28 February 2001

Contents

1.  Introduction
2.  Programme 1
3.  Programme 2
4.  Programme 3
5.  Conclusion

1. INTRODUCTION

The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) was established to investigate public complaints against members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and to propose reforms to speed up transformation and to reduce deaths in police custody or as a result of police action as well as to reduce the incidences of behavior that gives rise to these complaints.

Mandate

In accordance with Section 222 of the Interim Constitution, 1993 and Section 53 (1) (a) of the SAPS Act no.68 of 1995, the ICD is empowered to investigate the following categories of cases:

• Death in police custody or as a result of police action.
• Cases that are reported to the Minister for Safety and Security or any Provincial Member of the Executive.
• Allegations of criminal offences committed by members of the SAPS.
• Allegations of misconduct committed by members of the SAPS.

There is a fifth category which caters for cases which fall outside the mandate of the ICD but which on receipt thereof, are referred to organizations which are competent to deal with them, including the SAPS.

Strategic Objectives

The establishment of the ICD follows the international best practice of independent institutions specializing in civilian complaints against police officers, to address the tension between community members and the police. The Directorate plays an important role in the fight against crime, ensuring that police conduct is judicious and lawful.

The core mandate of the Directorate is to investigate all cases in which a person in police custody dies or a life is lost as a result of police action. In addition, it investigates a variety of complaints laid against members of the SAPS for criminal or disciplinary infractions, as well as complaints relating to poor service delivery. These functions have recently been expanded by the statutory requirements that the Directorate monitor the performance of the police in terms of the Domestic Violence Act of 1998.

Since its inception, the ICD has received numerous complaints of police misconduct, increasing the burden created by the relatively high number of investigations relating to deaths resulting from police action or in police custody, which it is legally obliged to investigate. As a result, the Directorate has initiated a process to redefine its mandate and working procedures in order to cope with its workload.

PROGRAMME 1 - ADMINISTRATION

Definition:   The Programme: Administration provides for the overall management of the Directorate, including the policy formulation responsibilities of the Executive Director and other members of the Directorate’s management. Other functions include the proper organization of the Directorate; the provision of centralised administrative, legal and office support services; human resources and financial management and administration; as well as determining working methods and procedures, and exercising overall managerial control.

Budget:  The budget for the Programme: Administration can be broken down into the following standard items of expenditure:

Due to the support rendered within the Directorate, personnel expenditure will always remain the major expenditure. In this regard it is envisaged that the total personnel complement of the Directorate will increase from 152 to 153 funded posts to cater for the reprioritisation of the core functions in the Directorate and to fulfill the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

The centralised administration expenditure that includes expenses in respect of official telephones, data lines, vehicles and other expenditure such as traveling and subsistence allowances represent the next highest expenditure.

Although the electronic mail system allows for a decrease in other administration expenditures, the continuous improvement of electronic equipment and attacks from computer viruses and bugs necessitate expenditure in terms of the improvement and updating of computer hardware and software.

The ICD is doing everything in its power to delay expenditure in terms of the acquisition of permanent official accommodation for the provincial offices of the Free State and Mpumalanga. Even sharing accommodation with other existing national departments is being considered in order to curb expenditure.

The PFMA will improve the effective accountability system of the Directorate, but its implementation will unfortunately also increase expenditure in terms of :

• The appointment of a competent Chief Financial Officer to assist the Accounting Officer in discharging her duties such as the maintaining of effective, efficient and transparent systems of financial and risk management and internal control;

• The constitution of an independent Audit Committee that will compile an audit charter to guide the audit approach, as well as determining its modus operandi, which should also spell out the rules that will govern the audit relationship;

• The establishment of an independent Internal Audit component that will determine key areas of risk for the development of a risk management plan in order to effectively monitor the performance of the Directorate, where necessary; and

• Though the Directorate received an unqualified report from the Auditor General in respect of the previous financial year, the latter office has indicated that in future, initial audit visits will be followed up by performance auditing visits that would increase expenditure.

Expenditure will further increase due to the increased skills levy that the Directorate has to pay towards Skills Development.

Key outputs: In terms of human resources, emphasis will be placed on the development and multi-skilling of staff members, the promotion of sound labour relations and human resource practices as well as the recruitment and selection of suitable staff.

