Mr Speaker, hon members, after the strike and other problems related to the deployment of private security bodies appointed by Fifa, a total of 1 184 additional SA Police Service, SAPS, members were deployed during the period, and performed functions on match and non-match days. Some of the functions of private security bodies were taken over by the SAPS. Members of the SAPS were deployed over a period of 31 days. The additional deployment costs for personnel have been estimated at R89,6 million. Thank you.
Thank you, Speaker. Thank you, Minister, for the answer. First and foremost, I think that we need to congratulate the SAPS on the swift and professional manner in which they stepped in and assumed these extra duties. We owe each and every man and woman in blue our gratitude and appreciation. However, Minister, given that the Local Organising Committee, LOC, and Fifa have budgeted for private security at these venues, are you considering any legal avenues and taking steps to recover these costs from Fifa?
Thank you, Mr Speaker. We have already written to the LOC to recoup this amount; it is needed very much by the Police. Thank you very much.
Ngiyabonga Somlomo. Mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe, kukhona ukukhala okuthi abanye bamaphoyisa abathatha umsebenzi emva kokuba onogada betelekile, abakakucoshi lokho okufanele bakucoshe. Okokuqala, izikhalo lezo ezinjalo sezafika kuwena? Okwesibili, bangakanani labo abangakucoshi okufanele bakucoshe, bayokucosha nini-ke okufanele ukuba bakucoshe? (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Mr V B NDLOVU: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Hon Minister, there is a complaint from some of the members of the police service who are saying that they haven't been paid what is due to them for stepping in when the security guards embarked on a strike. Firstly, I want to know whether such complaints have reached you and whether you are attending to them. Secondly, how many members of the police service must still be paid for that, and when are they going to be paid?]
Madam Deputy Speaker, the answer is what we have said: that the LOC has to pay this money.
Kusho ukuthi izocoshwa kanjalo-ke mhlonishwa. I-LOC kufanele iphendule ngoba sithe siyayidinga. [This means that they will then be paid that way, hon member. The LOC must respond because we have told them that we need it.]
We need that money. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Apart from action against Fifa, Minister, is there a provision in the contract with the security companies themselves for damages to be paid to the state in the event of the security companies' breaching the agreement? If not, why not? If so, what steps is the Minister planning to take to recover the wasted taxpayers' money from the security companies? We trust that one way or the other, either Fifa or the security companies will be sued if necessary.
Thank you, hon member. I must say that's not our call to make, because the contract was between the LOC and those private companies. So, they must sort their stuff out; we want what is ours. OkukaKhesare kuKhesare. [Render unto Caesar what is Ceasar's.] Thank you.
Madam Speaker, I would like to ask another question if there is the opportunity to do so.
Yes, you may.
Minister, given the fact there were already problems with procuring the services of suitable private security companies for the Confederations Cup in 2009, and given that the appointment of private security companies for the World Cup was left to very late in the day, does the Minister agree that the strike action could have been prevented with proper advanced planning? If not, why not? If so, why was this not done?
We share that sentiment, hon member. We are at one on that matter. Perhaps that is why we have emphasised the point that those who are supposed to secure public facilities like the stadia, should indeed have gone through the processes of the PSIRA, Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, in ensuring that they met the requirements. This is what we have been emphasising, both to Fifa and to the LOC. For them, in particular, this should have been a lesson because we raised the matter even before all the things that happened thereafter. Thank you so much.
Particulars regarding arrest of a certain person
155. Ms D Kohler-Barnard (DA) asked the Minister of Police:
(1) (a) What (i) are the reasons for dispatching approximately 20 SA Police Service officers and six SAPS vehicles to arrest a certain person (details furnished) and (ii) was the (aa) total cost and (bb) impact on the general duties of the SAPS of utilising this number of vehicles and officers for the arrest, (b) on what basis was the person arrested and (c) how long after the person's arrest was he afforded the opportunity to (i) contact and (ii) consult with his attorney;
(2) whether the national commissioner was informed of the intended arrest; if not, (a) why not and (b) on whose authority was the arrest made; if so,
(3) whether he authorised the arrest; if not, who authorised the arrest; if so, what was the basis for his decision?