CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) began its fourth year of operation on 1 April 2000 with a renewed commitment to the transformation of the South African Police Service (SAPS). It is the statutory obligation of the ICD to ensure that public complaints against members of the SAPS are investigated in an efficient and effective manner.

Although the ICD is statutorily required to investigate incidents of death in police custody or as a result of police action, it also has a discretion to investigate any other allegation of police criminality or misconduct. However, the current resource constraints have compelled the ICD to reprioritize its investigations and to concentrate mainly on police-related deaths.

This is not the ideal situation because it will make the ICD a reactive rather than a proactive body which will ultimately have very little impact on the transformation of the SAPS.

The ICD has therefore taken a decision to scale down its operations even further by reprioritising its investigations so that only priority cases are actively investigated by its 45 field investigators. This figure becomes ridiculous when one considers that the 45 investigators are supposed to investigate approximately 128 000 members of the SAPS.

We have however continued to pursue other cost-cutting alternatives to ensure that our budget allocation is put to optimum use.

It will be noted from the enclosed statistics that there has been a notable increase in the number of complaints received by the ICD, 2874 complaints were received during the 1998/1999 financial year compared to 4380 complaints in 1999/2000, representing a 52% increase. Some complaints are still being processed and some have resulted in either criminal prosecutions or internal disciplinary proceedings against the relevant police officers.

As a result of the increased workload, and the subsequent realisation that the ICD cannot adequately deal with all these cases, an alternative way of dealing with some of the complaints has been to refer them to the SAPS for investigation while the ICD continues to monitor the outcome of such cases. However, it is evident that the ICD’s monitoring capacity will soon be saturated due to this increased workload.

It should further be noted that a structure of 535 posts was approved after a thorough workstudy by the Department of Public Service and Administration, but only 153 positions are currently funded. At the same time no real increase in the budget has been provided in the MTEF allocation for the next three years.

The measures taken by the ICD, including concentration on the monitoring function, are designed to accommodate as wide a spectrum of ICD activities as possible within the current low level of the budget.

In view of the fact that the ICD does not have the funds to expand its personnel complement, it has resorted to a policy of restructuring its components so as to multi-skill personnel. This has meant holding people against administrative positions while they are actually performing line function responsibilities.

The strategy has worked tremendously well to alleviate some problems of the Department but this has also attracted criticism for the ICD, since, when one looks at the establishment at face value, it appears to be heavily laden with support personnel when in fact the majority of these administrative posts are occupied by people who are performing line functions.

The introduction of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) brought about a paradigm shift in the way that public sector finances are managed. Transformation in the financial management of Government was indeed necessary and the ICD is fully supportive of it.

The appointment of a Chief Financial Officer and the establishment of an Audit Component will enhance proper financial management.

The ICD has aligned its mission to the policy priorities of Government. The President highlighted as one of the key medium-term policy and development priorities as "strengthening and modernising the integrated justice system". The ICD has a key role to play in this system because if it can assist the SAPS to eliminate the corrupt element and lawlessness within its own ranks, more of the scarce resources can be directed into fighting crime in this country.

CHAPTER 2 - CORE BUSINESS OF THE ICD

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The core business of the ICD consists of three areas of specialisation, which are being catered for by three components.

2.2 COMPLAINTS REGISTRY

Classification of Co

Statistical Information

During the period 1 April 2000 to 31 July 2000, 1166 new complaints and reports of police-related deaths were received by the ICD. This number is fractionally lower than the corresponding figure for the same period last year. However, it still represents a heavy workload for the ICD and for this decrease to have any substantial impact on our workload, it will have to be sustained over the entire financial year, which in the circumstances, seems very unlikely.

During the same period, a total of 833 cases were finalised, which constitutes 71.4% of the case-intake (see Annexure A).

However, this figure also includes cases which had been carried over from the previous financial year.

Capacity and Strategic Objectives

We are still suffering from lack of capacity, and this negatively affects our ability to deliver on the service standards and the strategic objectives that we have set for ourselves.

We do realise, however, that the Government’s resources are far outmatched by its responsibilities and that we have, therefore, to continually seek new ways of cutting costs and expenditure.

As stated in our previous briefing to this committee, we have already had to revisit our priorities and identified certain areas, which, in our view, are of critical importance in the transformation of the SAPS. While we will continue to revise our priorities in terms of how we deal with complaints, there is a point beyond which this process cannot be taken further as this has to be done within the confines of our mandate in the South African Police Services Act.

