Hon Deputy Speaker, the national instruction on promotions in the SA Police Service currently allows people who have been investigated for wrongdoing to be promoted. It provides that employees against whom criminal or disciplinary investigations are pending or who have criminal convictions or findings of misconduct may be considered for promotion. The SAPS is supposed to give due regard to the merits of the cases to establish the suitability of a member, and only members found suitable are promoted. My answer with regard to this situation, hon member, is that I am not happy. Some members were promoted based on this very instruction.
Furthermore, in terms of this instruction, some members who were found not suitable for promotion were not promoted. For example, a certain member in KwaZulu-Natal was conditionally promoted, but subsequently dismissed on 21 June 2011 due to the seriousness of wrongdoing before promotion was effected.
Despite the above, I wish to inform Parliament that in December 2011, on my instruction, a joint team from the Civilian Secretariat for Police and SAPS human resource development conducted an extensive audit of the disciplinary processes within the SAPS. The actual audit has been completed and the final report will be submitted to my office by the end of March 2012.
However, the preliminary findings of this report highlight a number of deficiencies in our approach to disciplinary matters. In some cases, the audit even resulted in cases being reopened, and, in other cases, the officials involved in the disciplinary process - that is those who were presiding - ended up being charged.
The national instruction on promotions, as it currently stands, does not address issues of discipline management sufficiently. As a result, this national instruction and the implementation thereof are being reviewed and, as part of the final audit report, weaknesses will be rectified. I thank you, Deputy Speaker.
Sekela likaSomlomo, Nyambose, ngiyabonga ngempendulo ethe xaxa. Esengicela ukukwazi ukuthi kuyokwenziwa njani ngalabo abanyuselwe izikhundla ngendlela engafanele? Ngabe bayokwehliswa ezikhundleni noma bayoxoshwa, noma-ke kuyoxoshwa labo ababanyusele ezikhundleni bengafanelekile? Yilokho nje kuphela esengifisa ukukwazi ngoba impendulo yakho isingisizile kakhulu. Ngiyathokoza.
UNGQONGQOSHE WAMAPHOYISA: Lungu elihloniphekile, lolu udaba oluyofakwelwa izibuko, lucutshungulwe ngoba kufanele sikhumbule ukuthi sizobe silungisa okonakele. Laba 'bantu abanyuselwe ezikhundleni abazinyusanga, kepha banyuswe yilo mqulu esiwulungisayo.
Okusho ukuthi ngenye indlela, ngeke sikwazi ukuthi uma umuntu esenyuselwe esikhundleni, kungeyena ozinyusile bese simehlisa. Ngoba unyuselwe esikhundleni nje kungexa yalo mqulu obavumelayo. Yiwo lo engithi awushitshwe, uhambisane nesimo ukuze abantu okufanele banyuselwe ezikhundleni banyuswe. Ngiyabonga. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Mr V B NDLOVU: Deputy Speaker, Nyambose, thank you for the detailed response. I would like to find out what is going to happen to those who were wrongly promoted. Will they be demoted or fired; or will those who wrongly promoted them be fired? That's all I would like to know since your response assisted me a lot. Thank you.
Hon member, this matter must be looked into and be scrutinised because we must remember that we are trying to fix what has gone wrong. Those people who were wrongly promoted did not promote themselves, but were promoted through this policy we are amending.
In other words, we cannot demote a person who has been promoted, simply because she or he did not promote herself or himself, but they were promoted because this policy allows for that. That is the policy I say must be amended; it must be relevant to the situation so that the right people are promoted. Thank you.]
Deputy Speaker, at my behest, the Public Protector is investigating irregular promotion practices in the SAPS, which became endemic under the suspended National Police Commissioner.
As we were told perfectly, clearly and categorically in our portfolio meeting, it was Bheki Cele, who personally signed off on the boost of retirement of pension packages to the value of R31,2 million - section 35s - for top SAPS members, some of whom are under criminal investigation. Considering that, until recently, the buck stopped with him, what consequences were there for Bheki Cele when he followed this practice, in light of the fact that the Minister's staff stated that, should those members be found guilty, there is no way to recover the money? If they are found guilty, will you take steps to get the money back and stop those pensions or are they also getting a free ride?
Hon Deputy Speaker, firstly, let us clarify this misconception from the hon member. The national instruction, which is going to be reviewed as I have instructed, was not passed by Gen Cele. It was passed in 2006. So, you must get your facts straight first so that you are informed before you comment. That will ensure that you don't just shoot from the hip.
Secondly, I don't know of any law which recovers the pension of a person who has gone on pension. Maybe you are going to assist with regard to that, if you have some legal clout in so far as that is concerned. [Interjections.] I have just warned you, member, you must be informed whenever you're asking a question. Don't just ask, because we are not going to take you seriously. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, pending the final outcome of the report, will the hon Minister consider taking action against managers who promoted people who do not qualify? If yes, how? If not, why not? [Applause.]
Thank you, hon Deputy Speaker. Definitely, it has to be looked into over and above the national instruction. However, the people who were managing the process also have to be scrutinised because the audit goes beyond those people who have been promoted up to those who, actually, promoted them. Thank you. [Applause.]
Particulars regarding effectiveness of SANDF in safeguarding borders
21. Ms P N Daniels (ANC) asked the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans:
Whether she made an assessment of the effectiveness of the SA National Defence Force in safeguarding the borders; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?