Chairperson, my Minister, the Minister of Police ... [Interjections.] I'm no longer a chairperson. I want to behave. Please leave me alone. [Laughter.] Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Mme Sindi Chikunga, hon Members of Parliament, Acting National Commissioner of Police and your team, Executive Director of the newly established Independent Police Investigative Directorate, IPID, Mr Beukman, and your team, Chairperson of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, Mr Bopela, our distinguished guests, and all safety and security MECs from the provinces, I greet you, my colleagues. Ntate Komphela, from my own province, halala!
I rise first to pay tribute and respect to our comrades and colleagues in government who have passed on during these past two weeks. We say, "rest in peace" to Comrade Shiceka, Comrade Padayachie and Comrade Mama Flo Nyanda.
The core work of the Department of Police is aligned to the National Priority Outcome 3: "All people in South Africa are and feel safe." Having said that, we strongly believe that for the SAPS management to create a reduced crime environment in our society, our common goal - Outcome 3 - must be oriented to interdepartmental and intergovernmental integrated action.
I'm saying this because only yesterday I had a major meeting with the Acting National Commissioner of Police and a working group for former Nonstatutory Force members who had been integrated into the SAPS to address long outstanding issues regarding the former NSF members' integration, reranking, pension and more. This meeting was informed by the directive of our President, His Excellency Jacob Zuma, who is expecting us, as police leadership, to implement the national directives of the Military Veterans Act, Act 18 of 2011, the Government Employees Pension Law Amendment Act, and other formal agreements to remedy the disparities with regard to these members' benefits and privileges.
The Ministry of Police is cognisant of the fact that the successful realisation of these directives can only be achieved with the support of National Treasury. We will also be requesting the Ministry responsible for the South African National Defence Force for support by their sharing best practices with us, since the SANDF is already rolling out the same directive.
That is why, as the Ministry of Police, we believe that crime prevention and crime reduction work must also resonate especially with National Outcomes 2, 4, 9 and 12, which envision a long and healthy life for all South Africans; decent employment through inclusive economic growth; a responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government system; an efficient, effective and development-oriented public service; and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship respectively.
Undoubtedly, the success or failure of the Department of Police's mandate lies solely in the efficiency and effectiveness - or lack thereof - of the local police stations in our communities. The strengthening of the Cluster and Station Management Framework, which we are now embarking on in the department, is surely imperative to bolster the effective management and efficient functions of our police officers at the local police station level.
Admittedly, over the past few months the reputation and image of our Police Service have been that it is jittery and nervy. This image has been self- inflicted at times, but mostly it is based on allegations and an unfounded picture painted by sceptics. Thank you, chairperson, for highlighting it. Indeed, these "self-made" problems include those highlighted in the recent headlines in regard to 600 police officers, being arrested and 272 fired in Gauteng alone; the brutality or excessive use of force by our police officers; and the killing of loved ones by police officers. It's amazing that none of the opposition members who spoke here said anything about the killing of police and their own families. [Interjections.]
We can say without any doubt that the Ministry of Police will neither shudder nor shiver in acting decisively against any police officer or personnel member in the Department of Police found guilty of committing serious crimes, including corruption. In this regard, the Ministry of Police has put in place a comprehensive Anticorruption Implementation Plan.
In the same vein, the Ministry of Police acknowledges that maladministration and service failure at station level, and specifically at the national office level, do lead to a dysfunctional and disoriented workforce in general. Yes, we, the leadership, are not shy to say that the oversight reports by both the Secretariat of Police and the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police clearly and factually show that all is not well at some police stations across the country. Suffice it to say that, as the Ministry of Police, we are now showing and leading the way for the SAPS top management to be responsive to these glaring problems.
In support of the Minister of Police's constant visits to police stations across the country, I am also rolling out across all nine provinces what we call the Provincial Intervention Programme. The main goal of this programme is to hold in-depth engagements with our police officers, especially low- ranked personnel, on issues such as their health and wellness, at their places of work and at their residences. The engine of any organisation is its workforce, and the functioning of that engine is solely dependent on how well it is looked after. We are the first to complain about things like police brutality, sick leave and so on, but we don't go deeper and interview the police to find out what the problems are. That is what the Deputy Minister did after getting the report from you, chairperson. The report of those engagements will be given to you as the chairperson of the committee, and not to any other member.
So far, the problems we have identified through this engagement with police officers mostly have to do with commanders or managers upholding or not upholding the basic principles and values of good administration. Also, for example, we have discovered that most police officers who are vulnerable to being killed using public transport to report for duty, or who commit suicide or kill their loved ones, tend to be individuals of lower rank and salary, who cohabit because they do not have houses of their own.
It is precisely during these volatile times that we need strong leadership from provincial commissioners to address these problems. We need all nine provincial commissioners to actively encourage and support station commanders in managing their police stations fearlessly, fairly and with focus, by treating their troopers impartially, with respect and courtesy, and without bias, discrimination or prejudice. For that we need proactive station commanders who will detect what works and what does not work any longer for the proper running of their police stations.
That is why the Station Management Learning Programme is now being introduced, to provide the basic knowledge and skills required by a station commander across the priority fields of police station management, such as personnel management and human resource management and utilisation. Such trained station commanders will, in turn, make sure that their troopers also benefit from refresher courses, or refresher training and reskilling courses, in order to reinforce command and control, discipline, tactical skills and operational knowledge, as well as basic management principles.
Yes, chairperson Chikunga, we agree with you. The national office divisional commissioners must support the station commanders in these endeavours. Divisional commissioners must minimise bureaucracy and must begin to be visible at police stations. They must stop being office-bound and being submission signers; they must go down to the provinces. This is what the Ministry of Police believes. [Applause.]
Divisional commissioners are encouraged not to be hindered by reporting burdens and by being target-oriented, but must be more visible and available at cluster and station level to intervene in issues of station management and operation, as you highlighted in your report after your provincial visits. Tackling problems of management, service delivery and accountability will not be solely dictated by the size of the budget provided to the SAPS. Yes, R62,4 billion is the total budget for the financial year 2012-13 for the Department of Police and one of the biggest among the national departments. But this big budget becomes futile if the SAPS top management is not able to honour the implementation plan to spend this allocated money appropriately.
It must be about a strong belief in the vision and principle of this government to better the livelihoods of our people. It must be about a decisive focus on the working organisational culture of the Department of Police and its top management, and about the precise approach to fighting and preventing crime as set out by the authority of the department.
The national call by His Excellency, Jacob Zuma, in the state of the nation address in 2012, in which the President invited the nation to join government in massive infrastructure development for job creation and poverty alleviation, must surely resonate with our Goal 3 as well, albeit indirectly. Through the capital infrastructure and capital management programme, SAPS will be improving its working relationship with the Department of Public Works during the building and revamping of police stations across the country, as alluded to by the Minister.
Indeed, we believe that if departments and communities are not working hand in hand with the police, the police won't be able to fight crime effectively. In order for us to fight crime effectively, we need that partnership between communities and the department at large to assist the police so that we can have safer communities.