Chairperson, Deputy Minister of Police, Mr Mbalula, chairperson of the select committee, Mr Mofokeng - I didn't see him here today. Is he here? Oh yes ...
He is very much here.
Hon members of the NCOP, staff in the Ministry, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 2010 is the year of action of ensuring that all people in South Africa are, and feel, safe. As declared by the President of the Republic, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, on the occasion of the state of the nation address, government shall accelerate service delivery. He further made a commitment that the work of government will be measured according to outcomes. To that extent the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS, cluster's job is to ensure that all people in South Africa are, and feel, safe in their homes, places of work and businesses, whilst they carry on with their lives. In this context, "people" refers to all law-abiding citizens.
Today, we want to announce the commencement of the process towards the realisation of the imperative of the Constitution of creating a single police service. Section 205(2) of the Constitution says:
National legislation must establish the powers and functions of the police service and must enable the police service to discharge its responsibilities effectively, taking into account the requirements of the provinces.
Section 205(3) says that:
The objects of the police service are to prevent, combat and investigate crime, to maintain public order, to protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property, and to uphold and enforce the law.
We have tasked the Secretariat of Police to investigate the feasibility of implementing this constitutional imperative. We are mentioning this to sensitise all people in our country that, indeed, the work has started. We are, however, under no illusion that this is not going to be a protracted process, but we are committed to it, and achieve it we will.
We need the creation of a new kind of a police officer in order to fight crime and fight it effectively. We need to recruit the right calibre of police officers. Whilst fitness and the ability to operate firearms are some of the essentials, it is in essence discipline, upholding the Constitution, defending the weak, enforcing the law and being generally upright that should constitute the defining core values of the police. We have in the past year accelerated the issue of recruitment of police members.
Any police organisation requires capable, innovative and upright leaders to guide its personnel. To this end, we have appointed new leadership to take charge of the SAPS. We have put in place a new National Police Commissioner, Gen Bheki Cele, to provide general operational leadership guidance and direction of the SAPS. We have also reinforced our intelligence arm with the appointment of Lt-Gen Mdluli as divisional head. As government, we took a stance to fight crime and fight it toughly and smartly.
To realise this objective certain steps have been undertaken. Amongst these is the transformation of the police ranks to ensure clear lines of command and control, whilst instilling a sense of discipline amongst the members. We are under no illusion that a mere change in ranks will automatically lead to a dramatic decline in crimes. The change is but part of a bigger approach in transforming the SAPS, with an emphasis on enforcing the highest form of discipline within the Police Service, also from the point of view of retraining and reskilling the police according to have respect for their peers, their commanders and society in general. It is important to emphasise that the change in the police ranks is an operational matter and has no constitutional implications whatsoever.
Section 199(1) of the Constitution talks to the Police Service and section 207(1) of the Constitution speaks to the national commissioner and this will continue to be the case. There is therefore no desire from anybody amongst us to tamper with the policy underpinnings that inform our approach to policing. The issue of how we mobilise and galvanise the material and attitudinal resources of the police to help to enhance discipline, instil confidence and resolve, and uplift the morale within the ranks, does not and should not be interpreted to mean or suggest policy reorientation.
Transformation should not be viewed in isolation from the other pillars of our strategy, which are strengthening partnerships with the communities, making life difficult for criminals, utilising intelligence as a nerve centre of policing and strengthening the legislative framework, particularly the oversight of the Independent Complaints Directorate and the civilian secretariat.
In the fight against criminals we shall take no chances with the lives of police officers. We shall also not allow abuses by individual police officers to go unchallenged. To address this, we have also strengthened the Independent Complaints Directorate, ICD, by appointing Mr Beukman in August 2009 as its executive director.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, DPCI - also known as the Hawks - is currently made up of 2 633 members. We have already appointed deputy provincial commissioners in eight of the nine provinces and additional personnel are currently undergoing vetting. In their short existence, the Hawks have already scored successes in a number of fields. On 6 July 2009, 287 projects from the former Directorate of Special Operations, DSO, were transferred to the DPCI. The SAPS now has an effective process to deal with organised crime projects investigations,