Chair, to those who are looking for a catfight, I'd like to say that it's not going to happen today!
Hon Ministers and members, there can be no doubt in the minds of any of us that we need to use whatever technological advantages and developments that science brings to us in the fight against crime.
Law enforcement agencies should beat the technological advances that criminals are using in the commission of their crimes. That means that the criminal justice system should be on top of scientific developments in the field of forensics, whatever the crime. Technology changes the way crimes are committed and, as a result, should change the way in which crime is combated.
Today, in this House, as we debate a Bill that would give the SAPS access to the databases of other government departments that store fingerprints, scientific developments are already talking about "bacterial fingerprinting" and "brain fingerprinting" crime as the next advances in forensic science's contribution to the fight against crime.
A crime can occur anywhere, at any time, night or day. It can happen in a place and at a time where there are no witnesses present. Sometimes, the only witnesses present are the clues that are left behind at the scene.
It is the crime scene investigator who collects these clues, which are sometimes things that cannot be seen with the naked eye. It is forensic science that converts these clues into evidence that allows the detective to track the perpetrator, and it is the prosecutors that will use this evidence in the courts of law to ensure that criminals are taken off our streets and that our communities become safer places.
Chair, the Bill is a further step in the ANC's resolution and commitment to the people of the country to create an environment in which people are, and indeed feel, safe. As indicated by others in the debate, this Bill gives the SAPS access to run comparative searches against the databases of the Departments of Home Affairs, Transport and Correctional Services.
This will immediately improve the possibility of the police identifying a suspect if they can retrieve fingerprints from the scene of a crime. This brings us to one of the first requirements for the successful implementation of the legislation: In order for the legislation to make an impact on apprehending and convicting perpetrators of crime, the SAPS will have to ensure that our crime scene investigators are properly trained and that those who are the first on the scene understand and know fully how to preserve a crime scene. Without these supportive actions, the Bill becomes paper filled with good intentions.
I will be dealing with the storage of prints; the comparative searches against other databases; the national instructions relating to the collection, storage, maintenance, administration and use of prints and photographic images; as well as the security measures on the integrity of information on the database.
Clause 15 of the Bill obliges the national commissioner to ensure that any fingerprints, body prints or photographic images are stored, maintained, administered and are readily available, whether in electronic or other form. This clause of the Bill prescribes that the fingerprint database must be located within the division of the service that is responsible for criminal records. It is important that our fingerprint laboratories have proper protocols and effective and efficient training programmes in place, which would put the work conducted in them, above any dispute.
The Bill also gives effect to the Sex Offenders Register. Clause 15(2) directs the national commissioner, or his delegate, to ensure that the fingerprints and photographic images of perpetrators whose names must be included in the National Register for Sex Offenders, are taken and dealt with according to the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, Act 32 of 2007. This clause will thus ensure that the Sex Offenders Register is populated.
The clause further makes it a crime for any person to use or allow the use of fingerprints, body prints or photographic images for anything other than the detection of a crime, investigation of an offence, the identification of missing persons, the identification of unidentified human remains or the conducting of a prosecution. Any person who is found to be tampering with or manipulating the process, or falsely claiming that prints are from one person while knowing they are not, will be guilty of an offence and can be imprisoned for a period not exceeding 15 years.
The Bill, under clause 15(b), gives the SAPS the right to run a comparative search - and I think the fact that it is a comparative search is an important point - against the database of the Departments of Home Affairs or Transport, or any other department within the national sphere of government. So should other departments have databases, those are covered as well.
This simply means that, while the SAPS can currently compare a fingerprint found at a crime scene only with those on their own database, the Bill now allows them to run the print against other existing databases, thereby increasing the chances of identifying the person.
These comparative searches can only be done for the purpose of a crime investigation, for the identification of a missing person or for the identification of unidentified human remains. Doing so for any other reason, or manipulating or tampering with the fingerprint, is declared an offence punishable by imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 years.
The committee felt that a strong message must go out that the abuse of these prints will not be tolerated and that the integrity of fingerprints as evidence must be protected. We believe that this message is clearly conveyed through the harsh sentences proposed.
The commissioner, in consultation with the Minister, must within six months after the commencement of the Act, issue national instructions. The instructions can address all aspects that are necessary for the implementation of the Act, but must include the following: How to deal with the collection of prints and photographic images; instructions that deal with the storage, maintenance and the administration thereof; how the information collected must be handled; and the manner in which all statistics in this division must be kept concerning all information collected, stored and analysed, including the recording and storage of all exhibits collected from a crime scene.
