Hon Deputy Speaker, to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ms A van Wyk, the building of new police stations and the effective use of the department's infrastructure budget is a priority for the department. Since the appointment of the new national commissioner, this matter has been receiving her attention. The SA Police Service's national management is contemplating handing back the construction of police stations to the Department of Public Works and has indicated that no final resolution has been taken on this matter.
The new national commissioner is currently in the process of consulting relevant role-players, reviewing the necessary documentation and considering the advantages and disadvantages that inform future decisions on the construction of police stations. The process shall be determined based on the outcome of the process mentioned above.
Thank you, Deputy Minister, for the answer. It is especially in our previously disadvantaged areas that the need for new police stations is the greatest. The lack of new police stations being built impacts heavily on service delivery by the SAPS and our people are feeling unsafe in the affected areas. One of the contributing factors in delays is the provincial commissioners' determined priorities for the building of stations in the province. That priority changes every time a new provincial commissioner is appointed. Will the Deputy Minister and the Ministry consider centralising the priority list, with an input by provinces, to prevent the continuous shifting of the goalposts?
Chairperson, I agree with you. You must remember that I once presided over this committee and this issue has always been a challenge, especially when it comes to police stations in the rural areas. However, in addressing the specific concern you have, the SAPS is in the process of reviewing the process of how police stations should be determined.
We agree with you that we must not allow a specific provincial commissioner to decide that station number so and so is number two on his or her priority list and then, when the new provincial commissioner takes over after three years, that commissioner decides that the very same station becomes priority number 29. We are therefore addressing that challenge, hon Van Wyk. I promise you that in a few months we will have a concrete list on how to deal with outstanding police stations, especially those in rural communities.
Chairperson, I want to thank the Deputy Minister for the history lesson. Those of us who work in the portfolio committee already know the information she has just given us. So, what I need to know is: What action are you going to take in the Ministry to ensure that the building of the hundreds of stations that we need actually takes place?
I presume you are aware that while the SAPS took over 10% of the building of stations in the past year, they managed to build the exact sum of zero. They built nothing. Admittedly, they took that 10% from the utterly defunct Ministry of Public Works, which does not do anything either. However, when they took over, they said they would build stations, but they failed to do so.
I have to ask you for your forward plan. What are you going to do about this? Public Works does not work. The SAPS does not work and should not, or cannot, build. What are you going to do? We know the history. Can we look forward, please?
Deputy Speaker, as I have said, the new national commissioner has just had a consultation forum with the Development Bank of SA, National Treasury and Public Works in order to find the solution to taking the process forward. The Minister of Public Works and I had a meeting about three weeks ago about the idea of forming a task team from the departments that I am talking about - National Treasury and the Department of Public Works - in order for us to pay attention to the building of police stations.
Deputy Minister, won't you agree that the building of police stations is actually supposed to be a function of the Department of Public Works, so that the police can do what they have to do? Given the fact that there has been a lot of corruption in supply chain management, when are you actually going to expedite the matter and make sure that this function is transferred to the appropriate department for building? Given the problem that the department has, talking a lot does not produce results.
Mohlomong ke tla tshwanela hore ke e bue ka Sesotho hore re utlwane. [Perhaps I should say this in Sesotho so that we can understand each other.]
In my initial response to Ms Anneliz I indicated that we were engaged in a process ...
... ya hore Mafapha ana ao re neng re sa a kenyelletsa tswelopeleng ena, a jwaloka Lefapha la Matlotlo la Naha le Dibanka tse Tswetseng pele tsa Afrika e ka Borwa, DBSA. Re na le ditherisano le bona tsa hore re qale ho etsa mosebetsi wa ho ahwa ha diteishene. Ke ile ka ba ka bolela hore ... (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows)
[... of these departments that were not included in these developments, such as the National Treasury and Development Bank of Southern Africa, DBSA. We are having discussions with them about starting with the building of stations. I also mentioned that...] ... this decision has not been finalised between ourselves and the Department of Public Works. However, we will take a decision immediately after our meeting with National Treasury and the rest ...
... ya hore na di ahwa ke rona kapa di ahwa ke bona na, feela ntho eo re batlang ho e bona ke seteishene sa mapolesa se ahilweng. Ke a leboha. [Mahofi.] [... as to whether they will be built by us or them, but what we want to see is a built police station. Thank you. [Applause.]]
Madam Deputy Speaker, I wanted to ask the Deputy Minister a question in light of the admission by the Minister of Public Works that he is experiencing serious capacity problems in his department. Would you seriously consider other alternatives to expedite this process, because this has been going on for a very long time? One of the police stations that needs to be built - and was actually approved in 2002 - is in Nongoma.
Thank you very much, Ntate Mncwango.
Nditshilo ukuba izikhululo ezininzi bekufanele ukuba kudala zakhiwayo. [I mentioned that many police stations should have been built a long time ago.]
Because of the challenge that we have just raised, they have not been built. Even in my own residential area, in Bloemfontein, there is a station, Kagisanong, which was approved to be built in 2001. It has still not been built. So, I am saying that those are some of the challenges that we are trying to address between the Department of Public Works and ourselves.
Investigation into alleged manipulation of promotion process in SA Police Service
207. Mr V B Ndlovu (IFP) asked the Minister of Police:
(1) Whether he has instituted an investigation into the alleged corruption and manipulation of the promotion process in the SA Police Service (SAPS); if not, why not; if so,
(2) whether anyone at police management level has been found guilty of nepotism and/or circumventing the promotion policy; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether the SAPS members who have been found to have been irregularly promoted have been removed from their positions; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?