South Africa

Parliament

SAPS annual report: Missed targets, few resources — and how the unaccountable NatJoints makes policing decisions

SAPS annual report: Missed targets, few resources — and how the unaccountable NatJoints makes policing decisions
National police commissioner General Khehla Sitole. (Photo: Gallo Images / City Press / Leon Sadiki)

The SAPS received a qualified audit for the 2019/20 financial year, according to its annual report tabled in Parliament. The 453-page document is a curious mix of touting large numbers such as having searched 6,289,939 cars, while admitting to missing crime prevention and detection targets.

Print deadlines are always tricky — the SAPS 2019/20 annual report section “Organisational structure as at 31 March 2020” features the photo of sacked deputy national commissioner Lieutenant-General Bonang Mgwenya. 

After appearing in court on 12 October 2020 on fraud, corruption and money laundering charges brought by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Investigating Directorate, Mgwenya was suspended on 15 October and summarily dismissed on 12 November.

Other October 2020 data made it into the annual report, like 3,000 police reservists starting their SAPS training during October 2020. More pertinently, the annual report does not seem to outline in any meaningful detail wrongdoers in its ranks, including top officers.

A parliamentary reply provides more details. For example, the case of ex- SAPS technology management service head Lieutenant-General Adeline Shezi, who came under scrutiny as far back as April 2018.

“Lt General Shezi was found guilty of misconduct and was sanctioned to a one-month suspension,” said parliamentary reply 724 by Police Minister Bheki Cele.

“IPID (police watchdog, Independent Police Investigative Directorate) wrote a letter to SAPS, challenging the sanction and SAPS responded that they are taking the matter on review. Following the review of the case against Lieutenant-General Shezi, the matter was finalised and she was dismissed from the service on 14 October 2020.”

This was after a docket had already been submitted to the NPA Investigating Directorate on 1 July 2019.

“Lt General Shezi, her sister and nephew were arrested and have been released on bail of R1,000 each. The case was remanded to 27 March 2020 for the defence attorney to be appointed,” Cele said in the parliamentary reply from which it is clear the case has been proceeding, as recently as 14 November in the Pretoria High Court.

Several, albeit not all, of the 10 senior officers’ names listed in the parliamentary report would fall within the 2019/20 financial year that ended on 31 March 2020. But the SAPS annual report does not address any specifics, certainly not about its senior officers, of which it simply says:

“Two SMS (senior management service) employees received corrective counselling. The taking of disciplinary action against the remaining 23 SMS employees was deemed to be inappropriate by relevant line managers.”

It takes a close reading of the border security section to realise police officers were among the 1,076 arrests made between April 2019 and end March 2020.

“A total number of 13 people were arrested for corruption at ports of entry, inclusive of two SAPS members, nine immigration officials and two Swissport employees.”

Instead, the annual report indicates 1,682 disciplinary hearings during the 2019/20 financial year leading to 603 acquittals, 243 case withdrawals and guilty verdicts that resulted in various sanctions, including 266 final written warnings and 173 dismissals. Separately, it provides lists of what officers are charged with. 

But the SAPS is doing its bit to improve perceptions of corruption, which are described as “a serious national security threat that undermines the authority of the State” and South Africa’s economic development.

“To ensure improvement in the corruption perception, the Department achieved a conviction rate of 100% for serious fraud and corruption in the public sector and 98.15% in the private sector, against a set target of 70% and 97%, respectively, in 2019/2020.”

The NPA is on public record wanting to revise the justice crime prevention and safety cluster indicators like convictions, or trial-ready dockets. Every year indicators seem at odds. For example, the NPA 2019/20 annual report states the SAPS submitted 83,004 fewer dockets for a prosecution decision, or 883,470 dockets in the 2019/20 financial year compared with 966,474 the previous year. 

The SAPS 2019/20 annual report talks of a 0.03% increase to 95.63% trial-ready docket rate. But it’s broken down across crimes such as serious crime (363,899), contact crime (227,374), crimes against women (64,708), crimes against children (31,192), property crimes (44,900). And then this trial-ready docket category is further broken down into crimes from the 30 top crime-heavy police stations in South Africa.

Go figure!

The SAPS admits missing performance targets, including crime detection and prevention and priority crime. But more often than not this was due to socio-economic issues, according to the 2019/20 annual report, rather than not having guidelines on how to police informal settlements and shacklands where millions of South Africans live.

“The increase in serious and violent crimes is due to social ills and other related factors, such as substance abuse (liquor and drugs),” is one explanation, as is this:

“There are (sic) an increase in new developments and a mushrooming of informal settlements. These developments are outgrowing police capacity to police all the areas.”

Already at the heart of the Covid-19 lockdown – now on Day 239 – NatJoints, which is not a programme, division or unit of the SAPS, seems to increasingly make policing decisions. On the increase of roadblocks to 32,769 between April 2019 and end March 2020, the annual report credits “the adherence to directives, issued by the NatJoints, to all provinces”.

Or on why crime prevention targets were missed:

“Most of these crimes are committed indoors between people who know each other, making it difficult to police. Liquor and substance abuse and environmental design play a key role in the commission of these…”

The commentary on not quite making the set detection targets includes: 

“The late reporting of cases by victims (lack of forensic evidence to link suspects to the crime). Alcohol-related cases result in poor to no recollection of incidents, including crime scenes… Inability of complainants to identify suspects (for example, due to intoxication, mental incapacity, disguised suspects).

“Long outstanding Toxicology Reports (between one and 10 years). Difficulty in tracing and arrest of unidentified and undocumented repeat offenders (forensic leads and linkages).”

And policing is not made easier by Budget cuts. While increased police visibility was key to policing, the annual report says this “will not necessarily be achieved through dramatic increases in the actual number of police officers” as there’s no money for that. 

“Police officers must be more visible in areas where the public feel vulnerable and should respond to calls for assistance by the public, particularly in instances where life and limb are at risk.”

Traditionally, the SAPS annual report is tabled with the crime statistics. But not in 2020, when the 2019/20 crime numbers were tabled in Parliament more than two weeks before the annual report. This relates to the implementation of a Cabinet decision to release quarterly crime statistics. It remains to be seen how this will be unified so that ultimately meaningful comparisons and longer-term trend analyses are possible.

The SAPS annual report is full of interesting numbers, such as the 672 firearms police officers lost due to their negligence and “escalation of crimes against members”. Or the 12,244 incidents of “public disorder” the police managed, even as all but 3,636 were peaceful. And the 5,736,264 shopping malls visited.

Old-order language such as talking about “the authority of the state” before the constitutional imperative of safety and security of people must be a concern. 

But even more so must be that policing decision-making and accountability is being blurred by the NatJoints, or National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure which brings together police, soldiers and spooks in a structure that is not established in law or regulation and does not account publicly. 

Already at the heart of the Covid-19 lockdown – now on Day 239 – NatJoints, which is not a programme, division or unit of the SAPS, seems to increasingly make policing decisions. On the increase of roadblocks to 32,769 between April 2019 and end March 2020, the annual report credits “the adherence to directives, issued by the NatJoints, to all provinces”.

Aside from NatJoints’ involvement in protecting pension and grant payment points, the annual report says that through a series of so-called priority committees, NatJoints stabilises “the policing of community protest actions in most areas around the country, CIT (cash in transit) robberies, taxi violence, political killings and gang violence” that had impacted negatively on police stations.

But if anyone wanted to hold NatJoints to account, it would prove difficult. The SAPS annual report reflects no details; not where it operates from, who is in charge and how the NatJoints secretariat is funded.

That’s something for lawmakers to consider. DM

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