The Secretariat derives its mandate from section 208 of the Constitution, (Act 106 of 1996) which states that a civilian secretariat for the police must be established by national legislation to function under the direction of the Cabinet member responsible for policing. In terms of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service Act No. 2 of 2011 the Secretariat will become a designated department, with the Secretary of Police as the Accounting Officer. In respect of the 2010/11 financial year, however, the Secretariat was still functioning as a cost centre under the Administration Programme (Programme 1) of SAPS.