Except for the rendering of a general administrative support to the entire Directorate, more than 152 systems and procedures will have to be altered and implemented, according to the requirements of the PFMA, to efficiently, effectively and in a transparent manner manage risk in terms of internal control, procure and manage resources, record the safekeeping of assets, render legal advice and maintain a management information system.

Service delivery indicators:  The most important issues in terms of the PFMA are, that expenditure be in accordance with the vote of the Directorate, effective and appropriate steps be taken to prevent unauthorised expenditure and, that the financial year closes in time for audited statements to be submitted to the Executive Authority, the National Treasury and eventually, Parliament.

The timeous payment of salaries and other benefits, as well as the timeous addressing of grievances will remain an important indicator of service delivery to staff members. Other important

issues include the availability of a Skills Audit Profile and the recording of policies that will regulate staffing practices, equity, Public Service delivery and employees’ conduct.

The availability of official vehicles, investigative equipment, administrative support systems and an effective asset management plan may further improve service delivery.

Policy development: Administration will be the primary agent to ensure compliance with human resource development initiatives, staffing practices, sound labour relations and general staff conduct through the development of policies and action plans.

It will also ensure that the PFMA imperatives are complied with by developing the policies and systems for proper accountability in the procurement of stores, services, equipment and other deliverables.

Expenditure trends: Spending in respect of the Programme: Administration is expected to consume 47,5 percent of the total budget over the medium term. Personnel expenditure being the main item of expenditure, growing by 18,9 percent between 1998/99 and 2000/01 due to the recruitment of staff. An increase of one staff member in the personnel structure is envisaged.

The administrative substructure needs to support the line functionaries and, in this regard benchmarking with other similar departments and organisations indicate that the Directorate’s expenditure in terms of administrative support represents an average expenditure of twenty-five percent of the total expenditure for such an entity. Likewise, for example the Budgetary component of the Directorate, regarded as one of the more important components to ensure accountability and the sound management of expenditure, administers expenditure of the Directorate at a rate of approximately 30 cents for every R1 000 spent by the Directorate.

Challenges: The most important challenge is to ensure the receipt of another unqualified report from the Office of the Auditor General.

In terms of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), the Directorate has to stay within the limits of an establishment of 152 funded posts. Forty-five staff members represent the investigative component and 29 posts fall within the registration of complaints and monitoring divisions. Taking into consideration the fact that the average number of complaints received by the Directorate has increased by 52 percent during the last two financial years, the Directorate faces a huge challenge to effectively address the aforesaid increase.

The establishment of a full presence in the Free State and Mpumalanga Provinces is urgently necessary to ensure service delivery to these communities. Unfortunately the budget does not allow for such expenditure and this compromises service delivery.

Another important challenge the Directorate has to face is to remain within the limitation of the budget. Since the financial year: 1998/99, the Directorate had difficulty to stay within its limited budget. In the aforementioned financial year, operations had to come to a virtual standstill in the last two months, to prevent overspending. Currently the Directorate faces the same problem.

Though the budget will not be able to cater for the full implementation of the PFMA, the Directorate needs to seek other means to ensure accordance to the said legislation.

The structures and procedures currently in use need to be put to record and, additional funds will have to be obtained to complete the task. Another important challenge includes the establishment of an Internal Auditing component, the finalisation of a risk management plan and the compilation of an audit charter to guide the auditing process.

Work pressure is already increasing to finalise the financial statements within two months of the closure of the financial year. The latter is necessary to ensure that the audited statements and Auditor General’s report be included in the Annual Report to Parliament – by the end of September. Similarly, the monthly and quarterly reports to the Minister for Safety and Security as well as to National Treasury compel the Directorate to manage expenditure more closely to ensure that possible variances are accounted and, overspending prevented. The completion of these activities will place the Directorate in line with the prescripts of the PFMA.