Mediation

In a previous report, we highlighted the difficulties that were experienced with regard to the implementation of the mediation policy. While it now seems likely that we will be able to persuade the police to accept the mediation policy and we are in fact mediating quite a sizeable number of minor complaints, very few members of our personnel have had formal training in mediation. We need to improve our capacity to undertake mediation on a large scale by training our staff.

We have, since our last briefing to this Committee, forged partnerships with other institutions and NGO’s and some of these bodies are willing to assist the ICD by, for example, serving as in-take offices for complaints. This will considerably reduce the costs that have to be incurred in an attempt to reach out to the remotest and most rural parts of our country. An agreement has been reached with one of the para-legal institutions in terms of which it will perform certain functions on behalf of the ICD for a fixed remuneration. An agency agreement has been drafted, but will have to be ratified by the State Attorney before any further action is taken.

2.3 INVESTIGATIONS

Capacity to Fulfil Mandate and Maintain High Standard of Service Delivery

• he ICD has 45 investigators on its establishment nationally;
• The ICD is currently actively investigating approximately 1200 cases, and has taken overapproximately 350 case dockets from the SAPS for full investigation. This means that the current caseload per investigator is in the region of about 40 cases. This figure is however, misleading, as a number of our newly established and smaller provincial offices have no monitoring capacity and the investigators therefore fulfil this function. This has led to the situation where some investigators are dealing with up to 200 case dockets each, either in an investigative or monitoring capacity;
• Added to this lack of human resources, is an equal lack of other resources, financial and material, making it increasingly difficult for the investigative component to conduct their operations efficiently and effectively;
• During the past financial year, priority was given to the investigation of police-related deaths, and a major part of the budget allocated for investigation was utilised in the investigation of these cases.

Re-Prioritisation of Strategic Objectives for the Forthcoming Financial Year

As a result of the lack of key strategic resources (mainly personnel), and an effective nett decrease in our operational budget for the forthcoming year, it has been necessary for the ICD to re-examine and re-prioritise its strategic objectives, with respect to inter alia, investigative priorities, in order to streamline operations and maximise the utilisation of scarce resources. This has also been occasioned by a simultaneous need for the Directorate to increase its efficiency, service delivery and impact on the transformation of the SAPS.

The following strategic objectives have been identified with respect to investigations:

A preliminary investigation shall be conducted by the ICD in all cases of police-related death. Such preliminary investigations shall be an active investigation into the merits and circumstances surrounding the death and will culminate in a report within 14 days. The purpose of this preliminary investigation shall be, insofar as it is possible to do so, to determine whether or not there is prima facie evidence of SAPS complicity in criminal conduct. Where no such evidence or indication exists, the docket shall be returned to the SAPS for completion of the investigation, and the ICD shall continue to monitor the progress and eventual outcome of the investigation.

This will ensure that valuable time and resources are not spent on investigating cases that do not warrant it, but rather allocated to cases where the ICD’s intervention is required. This will allow investigators to concentrate on serious cases where there is prima facie evidence of SAPS members engaging in criminal conduct. This strategy will also allow ICD investigative resources to be allocated to cases which the ICD is not bound by statute to investigate, but which it has identified as being national priorities, in line with those of government. These have been identified as follows:

• Corruption;
• Femicide, rape and spousal abuse;
• Racism and racial discrimination in the SAPS;
• Crimes against children;
• Police brutality and the use of excessive force in terms of Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

With the freeing-up of valuable resources, the ICD will now be able to actively investigate selected cases falling within the above-mentioned categories. However, the success of this re-prioritisation will depend to a large extent on the capacity of our Provincial Offices to relieve investigators of their monitoring burden. This will entail the establishment of a separate monitoring capacity in each office, which will allow investigators to concentrate exclusively on active investigations.

A further strategic objective identified was the development of standardised and uniform investigative guidelines, methods and procedures to be implemented within the ICD. This will allow for the streamlining of investigations as well as provide for the uniform allocation of resources to investigative priorities, and ensure that cases are investigated efficiently and effectively. This will ultimately improve the ICD’s service delivery and will have a greater impact on the transformation of the SAPS. We are pleased to be able to report that such guidelines have now been completed and have been forwarded to the Minister for his comments and/or approval.

