Chairperson, the DA appreciates the work done and effort made by the government to support constitutionally independent structures such as the Independent Complaints Directorate.
The ICD plays a very important role in protecting the constitutional rights of all citizens, including prisoners and civilians, against abuse of power and police brutality. This is in line with the DA's open-opportunity society for all in which all citizens have the right to be secure, to be protected and to feel safe.
ICD e ?irelet?a ditokelo t?a bahloki. E ?irelet?a set?haba kgahlanong le maphodisa ao a gatakago ditokelo t?a batho. [The ICD protects the rights of the poor. It protects the public against the police officers who violate people's rights.]
We welcome the budget of R151,6 million allocated to the ICD. The budget increased from R80,9 million in 2008-09 to R131,4 million in 2010-11 - an average of 17% - to cater for increased activities over the years and for the formulation of the new Independent Police Investigative Directorate Bill in terms of enhanced capacity in support services and expanded office accommodation.
The current budget of R151,6 million will grow to R160,98 million in 2012- 13, and to R170,36 million in 2013-14. It is noted that the percentage increase to the budgetary baseline per programme shows that Programme 2, the investigations component, will experience the smallest increase compared to the other programmes. It will be 2% in 2012-13, and 6% in 2013- 14. The slight increase does not seem to reflect the shift in the budget focus expected from the shift in the strategic priorities in terms of the new legislation.
It was stated previously in the performance indicators contained in the Estimates of Expenditure, taken from the ICD in the 2010 to 2013 strategic plan, that the target remained quite static apart from minor changes of 5% in certain programmes. It is noted that the legal service subprogramme targets were not listed in the indicators.
The DA is concerned that despite budget increases, no provision has been made in the 2011-12 budget for the implementation of the new Independent Police Investigative Directorate Bill. The Bill is crucial in extending the ICD's mandate to focus on more serious and priority crimes committed by SA Police Service members, to improve management structures of the directorate, to improve reporting and accountability practices in the directorate, to establish a formal liaison capacity between the ICD and the secretariat, and to enforce compliance by the SA Police Service of recommendations made in respect of Police Service members.
The DA is concerned that the shortage of staff in the ICD compromises its mandate to investigate criminal offences and improper behaviour committed by the Police Service. The ICD had a total staff component of 292 funded posts as at 30 September 2010.
According to the Estimate of Expenditure, the number of funded posts increased to 311 over the medium term owing to the strengthening of financial management. The Estimate of Expenditure notes that the data provided by the department may not correspond with the official government personnel data. It is stated that there are 23 vacancies, most of which fall under Programme 3 on information management and research.
The DA noted with dismay that the overall spending trend has revealed underexpenditure. This is owing to the relocation of the national office which is spread across three programmes. The DA is concerned that in the light of the need to focus resources on key services which fall primarily under Programme 1, administration receives the highest percentage increase in the ICD budget for 2011-12. Cause for concern are the 2 656 cases carried over from the previous financial year, with no measurable targets and clear timeframes for these cases, and backlogs with the strategic and annual performance plans.
The National Treasury advised the ICD to focus expenditure on services rather than administrative support, which is in line with the government directive. The DA agrees that the legal services subprogramme should be a fully fledged programme on its own and that the appropriation for 2010-11 of R1,9 million increase in 2011-12. This will have an increased impact on legal services. We need a dedicated legal services programme to provide legal opinions to investigators, to improve service delivery and to speed up investigations.
The use of consultants when a function can be done in-house indicates a misuse of funds. The ICD's budget is too small to cover the Independent Police Investigative Directorate's investigative work. The number of members of the Police Service is thousands of times more than that of the ICD. How on earth is it possible for the ICD to do its work efficiently and effectively? And why has this independent unit suddenly given in, for the first time, to political pressure with the hiring of the Minister of State Security's younger daughter - an inexperienced relative as CFO, rather than a director of the National Treasury? What were you thinking?
The DA welcomes the move of the Civilian Secretariat for Police to a new structure which is independent from the Police department. The Civilian Secretariat for Police will work with civilians and the Minister of Police. It will provide efficient and effective civilian oversight over the SAPS and enhance the role of the Minister of Police. It will transform and make the Police Service accountable and reflect the values of our Constitution. The move to a designated department will require a significant increase in the budget of the reorganised secretariat. The personnel budget will increase from R14 million to R27 million in 2011-12, and to R37 million in 2012-13. Therefore the total budget of the Civilian Secretariat for Police will increase from R25,2 million to R41,5 million. Currently, the secretariat is facing serious challenges such as a lack of human resource capacity which impacts negatively on the secretariat's ability to function effectively.
The DA welcomes promising reports from the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority's new council. The PSIRA council's turnaround strategy seems to address problems faced by the organisation. The new turnaround strategy has reduced burdens, debt and fraud in the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority. It addresses the issues of corruption and maladministration.
The DA would want to see the new council concentrating on correcting thorny issues pointed out by the Director-General in terms of adhering to legislation and other requirements. We applaud the PSIRA's new council for working tirelessly in rooting out corruption. We welcome the arrests of PSIRA staff members who were involved in corruption, fraud and theft; the dismissals and suspensions of other staff members; the new measures brought in to recover debt; the deregistration of dormant service providers, illegal operators and firearms in the industry; and the vetting of applicant service providers in terms of criminal records.
The PSIRA council and management have set a target of R1 million per month which will be monitored with a view to increasing their performance so as to stabilise the liquidity of the PSIRA. The council is on the move to overhaul the PSIRA. The DA would like to see the PSIRA strategic plan of 2012 to 2014 in order to be able to measure and do oversight based on the plan. Thank you very much. [Applause.]