PROGRAMME 2 – INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS

Definition:   The aim of Programme 2: Investigation of Complaints, is to investigate deaths in custody or as a result of police action, as well as other complaints lodged with the Directorate, effectively and efficiently, with a view to establishing whether or not there was any wrongdoing on the part of a police officer. The programme consists of a single sub-programme: Investigation of Complaints, which provides for the investigation of any such deaths – a function prescribed in terms of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Act of 1995 (the Act). In addition, the programme provides for the investigation of any matter referred to the Directorate by the Minister or Member of the Executive Council, as well as for the investigation of any allegation of misconduct or offence committed by any member of the SAPS. The Act also provides that the Directorate may mero motu investigate any matter which falls within its mandate.

Table 21.5: Investigation of Complaints

Key outputs: The key outputs of this programme are the following:

• Ensuring that all investigations conducted by the ICD are done so in an effective and efficient manner;
• Keeping abreast of all operational functions of the ICD;
• Developing and maintaining an open channel of communication between National Office and the Provincial Offices;
• Formulating and developing policies pertaining to investigations;
• Identifying and making provision for the training needs of investigators and their supervisors;
• Identifying and procuring the necessary investigative equipment;
• Identifying, supervising and co-ordinating the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs);
• Developing and implementing standardised uniform investigative guidelines and methodology so that all ICD offices operate on the same basis using the same documentation and procedures.

Service delivery indicators:  Of the 3 283 complaints finalised during 1999/00, 414 were fully investigated to completion by the Directorate, with the remainder either being referred to other agencies (including the SAPS) for investigation, dismissed as unfounded or withdrawn, or finalised through a process of mediation. Currently, 1 200 active investigations are being taken forward by the Directorate’s 45 investigators. In 1999/00, the Directors of Public Prosecutions agreed to prosecute in 50 cases, while 201 are still awaiting their decision. Of these, 29 resulted in convictions and 8 in acquittals. In a further 84 cases, inquests were ordered.

Some of the most important service delivery indicators are the following:

• Where possible and practicable, timeouts attendance at all crime scenes on a national basis;
• To ensure that preliminary investigations are conducted in all Class I cases and finalised within 14 days;
• To ensure that full investigations in all Class I cases are finalised within the maximum period of six (6) months;
• To ensure that investigations in all Class II and III cases are finalised within the maximum period of three (3) months;
• To keep complainants and other stakeholders regularly informed of progress of investigations;
• The production and implementation of standardised uniform investigative guidelines and methodology so that all ICD offices operate on the same basis using the same documentation and procedures.

Policy development:   In general, capacity constraints have meant that the Directorate has not been able to investigate all complaints itself. It has therefore sought ways to ensure that, after a preliminary investigation, it investigates only those cases that cannot be investigated by the SAPS or any other agency. Similarly, in cases of deaths in police custody or as a result of police action, the Directorate will only continue to investigate the matter if, after a preliminary investigation has been conducted, there is prima facie evidence of a police cover-up or complicity in criminal conduct. If the preliminary investigation reveals no cover-up or police involvement in criminal conduct, the matter will be referred back to the SAPS for completion. The Monitoring components will then monitor the case until its finalisation.

This will ensure that valuable time and resources are not spent on investigating cases, which do not warrant it, but rather that investigative resources are 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 involvement in criminal conduct.

• Police corruption, including the alleged sale, theft and/or destruction of dockets, the issuing of fraudulent vehicle clearance certificates, the abuse of informers’ fees, the theft and/or disposal of evidence and the alleged involvement of SAPS members in escapes from police custody;
• Incidents of family violence alleged against members of the SAPS, especially femicide;
• Crimes against children;
• The use of excessive force in terms of Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Expenditure trends: Spending on Investigation of Complaints increased by an average of 5,9 per cent a year from 1998/99 to 2003/04. The bulk of this growth occurred between 1998/99 and 2000/01, when spending increased by an average of 13,0 per cent a year. Slower growth over the medium term reflects the Directorate’s prioritisation of the monitoring and supervision of investigations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its expenditure on investigations.

Personnel expenditure dominates the programme, and is expected to consume an average of 71,5 per cent of the total over the medium term. Personnel expenditure grew rapidly at an average of 16,5per cent a year between 1998/99 and 2000/01 as staff were recruited and deployed. Growth is expected to slow to 6,3 per cent over the medium term.