Achieving Our Objectives – Some Cases and Progress Reports

The following are some cases that are being investigated or have recently been finalised by the investigative components of the various Provincial Offices of the ICD, in accordance with our above-mentioned investigative priorities:

Police Brutality, Deaths in Detention or as a Result of Police Action and the Use of Excessive Force in terms of Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act

• SAPS Burgersfort

This incident occurred on 2 July 1999 at Steelpoort Diesel Garage, Burgersfort in Mpumalanga Province. A SAPS Inspector, together with 5 civilians, allegedly handcuffed the deceased, Mr Benjamin Mabelane, to a steel door and tortured him with a welding machine on his genitals. Mr Mabelane died of his injuries. Another victim, who managed to survive, was also allegedly tortured and assaulted. The ICD took over the investigation of this matter and arrested all 6 suspects.

After finalisation of the investigation, the docket was handed over to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) with a recommendation that 3 of the suspects be charged with murder and attempted murder and the remaining 3 with defeating the ends of justice. The DPP accepted our recommendation and instituted criminal proceedings against all accused. The case was recently finalised in Lydenburg Magistrates court. The SAPS member involved, as well as 3 other accused were found not guilty and acquitted. The remaining 2 accused were sentenced to 4 and 5 years imprisonment respectively. The ICD has further recommended that disciplinary proceedings be instituted against the SAPS member.

• SAPS Gugulethu (The Thabo Mabaso Case)

The case of journalist Thabo Mabaso, who lost the sight in his left eye as a result of an assault on him by SAPS members at the Gugulethu Police Station on 27 June 1998, has now been finalised. On 31 August 2000, Sgts. Duda and Mondleni were both sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with 2 years suspended for 5 years, while Sgt. Ginyigazi was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment with 18 months suspended for 5 years.

• SAPS Brixton (The "BBC" Case)

The well-publicised "BBC case", was also recently finalised. In this case, members of the BBC filmed SAPS members assaulting suspected hi-jackers after they had been apprehended. After a full investigation, the DPP concurred with the recommendation of the ICD to prosecute certain members from the Brixton Flying Squad. After a lengthy trial, 2 members were found guilty and convicted. Insp. Rautenbach was found guilty on 2 counts of common assault and was fined R2 000.00 on each count or 6 months’ imprisonment with a further 6 months suspended for 5 years. Sgt. Liebenberg was convicted on one count of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to a fine of R6 000.00 or 12 months imprisonment with a further 18 months suspended for 5 years. Following on from recommendations made to the ICD, SAPS have agreed to institute disciplinary proceedings against the members concerned.

• Pretoria Dog Unit

In this incident, 2 members of the Pretoria Dog Unit were charged with murder after the fatal shooting of Mr BJ Booysen when they responded to a housebreaking call. It subsequently turned out that it was Mr Booysen who had in fact summoned the police to the scene. The ICD took charge of the investigation, and after finalisation thereof handed the case docket to the DPP. The DPP agreed with the findings of the ICD investigation and ordered the prosecution of the 2 members on charges of murder in the Pretoria High Court. On 4 September 2000 one of the accused was acquitted, but the other was found guilty of culpable homicide. The case has been postponed to 28 September 2000 for sentencing.

• Public Order Policing Unit, Ulundi ( The Mr Bheki Mkhize case)

This incident occurred on 30 July 2000 at the home of Mr Bheki Mkhize, a Member of Parliament, when members of the Public Order Policing Unit (POP) were conducting a search for illegal firearms. Mr Mkhize was fatally wounded by a gunshot. The ICD immediately took charge of the investigation and 4 suspects have been arrested and are charged with murder and defeating the ends of justice, respectively. The suspects are out on bail. The trial is due to commence on 13 November 2000, in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

• Public Order Policing Unit – Alexandra

This incident occurred on 30 May 2000 in Alexandra. Abel Phetla (17), a learner at Realogile High School, Alexandra, was shot and killed by members of the Public Order Policing Unit when they were attempting to disperse a group of angry students who were marching in protest against the death of another learner, Andrew Radebe, who was allegedly shot and killed the previous day by a relative of a local shop owner. The students were angry that the police had not arrested the suspect in that matter.

The ICD conducted a full investigation into the matter, and after finalisation thereof handed the docket to the DPP for his decision. The DPP is still to decide.

