Chair, hon Minister Mthethwa, hon Deputy Minister Sotyu, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Mrs Chikunga, Acting National Commissioner, Ntate Mkhwanazi, all the provincial commissioners here today, Director of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, Mr Beukman, and ladies and gentlemen, the financial year 2012-13 is a significant year for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate. It was officially launched in April 2012 as the IPID, giving life to the IPID Act, Act 1 of 2011.
In short, the Act provides for the independent investigation of specified crimes committed by members of the SAPS and metro police. In line with its changed mandate, the annual budget of IPID increased by 28,4%, or almost R40 million, in the 2012-13 financial year. This significant increase in the budget is to enable IPID to implement the new Act by boosting its personnel numbers. The budget increases from R153 million to R197,1 million. The budget is divided into three programmes: the first is Administration, with a budget of R92,9 million; the second is Investigation and Information Management, with R98,8 million; and the third is Legal Services, with R5,4 million.
One of the spending priorities for the directorate over the 2012-13 period is the filling of new positions in the staff complement. Almost 34 new posts have been created for the 2012-13 financial year and 26 of them fall under Programme 2: Investigation and Information Management. This is to appoint 17 investigators and nine provincial heads. Over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework the staff of the directorate will increase to 520.
Skills development to enable the investigators to deal with the redefined mandate of the IPID is a further cost driver in this financial year. All the investigators must attend training, where they will be taken through the Act. Training will focus on such topics as DNA, torture, forensic and ballistic evidence collection, medico-legal evidence, corruption, firearm training and report writing.
With the growth in numbers, the accommodation needs of the directorate will expand, especially in the provinces. Currently, in addition to its nine provincial offices, the directorate has six satellite offices throughout the country. It plans to open a further two during this financial year, one in George in the Western Cape and one in Tshwane in Gauteng.
We in the ANC are concerned that the satellite office in George was supposed to open during the 2011-12 financial year, but little progress seems to have been made to date. We would like to see better planning in this regard. The ANC is also not convinced that the decision to open a satellite office in Tshwane on the same premises as the national office is motivated by the right reasons. According to the ANC, the purpose of establishing satellite offices is to bring services closer to the people. One cannot but wonder whether this was not done rather to deal with a too big head office.
The ANC is still concerned about a number of issues relating to the effective functioning of the IPID. We are uncomfortable that the increase indicated in Programme 2, which deals with investigation, seems to be cosmetic, because 17 posts in that environment equals less than two new investigators per province. Furthermore, Programme 1, which deals with administration, still seems to be taking a big chunk of the budget of the directorate.
With the additional resources invested in the IPID and the increase in the number of its staff members, the ANC would expect to see a significant improvement in its investigative work. It cannot be acceptable that in a single report on a death in a police cell in the North West, the same investigator refers to three different objects used by the detainee to commit suicide - a tie, a rope and a belt. Investigation of such poor quality would not stand up in a court of law.
The ANC strongly believes that there should be a differentiation in indicators when dealing with investigation. It cannot be argued that there are no benchmarks for issues such as death in police custody. All the different categories that fall within the mandate of the directorate cannot be clustered together. This needs to be corrected. Hon Minister, the ANC is worried about the will and ability of the IPID to execute its redefined mandate. The case in Limpopo, when a police officer assaulted a youth and the cellphone video went viral, is a case in point. The case was first reported in the Sowetan in November 2011, and it was only after a public outcry in March 2012 that IPID actually got involved. It is of the utmost importance that the directorate deals with cases timeously and effectively. They are the architects of their own credibility, and failure or success will be determined by their own actions.
The ANC will monitor the implementation of the Act and the capacitating of the investigators, also in regard to numbers, with a keen eye. We will applaud success and highlight shortcomings, because it is in the interests of the people. Chair, I am still on time! [Interjections.] [Laughter.] Hon Minister, the ANC supports the budget of the IPID.