PROGRAMME 3 – MONITORING AND DEVELOPMENT

Definition:  The Monitoring and Development programme consists of two Sub-programmes, viz, Complaints Registry and Monitoring and Development.

The Complaints Registry component receives, analyses, processes and registers complaints received from the public and from functionaries such as the Minister for Safety and Security, members of the Executive Council responsible for Safety and Security etc. It also maintains a database that is used, inter alia, to identify worrying trends and patterns in respect of police misconduct and criminality.

Monitoring and Development oversees the investigation by the SAPS of matters referred to it by the ICD in terms of Section 53(2)(a) of the SAPS Act. Furthermore it analyses the causes of police misconduct and criminality and develops recommendations to combat these. It also has an additional responsibility to monitor the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act.

21.5 Monitoring and development

Key outputs:   The number of complaints received by the Directorate has risen dramatically over the past three years from 2 874 in 1998/99 to 4 380 in 1999/00, an increase of 52 per cent. It is also envisaged that these increases would be maintained in the current and future financial years. In view of this rapid growth, the Directorate has sought to refer more cases to other agencies and to improve the impact of monitoring of the investigations conducted by those agencies. This has invariably resulted in the Monitoring and Development components having to carry heavy workloads.

The key outputs of this programme are the following:

• Ensuring that there are in place uniform procedures with regard to the processing and registration of cases.
• Strengthening ICD capacity to produce and analyse statistical information.
• Establishing and maintaining contacts with other complaints-handling bodies to ensure smooth referrals of complaints and to avoid duplication.
• Publication of a draft White Paper.
• Developing recommendations to address the use of violence by the police.
• Reviewing measures that are in place in the SAPS to deal with racism and recommend possible improvement where these measures are found to be inadequate.
• Ensuring that cases referred to the SAPS are effectively and efficiently monitored.
• To continually identify trends with regard to police misconduct and criminality with a view to determining, through research, the underlying causes of this misconduct.

Service delivery indicators: At the heart of our service delivery standards lies our commitment to provide a prompt and quality service in line with the White Paper on Service Delivery (Batho Pele) and our own service standards. However, due to the current focus on monitoring and the phenomenal increase in the complaints-intake, we find it increasingly difficult to maintain these standards. But we cannot sacrifice these standards, as this would undermine public confidence in the ICD.

Some of the most important service delivery indicators are the following:

• We undertake to ensure that cases and complaints received by the ICD are processed and registered within a day of being received.
• To ensure that cases referred to the police for investigation and monitored by the ICD are resolved within six (6) months of referral.
• Keep our complainants and other stakeholders regularly informed of progress on cases reported to the ICD.
• Meet at least once a year with all other complaints handling bodies to consider the most cost-effective ways of dealing with complaints and, in view of the sometime overlapping mandates, to seek ways of avoiding duplication, thus avoiding wastage of scarce resources. We also intend maintaining contacts with other international bodies having similar responsibilities as the ICD in order to learn from their experiences.
• To seek creative ways of making ourselves accessible to all sectors of our society.
• On a regular basis perform a detailed analysis of causes and patterns of police misconduct and criminality and, where it is warranted, commission research in order to curb errant behaviour.

Policy developments:   On a policy level, the ICD is currently reviewing the submissions received towards the finalisation of the White Paper and it is anticipated this process will be finalised early in the new financial year. It is hoped that the White Paper will clarify our policies, programmes and objectives.

Monitoring and Development will be the primary agent for monitoring police compliance with the Domestic Violence Act of 1998 and for assessing the extent of assistance to victims of domestic violence. The Directorate is becoming more involved in the development of police training programmes focusing on the human rights of citizens, suspects and arrestees. A programme of visits to police holding cells and police stations is also being extended to other areas, particularly, those that tend to generate a high number of complaints.

Expenditure trends: Spending on Monitoring and Development increased by an average of 26.2 per cent a year from 1998/99 to 2003/04, reflecting the Directorate’s prioritisation of this function. Personnel expenditure increased rapidly by an average of 21.9 per cent a year over the period. Similarly, spending on programme administration rises significantly, by an average of 57,0 per cent over the period. These trends point to the Directorate’s subcontracting of its work to other agencies and managing those investigations conducted on its behalf.