• SAPS Fraserburg

In this incident, the deceased, Gert Baardman, was arrested for trespassing and stock-theft on 15 July 2000 and detained at Fraserburg Police Station in the Northern Cape. On 16 July 2000 he was found hanging in his cell. The ICD took charge of the investigation.

A post-mortem conducted on 21 July 2000 revealed that the deceased had sustained multiple injuries prior to his death, but according to the doctor, who conducted the post-mortem, those injuries were not the cause of death. The cause of death was found to be consistent with hanging. This case received public attention when the MEC for Safety and Liaison, Northern Cape Province, visited the Fraserburg Police Station and requested that a second post-mortem be conducted. The ICD arranged for an independent pathologist to conduct a second post-mortem. The investigation into the death of Mr Baardman is still continuing.

Racism and Racial Discrimination

• SAPS Hartswater

In another case involving the MEC for Safety and Liaison, Northern Cape Province, a number of SAPS members at the Hartswater Police Station are currently being investigated on charges of racism and racial discrimination. It is alleged that the MEC was rudely treated when she conducted a routine visit to the police station. The ICD is supervising this investigation and will monitor the outcome thereof.

Crimes Against Children

• SAPS Barkly East

This incident occurred in Barkly East, Eastern Cape, on 10 April 2000, when SAPS members arrested 6 youths who had allegedly committed a burglary. It was alleged that SAPS members assaulted the youths and dragged 2 of them behind a police van causing one of them to die when he collapsed from exhaustion and his head was crushed under the wheels of the van. The ICD took charge of the investigation on 13 April 2000 and after the finalisation thereof, handed over the case docket to the DPP for a decision.

The DPP accepted the recommendation of the ICD and decided that all the members be prosecuted on charges of culpable homicide, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, theft and attempting to defeat the ends of justice. The members appeared in the Barkly East Regional Court on 7 September 2000.

• SAPS Bethlehem

In this incident, James Mofokeng, a minor, was arrested and detained on a charge of motor vehicle theft at the Bethlehem police station on 7 August 2000. Mofokeng was placed in a cell with adult detainees. He was assaulted and subsequently died from such assault. The ICD took charge of the investigation and after finalisation thereof, forwarded the docket to the DPP with a recommendation that certain SAPS members be charged for contravening SAPS Regulations in that Mofokeng should have been detained alone or with other minors and not with adult detainees. The outcome is still awaited.

In the last 6 months since 01 April 2000, the re-prioritization of our strategic objectives with specific reference to our investigative priorities has yielded two-fold results. In the first place, the new approach has allowed investigators to concentrate on cases where there is clear evidence of police complicity in criminal conduct, whereas those cases in which it is apparent that there was no criminality, have been referred back to the SAPS for completion. Secondly, this has allowed ICD investigators to now investigate cases which would ordinarily not have been investigated, but fall within the strategic objectives identified on page 11. Already a number of death-related cases (Class I) have been referred back to the SAPS after the conclusion of a preliminary investigation thereby saving the ICD both time and money.

Anti-Corruption: The Role of the SAPS Anti-Corruption Units and their Relationship with the ICD

Although the ICD has identified the issue of corruption within SAPS as an investigative priority, when one has regard to current statistics of the prevalence of corruption within the service, it becomes clear that the ICD, as it is presently structured, is not equipped to tackle this problem alone. Current statistics show that:

1. there are currently 1165 members in court facing charges of corruption;
2. there are currently 1665 enquiries relating to 2256 members involved in corruption;
3. there are currently 2551 dockets opened against 2061 members involved in corruption.*

In addition to the above, the National Anti-Corruption Unit (NACU) and the Provincial Anti-Corruption Units (PACU) have been established within the SAPS specifically to conduct internal investigation of their members. Nationally, the Anti-Corruption Units of the SAPS currently have 195 investigators allocated to them, with 166 vehicles. This figure exceeds the investigative complement of the ICD, by 150 members. The budget of the NACU alone is R 6 000 000.00

Whilst it is true to say that there exists an overlap between the respective mandates of the ICD and ACUs, it is clear that the ICD cannot just take over the responsibilities of the ACUs without a proportional adjustment to its budget. The whole incorporation/ transfer of the ACUs into the ICD is also not really a viable option. This would also not be in line with the ICD’s strategic shift in focus from an investigative body to a more proactive, monitoring and civilian oversight body.

