Mr Chairperson, in passing this Bill we will not be creating a new entity, but rather re-establishing an existing one as a separate entity in terms of its own legislation, and not as a subsection in the South African Police Service Act.
In doing so, more credibility is given to the police secretariat, as a civilian oversight entity independent of the police. The Bill gives more clarity with regard to the objects and functions of the secretariat and extends its functions in several important respects.
It provides for the secretariat to have its own budget, and to provide for its establishment at national and provincial levels as an effective and efficient organ of state. It also provides for close co-operation between the secretariat and the soon-to-be Independent Police Investigative Directorate, or IPID, currently known as the Independent Complaints Directorate, ICD, as well as provincial secretariats and provincial police heads.
Importantly, this Bill also makes provision for the monitoring of police action and for ensuring that the SAPS puts in place effective systems for the reporting and resolution of complaints from the public.
Whilst this legislation is a step in the right direction, we need to keep in mind that the enactment of legislation alone is not going to suddenly create a body that is a well-oiled piece of machinery. No matter what the legislation says, if you do not have the right people in the right positions to give effect to this legislation, then it will mean nothing.
In this connection, one could be forgiven for not even knowing there was the Secretariat for Safety and Security until about a year ago when a new police secretariat was appointed. Until that point, the secretariat was probably one of the most dysfunctional bodies we had, frittering away money on izimbizo and activities of which we were largely unaware, as they did not file many reports either.
In my budget speech in 2009, I highlighted the fact that the department had a total staff of 37. Of these, four were directors, at a salary of R2,5 million per annum each. We had four deputy directors, at just under R1,4 million each; three assistant directors, at just under R700 000 each; and another five assistant directors, at just under R900 000 each. Thus, a total of 43% of the staff were directors. This veritable array of extremely well-paid directors managed to meet five out of their 19 performance targets for the previous financial year.
We are very pleased to see a huge improvement in the functioning of this department since then. If this continues, then this legislation will assist them in ensuring that they play the vital role of civilian oversight of the police, as envisaged in section 208 of the Constitution.
We have been concerned for a very long time that the recommendations of the ICD have not been enforced by the SAPS and that there was no legislation compelling them to do so. The recent Independent Police Investigative Directorate Bill that was approved by this House will change that and strengthen the ICD's powers. But their recommendations will be even further strengthened by this Bill, which provides for the secretary to receive reports from the executive director of IPID regarding recommendations they have made as a result of their investigations.
The secretariat must then monitor the implementation by the Police Service of the recommendations made by the directorate and provide the Minister with regular reports on steps taken to ensure their compliance. Thus, if the SAPS does not implement the IPID's recommendations, the Minister is accountable. This is a huge step forward in terms of police accountability, and we welcome it.
One of the other most significant changes in the functions of the secretariat is that it will now take over the responsibility of monitoring the police's compliance, or rather lack thereof, with the Domestic Violence Act. This was previously the responsibility of the ICD, which performed rather dismally in that regard.
The initial IPID Bill purported to repeal the whole of section 18 of the Domestic Violence Act, causing a justified outcry from NGOs working with victims of domestic violence. However, this has now been remedied, and it just provides for the secretariat to take over the responsibilities which were previously those of the ICD.
Once again, legislation can only be effective if the correct people are in place and also the necessary resources. I trust that the Secretary of Police realises the huge task that this is going to be. The report of the ICD in 2008 showed that approximately 65% of police stations fail to comply with the Domestic Violence Act. The DA registered our concerns at the time.
We had to reiterate those concerns in 2009, when a report from the Auditor- General documented chronic failure in terms of adequately reporting domestic violence incidents at police stations in eight of the nine provinces. The report even highlighted, in some instances, 75% failure rates in recording domestic violence incidents in occurrence books. This obviously affects the crime statistics and makes it difficult to gauge the true extent of the problem.
Our oversight visits in the last year have shown that, to this day, many police officers show scant regard for the Domestic Violence Act, and that they regard it as an inconvenience in their busy life of real policing. The fact that after 10 years of the Act being in force there is still a provision in the Domestic Violence Act allowing for police officers to apply for exemption from being charged with misconduct if they fail to comply with it, is a travesty of justice. The secretary has undertaken in our committee to review at the entire Act, and this clause in particular, and we will hold her to that.
Finally, Mr Speaker, I need to engage in a spot of self-indulgence, as this is the last time I will speak in this House as a member of the Portfolio Committee on Police.
As a new Member of Parliament, I can think of no nicer committee to have served on. From the start, we have worked together well and extremely hard, and in such a way that I have been inspired that there is hope for service delivery from the police in this country.
To all the members who have taught me so much so quickly, a very big thank you. But special thanks must go to the hon Chikunga, our chairperson. She is a slave-driver of note, but she works just as hard herself, if not harder. Her unfailing commitment to sorting out the Police Service is to be commended, as well as her very strong, yet very human nature.
Thank you for everything. It has been a privilege to serve on your committee. The DA will support this Bill. [Applause.]