Challenges:   There are in the main four challenges facing us in the area of Monitoring and Development.

Firstly, we have to work towards a situation where the police will consider themselves duty-bound to carry, out without being prodded, all duties imposed upon them by the Domestic Violence Act and to cultivate among SAPS members a broad understanding of the rationale for the existence of this legislation. We realise that without this understanding, the broad aims of the Act will not be achieved.

Secondly, we have to constantly focus on the underlying systemic problems, which impedes the improvement of service delivery by the SAPS. With the limited capacity and funding, this will by no means be an easy exercise.

Thirdly, the development of an effective information system, through our database, has turned out to be an onerous task, both in terms of material resources and time. The challenge for us is to ensure that the database is fully operational as soon as possible, as it will, in many respects, make our task with regard to information management much more easier.

Fourthly and lastly, we have, in spite of resource constraints, to reach out to all sectors of our society, particularly those members of our communities that are most vulnerable to abuses and other malpractices.

5. CONCLUSION

It is obvious that much of the requirements of the PFMA will not be implemented, due to budgetary constraints. The Directorate does not have the capacity to spend on the development of systems and procedures required by the PFMA. Funds need to be obtained to appoint specialised contract workers or consultants to assist the Directorate in the compilation of such systems. It is unknown how other departments could motivate for and receive a budget of more that R7 000 000 to cover the expenditure with regard to the implementation of the requirements of the PFMA.

The appointment of a permanent Chief Financial Officer (CFO) - at the level of Chief Director - will entail that additional funds be made available under the programme: Administration. This appointment will be in line with the requirements of the PFMA, but in addition the CFO will strengthen the reporting lines to the Executive Director. The latter arrangement will free the Executive Director from the additional burden of management and supervision of the various support functions, such as Administration, Legal Services, Communication and Finance, to concentrate her energy on issues surrounding the vision, mission and objectives of the Directorate.

We have recently been informed that the provincial offices in Mpumalanga and the Free State need to cease the sharing of official accommodation – as soon as 31 March 2001. This entails that more pressure be placed on the already limited budget with the result that even less funds will be available for operational expenditure.

In order to continue the management of performance, as confirmed in the unqualified report received from the Office of the Auditor General, additional funding to the amount of R2 000 000 is urgently required. The following table provides a breakdown of the funds necessary to ensure that the Directorate fulfils its obligations and remains within its budgetary allocation:

Additional funding required per Programme and Standard item

(R thousands)

If the budget of the Directorate is not increased by at least the requested additional amount, the ICD will be forced to 7 its activities drastically during the 2001/2002 financial year. The provincial offices will only be able to investigate cases of deaths in police custody or deaths as a result of police action within a specified radius of our offices.

It has been determined that the ICD does not enjoy high popularity among the majority of the members of community it is supposed to serve. This came out very prominently from a nation-wide survey which was conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) during August-November 2001. On a similar vein, the ICD itself conducted a survey on a limited basis, but came out with similar, if not the same, results This, therefore, dictates that the ICD has to mount an aggressive awareness campaign including community outreach programmes in an effort to ensure that communities know that the ICD exists precisely to protect their individual and collective rights.

Coupled with this realization is the issue of accessibility of the various communities as well as the disadvantaged to the activities which the ICD is able to offer. As a result the ICD is putting in place strategies to address the question of accessibility by associating itself with the activities of other organizations which have a similar mission especially within the realm of the protection of human rights and freedoms. The purpose is to ensure that the message of this organization is carried through to the most rural of rural communities using the best available communication facilities at that level.

Another issue which pertains to the ICD strategy of promoting accessibility is the use of modern technology. The ICD is engaged in negotiations with Telkom with a view to installing a toll-free telephone facility with effect from April, 2001. This facility will initially be available free to the public for the first three months after which we shall assess the usefulness of the service, or whether we should adopt a different approach to this system. It should be noted that the service will be free to the public at this stage but the ICD will still have to pay for the initial installation as well as for the calls from the public.

We believe that if the public can utilize this facility responsibly throughout the nine provinces, there is a chance that the ICD will not only have a higher public awareness profile, but this may generate more cases for the organization, from those individuals who never thought that Government had a face.