In the light of the above, discussions have recently been held with the National Head of the ACUs in order to explore avenues of greater co-operation and seek areas where the ICD can have a positive impact. The following issues were raised and discussed as potential areas of co-operation between our respective departments:

• the ICD would continue to investigate those cases of corruption which are reported directly to it, unless the matter was of such a nature or magnitude that it was not in a position to do so, in which case assistance would be sought from the local ACU and a joint investigation would be conducted;
• in all cases where a member of the SAPS has been investigated on charges of corruption and the DPP has declined to prosecute, or the member has been acquitted, the docket shall be forwarded to the nearest Provincial Office of the ICD for their perusal and input;
• similarly, in all cases where Departmental steps have been recommended against a member but have not been implemented by his/her Commander, the docket shall be forwarded to the nearest ICD Provincial Office for perusal and their further recommendations;
• in any case where a member of any ACU is the suspect in that case, the docket shall be immediately forwarded to the nearest ICD Provincial Office for full investigation;
• the NACU shall supply the ICD with monthly statistics regarding the incidence of corruption within the Service which are being investigated by them.

The above-mentioned proposals are intended to have the effect of creating transparency and accountability with regard to the investigation of SAPS members on charges of corruption. The oversight and monitoring role which it is envisaged that the ICD will play, will ensure that cases against members are investigated efficiently, effectively and professionally. The intention behind the proposal that all dockets in which there is an acquittal or a "nolle prosequi" be referred back to the ICD, is that the docket should be perused in order to ascertain whether such decision was as a result of a poor investigation or a potential "cover up" situation. The same applies to those cases where there is a refusal to implement a recommendation that Departmental steps be taken against a member.

Other issues, of a more general nature, which were covered at our meetings were:

• The possible establishment of an Anti-Corruption Board of Enquiry (perhaps consisting of SAPS members, ICD members, Judges, advocates etc), which would have broad powers of Review as well as powers to subpoena suspects and witnesses to give evidence. This Board would also have the task of monitoring the results of investigations;
• Integrity Testing – this would involve a review of the current recruitment practices, policies and procedures as well as the manner in which background checking and security clearances of new recruits are conducted. In addition, allowance would also be made for random integrity testing of members i.e. placing them in situations where moral choices have to be made;
• Joint Projects in the areas of:
  • Education;
  • Training;
  • Prevention;
  • Research – a pro-active measure aimed at making remedial recommendations to reduce the incidence of corruption within the Service;
  • Raising of Donor Funding to fund the above-mentioned projects.
• It was suggested that the above-mentioned proposals, should they be acceptable, be incorporated into a Letter of Agreement / Minute of Co-operation / Record of Understanding between the ICD and the NACU, and should be forwarded to the National Commissioner, Commissioner Eloff (Management Services) and Deputy National Commissioner Williams for their consideration and approval.

* the above statistics were obtained from the SAPS National Anti-Corruption Unit and are valid as up to 31 August 2000.

2.4 MONITORING AND DEVELOPMENT

Monitoring of the Implementation by the South African Police Service (SAPS) of the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) No.116 of 1998

In terms of this Act, a member of the police service is now obliged to inform a complainant of his/her rights when he/she reports an incident of domestic violence. Where a police member fails to comply with this duty and a complaint is received in this regard, an internal prosecution has to be instituted, unless the ICD directs otherwise. These complaints have to be reported to the ICD by the SAPS. In turn the ICD has to report to Parliament on a six-monthly basis as to the complaints received by the SAPS and itself, the particulars of those complaints and how each complaint was dealt with.

The implementation of this Act has placed an additional burden on the ICD budget in that:

• The ICD’s new responsibilities were not budgeted for, since promulgation occurred without consultation with the ICD;
• Due to lack of human resources it has been difficult for the ICD to take part in the domestic violence training of the SAPS in every province.
• The existing investigative/monitoring human resources will have an additional Key Performance Area.

The aforementioned problems were outlined in detail in our first Domestic Violence Report, which was tabled in Parliament on 30 August 2000.

Municipal Police Services

The South African Police Service Act, (Act No 68 of 1995) as amended makes provision for the establishment of municipal police services. The aforesaid Act clearly sets out the investigative mandate, functions and powers of the ICD vis-à-vis the SAPS. Consequently the ICD shall have such powers as stipulated by the Act, which shall be applicable to any future established Municipal Police Service. Once again our mandate was expanded without due consultation with ourselves.

