The Minister for Safety and Security, Mr Charles Nqakula will officially open a workshop hosted by the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) on 06 – 07 February 2006, in the Burger Park Hotel, Pretoria.

The purpose of the aforementioned workshop is to establish a cordial relationship between the Police, the ICD and Civil Society: Problems and Prospects.

The workshop aims to give special attention to ways in which working relations between various stakeholders within the criminal justice sector (ICD, SAPS and MPS) can be enhanced, to provide an opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the working relationship between the police, ICD and civil society, to identify possible overlaps in terms of the mandate of the ICD and the Secretariat, to identify how the role of the ICD is perceived by civil society and the police, highlight the importance of strengthening police oversight and accountability and finally to explore a basis for future co-operative work among stakeholders.

Panelists will consist of representatives from amongst others the South African Police Service (SAPS), Institute for Criminology University of Cape Town, Open Society Foundation (OSF), Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). The other participants include the National and Provincial Secretariats for Safety and Security, Municipal Police Services, SAPS Provincial Commissioner’s Offices, Police Unions and NGO’s.

The following papers will be delivered at the workshop: