Hon Chairperson and hon Ndlovu, thank you for the question. I think we need to point out that many of the criminal matters that occurred since January 2013 may not have been finalised by the National Prosecuting Authority and the investigators as yet. Therefore, an accurate figure may not be possible at this stage. However, I can provide the hon member with the number of police officers who have been fired as a result of crimes they committed in the 2012-13 financial year. The number is 449 members.
Sihlalo, ngiyabonga mhlonishwa ngale mpendulo onginike yona. Lo mbuzo ubuqondene ikakhulukazi nalaba abazenza amaphoyisa bengewona. Laba bantu abathi noma sebexoshiwe emaphoyiseni bagcine umfaniswano wabo bese bezishaya amaphoyisa. Iloko engikade ngikufuna ikakhulukazi ngoba igama lamaphoyisa lonakala lapho; ukuthi bangaki-ke abantu abebekade bengamaphoyisa nabangamaphoyisa manje? Ngoba labo yibona bantu ngempela okufuneka kubhekwane nabo; yibo abephula umthetho okufanele kuqondanwe nabo.
Njengoba usushilo ukuthi ubungakaziqedi izibalo zonke. Uyabona yini ukuthi igama lamaphoyisa libulawa yilezi zigebengu na?
UNGQONGQOSHE WEZAMAPHOYISA: Yebo, lungu elihloniphekile ngiyabona impela. [Uhleko.] Ngivumelana nawe futhi lapho ngisho nakulo leli sonto kukhona ababoshiwe bebizwa nge-blue light brigade gang. Yilabo bantu ngivumelana kakhulu nawe. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Mr V B NDLOVU: Chairperson, thank you hon Minister for the response. This question was specifically directed to addressing the issue of those who pretend to be police officers. These people keep their uniform, even after they have been fired from the police force, and then pretend to be police officers. This is what I wanted to know, because that's how the name of the SAPS is being tarnished. I wanted to know the number of those who were police officers and the number of police officers who are currently employed. Those former police officers are the people we need to concentrate on and they are the ones who are breaking the law.
You have indicated that you have not yet finalised all the figures. Can you see that the name of the SAPS is being tarnished by these criminals?]
Yes, hon member, I'm truly aware of that. [Laughter.] I agree with you in that. Even during this week those who are called the blue light brigade gang were arrested. It's those people; I fully agree with you.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, the UDM is concerned that the ranks of our police officers are being infiltrated by criminals. The question now is this: Are any new measures available to screen new recruits to our police service?
Yes, hon member, we have been briefing the portfolio committee on issues relating to human resources, from recruitment to retirement. We were looking at the whole value chain, starting with some of the new suggestions that relate to recruitment. For a while now, having upright SAPS members has been a major sore and weak point. I thank you.
Motlotlegi Tona, ANC e amogela tshitsinyo ya gago ya gore o tlile go tlisa tshekatsheko; ka jalo, re a go tlotlomatsa mo maitekong ao a gago. Potso ke gore: Jaaka go na le molao wa sepodisi, a Tona o ikaelela go sekaseka molao ono gape; le go tlisa diphetogo mo molaong o? Ka go dira jalo, e tla bo e le go tswalela diphatlha fa e le gore di teng mo molaong ono. Ke a leboga. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)
[Mrs P A MOCUMI: Hon Minister, the ANC welcomes the initiative of introducing the audit; we applaud your attempt. The question is: Since we have the SAPS Act, does the Minister have any intention to review the current Act and to amend it? By doing that, it will close the gaps that might be in the current Act. Thank you.]
Hon Chair, I only heard the last part. I was looking for my earphones. I don't know which Act the member was referring to. Was the member referring to the SAPS Act?
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, the ANC welcomes the initiative of introducing the audit. Hon Minister, I am asking if you intend reviewing the existing SAPS Act in order to close any gaps that might be in the current Act.
Hon Chair, hon member, firstly, I thank you for your comment on the audit of the police force. We decided to do this audit because we thought it was necessary to know who these men and women in blue are and what their records are. We have done that and we will continue until the end to get to the bottom of that.
This and other issues - the ones that have been identified as "gaps" in the SAPS - are going to be looked into as we amend the Act, because these matters do relate to the Act. It is important that we take that view precisely because so much has happened between 1995, when the Act was promulgated, until now, both locally and internationally, as it relates to security matters.
Somlomo, Mphathiswa uNyambose, ndifuna ukubuza ukuba xa nirhwebesha amapolisa ingaba ikhona na indlela enizama ngayo ukunqanda ukuba abophuli mthetho bangangeni ngaphakathi? (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.) [Mr L S NGONYAMA: Hon Speaker, Minister Nyambose, I would like to ask whether there is any procedure that you follow when recruiting police officers to ensure that criminals do not worm their way into the system?]
Hon Chair, hon member, thank you. Indeed, as I said, this matter has been identified. It is one of the weaknesses in the system. What used to happen is that we used to have a recruitment officer in the province. As a result, this recruitment officer, or these individual officers, were the be all and end all as far as that process was concerned. That opened them up for all sorts of things. Since 2010, we have had the process of a committee in the province, rather than an individual. However, we also linked the process of recruitment to community structures.
We also briefed the committee recently, in January, when we called all the station commanders, the cluster commanders and the provincial commissioners. Another aspect of strengthening this was to publish the names of those people who apply to be police officers even before they go to the police training colleges. Anyone in the community who knows that this particular individual is not fit to be a police officer will then have the opportunity to raise an objection.
Hon Chair, I started asking questions about criminal police officers in 2007. The audit began in 2010. Even then this process was only half a job, because it ended at the end of 2009. It has been revealed that 568 of the 1 448 members of criminally convicted SAPS members were guilty of multiple and serious offences committed over the years, yet the audit was not continued into 2012.
We need to know what more you are hiding, Minister. How many more thousand SAPS members are convicted felons, working in the SAPS with a gun on their hips? Really, it is time for you to apologise because, internationally, this is seen almost as bad for South Africa as the Selebi saga. Our reputation is a laughing stock again. The fact that you have promoted most of these criminals in the SAPS right up to the top ranks is even more shameful. Apologise! [Time expired.] [Interjections.]
Order, hon members! Before the Minister replies, may I just request the hon members again to ensure that their phones are switched off. Someone's phone went off while the member was asking the question.
The audit we have conducted can never be said to be concluded. It will continue and it is continuing. May I say that on the list of people who have been identified, some appointments date back to 1973. We have people with 40 years' experience in the police who have been exposed by this audit as people who are not upright. The problem is that that hon member is a very unsatisfied human being, all the time. We can't help her; we just cannot help her! However, we will soldier on in ensuring that we clean up the police and get rid of those elements that are not supposed to be in the police.
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