The Durban Metro Police Service was established in July 2000. There will also be municipal police services established in Gauteng and Cape Town in the near future. The effect of these establishments is that as from 1 July 2000, the ICD must or may perform and exercise the same investigative and/or monitoring functions and powers vis-à-vis such Municipal Police Services, as they do in respect of the SAPS. We are in the process of formalizing an arrangement with SAPS, in terms of which they will investigate any misconduct/crime with regard to the MP’s, but will provide us with regular reports – thus we will play a monitoring role.

2.5 DEVELOPMENT

White Paper Process

Within the short period of its existence, the ICD has had to contend with a variety of problems, some of which continue to exist. The problems experienced by the organisation relate to its legislative and resource constraints. Owing largely to these problems, it was decided that a way be found to holistically address these problems.

After internal discussions, it was felt that the organisation should develop a White Paper that would set out a broad policy framework and identify strategic priorities.

In line with the above, the organisation developed a Discussion Document based on internal discussions. Consultative workshops were conducted in all the provinces between 5 July and 7 August 1999. Key stakeholders which, included the Police, CPF Boards, Secretariats for Safety & Security and also the relevant Trade Unions and NGO’s participated in those workshops. A draft White Paper has been compiled and considered by a panel of experts. The White Paper would also set out structural arrangements for systematic interaction with other complaints handling bodies such as the Public Protector and Human Rights Commission. This would reduce possible duplication and wastage.

Research

Currently, in an attempt to be proactive, the ICD is also focusing on developmental issues, for the purpose of highlighting root causes of certain police conduct.

The ICD commissioned the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation to conduct research into the following aspects:

• The use and abuse of force by members of the SAPS;
• The skill of policing and improving the management of the use of force in the SAPS;
• An examination of deaths in police custody or as a result of police action.

This resulted in a workshop held in April 2000 at which all relevant role-players were in attendance. The aforesaid research was made public and there was much debate around the development of a strategy to reduce the risks of deaths in police custody and as a result of police action. A task team was nominated, including representatives from SAPS, the NGO sector and the Department of Justice.

Membership of the Task Team was approved by the Minister for Safety and Security. The Task Team is due to present the Minister with a report in November 2000.

Technikon SA have been commissioned to conduct research with the aim of developing a profile of police officers prone to violence and misconduct. The following aspects will be central in the development of this profiling strategy:

• The previous exposure of certain police members to political violence during the eighties;
• The political changes that commenced in the early nineties;
• Racial stereotypes;
• Financial, marital and other problems experienced by individual officers;
• The process of recruitment;
• Levels of education of the culprits;
• Training programmes of new recruits.

This research programme will be completed in October 2000. The research was funded by DFID.

CHAPTER 3 - COMMUNICATION

Background

The ICD has the obligation to make itself known throughout its stakeholder community, members of the SAPS and the public in general. The organisation needs to market itself aggressively to both its internal and external clients so that everyone comprehends and appreciates the reasons for its existence.

Promoting the ICD

• The ICD has engaged the services of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to conduct a baseline survey to determine the level of awareness, among members of the public as well as other stakeholders such as the SAPS, of the functions of the ICD. Results of the survey are expected in October 2000.
• Efforts are being made to seek funding, especially donor funding, to develop promotional videos to enable stakeholders to have a visual grasp of the workings of the organisation.
• The ICD has approached the electronic media with a view to flighting commercials and other public service announcements about the activities of the organisation. This activity is being undertaken in collaboration with the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).
• Posters and pamphlets are available in all the eleven languages and are distributed by the ICD National Office as well as the nine Provincial offices.

Networking

• The ICD has created positive working relations with governmental and non-governmental organisations on an ongoing basis.
• The organisation is working in collaboration with these bodies in the production of promotional materials on issues affecting the ICD.
• There are special co-operative arrangements with other bodies such as the NDPP, HSRC, the Public Protector, etc.

CHAPTER 4 - FINANCE

1. Compliance with Statutory Requirements

(i) Appointment of a Chief Financial Officer

In terms of the Public Finance Management Act, Act No.1 of 1999 (amended by Act no. 29 of 1999) all departments must appoint a Chief Financial Officer to assist the Accounting Officer to discharge his/her functions in terms of Part II Chapter V of the same Act. Although it is possible for the ICD to appoint a Chief Financial Officer during the current (2000/2001) financial year as a result of savings that were reached due to the resignation of the Executive Director, the department cannot proceed with the appointment because no funds are available to support the carry through cost in the 2001/2002 financial year. The Medium Term Expenditure Committee indicated that the ICD will not get additional funding during the 2001/2002 financial year for this appointment.

