Hon Deputy Chair, the answer to the next question, asked by the hon member Mofokeng, is yes, I have been informed, and last week I spoke about this issue in the National Assembly. I also issued a press statement on the matter.
To reiterate what I said in the National Assembly, the only leased premises from which the SA Police Service, SAPS, was evicted was the Erasmia police station. The reason for this eviction was the fact that the landlord, who is not black economic empowerment, BEE, compliant, was dissatisfied with the lease term of two years offered to him, and not because of nonpayment. The SAPS has never been evicted from its other leased premises for failure to pay rental timeously.
However, we have had lockouts. This was due to nonpayment by the Department of Public Works. I stated last week that whilst we are all aware of the problems in the Department of Public Works, this cannot absolve the management of the SA Police Service of their responsibility to effectively manage lease deals. The SAPS have acknowledged that they have not always informed the Department of Public Works timeously of lease expiries, and this must be addressed.
Over the last two months, I have been engaging with the SAPS management about how they manage their infrastructure, and I have instructed them that effective management of such infrastructure must become one of their priorities for this year. I expect to see a marked difference in how the SAPS manages this infrastructure over the next year, and I have informed management that I will hold them accountable for this. That will include both leased property and the building of new facilities, like police stations and others. Thank you.
Details relating to comprehensive audit report of all premises leased by SAPS and/or on behalf of SAPS
26. Mr T M H Mofokeng (ANC) asked the Minister of Police:
Whether the SA Police Service has a comprehensive audit report of all premises leased (a) by the SAPS and/or (b) on behalf of the SAPS, including their terms and conditions; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO97E