Furthermore, the national commissioner must develop training courses on the national instructions and ensure that adequate training takes place within the police.
Chair, this is of the utmost importance. We need to establish a uniform way to deal with these prints at every one of our stations. A minimum operational standard needs to exist in order to ensure that evidence used in our courts cannot be challenged or rejected because of the way it was collected, stored or analysed. We want to make sure that this Bill improves our crime-fighting capability by convicting the guilty and ensuring that the innocent remain exactly that.
The integrity of the information on the database is paramount. In clause 15(d), the Bill provides for the necessary measures that must be taken on a technical and organisational level to ensure the protection of the integrity of the database. This will ensure the prevention of the loss, damage or unauthorised destruction of the information on the database. It also ensures that only authorised access to the database takes place and that data are used only for the legitimate purposes set out in the legislation.
It further places a responsibility on the national commissioner or his delegate to ensure that they identify all reasonable internal and external risks to the information on the database. Appropriate safeguards must be put in place against those risks identified, and they must regularly ensure that those safeguards are effectively implemented and updated in response to new risks identified or deficiencies identified in safeguards already implemented.
Due regard must be given to the general information security practises and procedures of the department. The importance of this aspect cannot be overemphasised. Backlogs and systems that are down create a serious threat to the integrity and efficiency of this tool in the fight against crime. This means that everything humanly and technically possible must be done in order to limit and eliminate such problems. It would be good, in preparation for the full implementation of the Act, to do a process analysis and determine where processes can be improved. Downtime, for instance, can be limited by ensuring that automatically scheduled updates and backups of the system take place. This can be done after hours, over weekends, without human intervention and, though the system might be slower at the time, it will prevent downtime or system crashes. We can ill afford that to happen.
The last part of the Bill deals with the standing operating procedures that must be agreed upon between the SAPS, the Departments of Home Affairs, Correctional Services and the national Department of Transport. The Bill instructs the directors-general of these departments, under the chairpersonship of the national commissioner, to agree on the standing operating procedures within six months after the commencement of the Act. The standing operating procedures should address access by the SAPS to these departments' databases for the purpose of comparative searches and the implementation of safety measures to protect the integrity of the information contained on the relevant databases.
Again, this is of the utmost importance since information on the databases of the other departments includes information of innocent people and information on individuals not relevant to the purpose of this Bill. This, hon Groenewald, is why they cannot have free access to other departments' databases. If you had bothered to attend the meeting you would have known that. That is why it is not relevant for the purpose of this Bill. They don't need free access to those databases. SAPS's interaction with these databases should be limited to establishing a hit and identifying the person the prints represent. Any further access would be unnecessary and unlawful.
This Bill - which is supported by the ANC - is a further step, as promised in our 2009 Manifesto, toward establishing a modern, efficient and transformed criminal justice system. It further gives life to our contract that we will increase the capacity of the detective services and forensics. It illustrates the ANC government's commitment to fighting crime with everything available to it.
While I have a few minutes left, just allow me to deal with a few issues. Mr Ramatlakane shouted a lot. That's what happens when you've got too much time and you have only prepared for and are used to two minutes. Now, suddenly, you have more. Mr Ramatlakane said that they will not support the "shoot to kill" policy. There is no such policy, so I am actually glad to hear that. Unlike Cope, the ANC also does not have a policy that says, "Bash a head to lead". [Laughter.]
I would like to say to the UDM: If you had actually read the Bill, you would have seen that there are checks and balances in it to address exactly the concerns that you have raised. It is incredible how people cannot attend one single meeting on a Bill that has been in process for more that two years, and then stand up here in this House and try to make a speech as if they are the people who actually know what is in the Bill!
Agb Groenewald, as jy, soos die res van ons, so bekommerd oor misdaad in hierdie land is - wat ek glo jy is - wil ek jou graag uitnooi om die daad by die woord te voeg, en om 'n slag of wat die komitee te kom bywoon, en om daar te probeer om 'n verskil te maak. Dit sal waardeer word. Dankie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Hon Groenewald, if you, like the rest of us, are so concerned about crime in this country - which I believe you are - I would like to invite you to suit the action to the word, and to attend the committee on some occasions and try to make a difference there. It will be appreciated. Thank you.]