Chairperson and hon members, given the many challenges facing the department, a strategic, level-headed approach is certainly needed, especially from the executive head. The fight against crime requires not only political commitment, but strategic approaches and the ability to identify strategic partners.
The goal of combating crime can never be achieved unless and until the police realise that their primary partners in this fight are society, the community and the ordinary citizens. They must know that we all want the same thing: to be safe on the streets and in our homes. Even those who act in a way that makes our streets unsafe for us want to be safe in their own.
One good element of our Constitution is that, in addition to the Bill of Rights, it makes provision for checks and balances. The Independent Complaints Directorate serves to keep the police in line, as does the Civilian Secretariat for Police.
Police brutality in handling citizens serves no good. In fact, it aggravates the situation and crime itself, because whenever police members use unwarranted force against civilians, they are committing crime, which they are mandated to combat.
It is an absolute shame that civil cases emanating from police brutality have pushed the contingent liability to R7,5 billion in the past financial year. The ICD's 2011 annual report shows that our police are more violent than they have been in the past 10 years. Of course, this is a notable departure from the spirit of the Constitution, which envisaged a police "service" - nowadays we have a police "force".
It is high time that selection to join the police is done meticulously, ensuring that these men and women know that fighting crime does not require only brawn, but brains too. The taxpayer's money goes down the drain when courts file cases against the Minister for acts of brutality and foolishness by some police officers, such as incarcerating a bleeding, drunk suspect who subsequently dies in the holding cells.
We applaud the fact that current plans reflect a focus on building more police stations, improving detective services, strengthening forensic capacity and improving overall skills and working conditions. However, the challenge of strengthening police management capacity and internal accountability will always remain. If this is achieved, South Africans can look forward to a better policing system in the future.
The wrangling among the heads of the police in recent weeks has been cause for great concern. We hope that they will heed the warning from Cabinet and desist from such counterproductive conduct. The UCDP supports the Budget Vote. [Applause.]