(ii) Internal Audit Component and Audit Committee

One of the crucial recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts is that departments must establish an Internal Audit component and an Audit Committee. This is also a requirement in terms of the PFMA. The establishment of this component will enhance internal control in the Department and thereby ensure that resources are utilised in an effective, efficient and economical manner. The establishment of this component can be achieved through savings under the standard item Personnel Expenditure in the current financial year, but no provision for the carry-through costs was made in the MTEF allocation for the 2001/2002 financial year, hence additional funds will be needed to accommodate this expenditure. At this stage we have advertised for an Assistant Director: Internal Audit, but the Department since will not get additional funding in the 2001/2002 financial year, other activities will have to be scaled down to accommodate this statutory requirement. The Standing Committee on Public Accounts made it very clear that the Accounting Officers must comply with the provisions of the PFMA in order to improve the financial management in their departments.

(iii) Other Statutory Imperatives

Initiatives from the President’s office, such as gender issues, HIV-AIDS and other special programmes as well as new imperatives from the Department of Public Service and Administration place a huge burden on the administrative personnel of the ICD. As a result of the additional responsibilities, the department has little choice but to ensure that the ICD engages these initiatives.

2. Expenditure for the 2000/2001 Financial Year

The ICD is spending its allocated budget in terms of its business plan for the 2000/2001 financial year. As can be seen in Annexure (B) under the standard item Personnel Expenditure, the actual expenditure as at 31 August 2000 is less than the initial projected expenditure. Factors such as the resignation of the Executive Director, transfer of staff members to other departments, vacancies and the period it takes to appoint personnel members contributed to the under expenditure.

It is conspicuous that notwithstanding the fact that all envisaged staff members are not on board yet, the operational expenditure as at 31 August 2000, already, if projected over a 12-month period, indicated that the ICD will exceed its operational budget. However, steps are currently being taken to stay within the allocated budget of R 25 098 000. It is inevitable that operational expenditure will increase proportionately when new staff members are appointed, hence the ICD will be compelled to even further curtail activities in order not to exceed their allocated budget.

3. Expansion 0f Mandate

The additional statutory responsibilities of the ICD have put more pressure on the already small budget of the department.

Additional resources (vehicles, equipment and investigative equipment) will be required if the department hopes to achieve its goals satisfactorily.

4. Accommodation

As was reported previously to this Committee, the accommodation of the ICD in both the Free State and Mpumalanga provinces is problematic. Currently the provincial offices are sharing accommodation with other departments. Due to the fact that the Medium Term Expenditure Committee (MTEC) was not willing to provide additional funds in the MTEF allocations, no provision could be made for such expenditure. An amount of R 345 600 is required for this purpose. The ICD already received notice from the sharing departments in the Free State that they can no longer accommodate the ICD in their building. The national Department of Public Works have been notified to start up procedures to lease suitable private accommodation however, funds to the amount of R 766 000 need to be earmarked in 2001/2002 for the payment of rental for the forthcoming three financial years. The ICD is hopeful that the current sharing of offices in Nelspruit will continue for at least another financial year.

CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we would like to reiterate our determination to make sure that the ICD fulfils its mandate and assists in bringing about transformation within the SAPS.

As indicated earlier, as a result of a shortage of financial resources, the ICD has had to resort to such cost-cutting measures as intensifying the monitoring function while committing most investigations to the SAPS. However, it is obvious that no amount of reprioritization will be sufficient to accommodate the ever-increasing number of complaints that the ICD has to deal with.

Recent media reports indicate that more than 14 600 police officers around the country are facing criminal charges ranging from murder, rape, theft, assault, bribery and reckless driving. Some of these cases have been investigated or monitored by the ICD.

Apart from this, R40 million was paid out to 1 562 claimants by the SAPS in the 1999/2000 financial year. The figure of R 40 million is almost R15 million more than the current budget of the ICD.

It is our understanding that we should all commit ourselves to serving the public in an even-handed manner, and particularly our obligation to root out the corrupt element within the SAPS, so that public confidence in the work of the police may once more be restored. However more resources are required if the ICD is to fulfil its constitutional obligations.