’s policy where they send numerous follow-ups. If there is still no payment they suspend the debtor and withdraw [it from the register] in the next period. With regards to ensuring that that service providers are supported in terms of their social responsibility, unfortunately the Authority cannot write off their debt. However, what PSIRA has introduced are payment arrangements and it sometimes waives its interest if the merits of the case warrant this. Especially for smaller companies, they have payment arrangements and assist them to pay little by little so that at the end of year they do not owe a lot, which would impact on their financial position. They have 21 debt collectors they have deployed in terms of the fee model. What this has done is to ensure that this model, with its challenges, still maintains the financial position in good health. It constantly applies turn-around strategies to ensure they stay within reasonable limits. This is why they have indicated that they have weekly cash-flow management and also assess whether there are things they can defer such as purchasing of assets and the start of new projects. However, projects that are deferred must be executed within the strategic planning period. They also have constant reviews of their expenses.

Mr Stefan Badenhorst, Chief Operations Officer, responded to whether PSIRA was concerned about the level of compliance within the security industry. He stated that from the Authority’s analysis, which they have conducted for a number of years, they are at a level of 78% compliance and 22% non-compliance. He stated that this a matter of concern and it is highlighted in their strategic plan over the next 5-year period where it wants to improve the compliance level to 90%. Part of the problem is due to the behaviour of the private security industry because they do have repeat offenders that continue to flout the law. PSIRA has increased the penalties quite significantly, that is partly one of the reasons why in this financial year, research is being conducted and a paper will be developed on the issues of behavioural change and what punitive measures PSIRA should look at to improve the level of compliance and not have repeat offenders.

With regards to the high level of foreigners within the industry, he stated that it is true that there are a number of business that employ unregistered foreigners. Law enforcement activities deal with that through an inspection programme. PSIRA has also had challenges of foreigners taking on identities of registered security officers within the country and then operating illegally in that manner. He said the Authority has a signed memorandum of agreement and a very good relationship with the Department of Home Affairs. PSIRA has implemented the renewal of registration certificate requirements where it is linked with the population register of Home Affairs to verify the identity against this register and give credibility to those who are in possession of PSIRA certificates.

Mr Badenhorst expressed concern about the security businesses that force their employees to sign new contracts on a month-to-month basis, although they are in the employ of a security business which has a three year contract in place. Those are the kind of things they look at as exploitation from the security officers’ perspective and PSIRA does have empowering provisions in terms of the code of conduct to look at that. He highlighted that there is a bargaining council for the private security sector that was established by the Minister of Labour. This created a platform for the private security industry to deal with unfair labour practices, non-compliance with labour legislation, as highlighted in the bargaining council agreement, as well as dispute resolution. So PSIRA has educated the security officers to approach the bargaining council, as they are established in terms of labour legislation to assist in areas of exploitation of labour.

In terms of the comment on digital strategy, it is a very important part of the roadmap for PSIRA going forward as a regulator. It is moving towards implementation of digital inspections, registrations and training, examinations etc.

Regarding Ms Majozi’s concern about the security company embroiled in the allegation of SAPS and security officers beating up people, PSIRA would like further information so they it can investigate this in conjunction with SAPS and take action if necessary.

Deputy Minister Mathale stated that he would also like more information on the allegations so that they can be followed up. He said that SAPS cannot be conducting themselves in that particular manner and that is it completely unacceptable and must be investigated. He stated that human rights must guide all, those in the security industry and in South African police in interacting with South Africans to ensure that everyone is in line with what the Constitution says and can enjoy the rights enshrined within it. He stated that the security industry – and SAPS - cannot exploit the authority given to them to search and use necessary force by subjecting people to inhumane treatment. He said the Department and the Authority appreciated the opportunity and platform they had been given to make a presentation on their reports, as well as for their teams to respond on the questions that the Members have asked. He stated that they remain guided by the Members because this is where they come to account to the people of South Africa. Through the Members, they are given advice and guidelines on how best to do their work. They could only improve by interacting with them and being open and frank with them.

The Chairperson thanked the Deputy Minister and his team and said they had done very well. He congratulated the presenters and those who responded to questions. She believed that they had fruitful discussions and Members’ questions were responded to. She asked the Deputy Minister when the annual reports could be expected. She stated that all the Departments in the police portfolio need to provide their annual reports and pointed out that there are strict time frames for that to happen.

The Minister responded that this will be arranged through the Chairperson’s office so the necessary presentation can be made, but he would make sure that they are ready to do so.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister and told the Members that they will arrange that the Annual Reports are ready and that they communicate to them in due course and well in advance when they will be attended to. She thanked the presenters and the team. She conveyed her good wishes to the Minister for Friday. She stated that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) would be dealt with on the following day.

The meeting was adjourned.

 

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