Budget Vote speech of the Department of Safety, Security
and Liaison, presented by MEC S Manana
21 May 2010
Mr Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Mpumalanga Legislature
Honourable Premier, Mr DD Mabuza
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Mpumalanga Legislature and Members of Parliament
Councillors from different Municipalities
Head of Department: Mr IN Khoza
Lieutenant General TR Ntobela for SAPS
Mr ES Mndawe Area Commissioner for the Correctional Services
Mr RSS Zitha for the Home Affairs
Major Nxumalo for the SANDF
Mr M Tsimane: Provincial Head of ICD
Mr M Mphuthi : Provincial Chairperson of the CPF Board and CPF members
Leadership of the South African Council of Churches
Leadership of the Traditional Healers Organisation
Government officials
Ladies and gentlemen
Comrades and friends
It is an honour for me to be given this opportunity to
present the Policy and Budget Speech of the Department of Safety, Security and
Liaison for the 2010/11 financial year. Mr Speaker, 2010 is A Year of Action:
Ensuring That All People in South Africa Are and Feel safe. As declared by the
President of South Africa, His Excellency Jacob Zuma on the occasion of the
State of the Nation Address, “government shall accelerate service delivery”. He
further made a commitment that the work of government will be measured according
to defined outcomes. It was not by mistake that the current administration made
the fight against crime and corruption amongst its major priorities.
The fight against crime and corruption should not be the
sole responsibility of government. There is a need to galvanise all stakeholders
to be active participants in the fight against crime. We have to do this because
crime like HIV and AIDS does not discriminate. It affects young and old, rich
and poor, educated and illiterate, politicians and business people.
Mr Speaker, crime is a social problem and its presence
destabilise community settings, it also affect the economy such that funds which
could be used to develop our communities will now have to be diverted to other
factors which arise as a consequence of crime. This means that crime threatens
the social welfare of South Africa as a developmental state.
Crime, more especially its violent nature present one of
the paramount challenges to development because beyond the direct effect on
victims, violent crime inflict widespread costs, generating a climate of fear
for all citizens and diminishing economic growth.
As a result of this and other factors, some scholars and
researchers have argued that crime is number one social problem. It is very
correct that the high level of violent crime remains our most challenge.
There are a number of contributing factors to the current state of
affairs. The fact that Mpumalanga share borders with Mozambique and Swaziland
present a challenge to the resources we have and the implementation plan.
The Honourable Premier, Mr DD Mabuza said during the State
of the Province Address, “We are informed that the areas bordering Mozambique
and Swaziland have become a safe haven for criminals. This trend extends to the
Nkomazi area and the entire belt that runs from Matsulu to Barberton, especially
along the mining areas”.
This is caused by the high number of people entering or
exiting the province through the Lebombo and Oshoek Border Posts. We are working
with other stakeholders in all our border post to make sure that criminal
activities are eliminated. Equally in order to ensure that our members at all
ports of entry are not found participating in these criminal activities, an
anti-corruption strategy was developed and is being implemented.
This initiative will continue to be the focus during the
2010/11 financial year to ensure effective service delivery and improved
integrity of our officials at the ports of entry through co-ordinated law
enforcement. We want to ensure that our members are not caught with their pants
down. Our mandate is to fight crime and as we do that, we do not expect law
enforcers to be found wanting. Should that happen; we are not going to hesitate
in arresting them and ensuring that we hand them over the orange uniform.
It is therefore necessary that as we implement the
anti-corruption strategy at the ports of entry, we have all our officials
deployed there, vetted and screened.
We have improved the infrastructural facilities in some of
our ports prioritising Lebombo, Jeppes Reef, Oshoek and Mahamba ports of entry.
The Lebombo border post will be having a new pedestrian facility and by-pass
freight routes with canopies. This project is already 60% complete. The main
objective for this overhaul is to ensure that our infrastructure responds to the
challenges faced by officials at ports and we hope the canopies will improve the
working conditions at this particular port of entry.
The South African Police Service deploys an average of 350
police officers at a time at the borders as well as 100 reservists. 11 illegal
firearms were confiscated, 35 stolen vehicles recovered, 243kg of dagga seized,
10 900 illegal goods including cigarettes, cattle and copper cable confiscated
and 1 030 arrests effected in 2009/10 financial year.
Last year I led a delegation consisting of officials from
the department, SAPS leadership as well as members of the Border Control
Operational and Coordination Committee on a visit to some of our ports of entry
and border lines in the province. The intention was to assess the challenges
faced by our officials and determine how best can we intervene to improve the
situation.
Mr Speaker, it became evident during our visit that the
deployment of SAPS to look after the border lines was not yielding the desired
results. The prevailing conditions demand additional inputs if we are to ensure
an effective management and monitoring of our border lines. I should assume that
working together with different stakeholders, we were able to make the
appropriate noise because just before the end of last year, the National Cabinet
announced the redeployment of the South African National Defence Force in the
border lines.
Mr Speaker, as I am presenting this Policy and Budget
Speech, the SANDF has already taken site. The handover of the Macadamia Base was
done on 9 to 12 May 2010 and both the advance team and main force have reported.
Honourable Members, I would like to indicate that highly mobile operations will
be conducted during the day and night with the main focus on night operations. A
composite force is employed with all necessary resources for a successful Border
Line Control. 200 SANDF members have been deployed to operate the border lines
in the province.
This whole operation is called Operation CORONA and will
be conducted in 3 phases. Phase 1 will focus on Macadamia and be responsible for
the border area from Mbuzini to Crocodile River, while Phase 2 focuses on Sand
River (Kruger National Park) border line and Phase 3 will focus on the Swaziland
Border. We hope that this new development will go a long way in ensuring
adequate security in our border lines. The SAPS will continue to operate the
ports of entry.
Section 206 (3) of the Constitution of South Africa read
with Section 5 of the White Paper on Safety and Security stipulates that we have
to monitor the police conduct, oversee its effectiveness and efficiency,
including receiving reports on the police service, assess the effectiveness of
visible policing and mostly to link the communities with the police service.
In order to achieve these milestones and at the same time
ensure that we do not deviate from our mandate, it was necessary that adequate
systems and structures such as the strategic plans and organogram talk directly
to the mandate. Further, the department has adopted a seven Point Plan for the
2010/2013 Medium Term Expenditure Framework period.
The Seven Point Plan comprises of Improvement of the Human
and Finance Resource capacity, Monitoring and Evaluation of the SAPS, Improving
the provision of security services, Reduction of contact crime by 7-10% per
annum, Implementation of the 2010 Integrated Safety and Security Plan,
Development of Community and Institutional structures and Mobilization as well
as the Development and Management of Departmental Systems and Structures.
Mr Speaker, we have set for ourselves this plan so that
new strategic goals and objectives for the department find expression to our
daily work. Later on I will indicate the exact programmes the department will be
engaged on to achieve the Seven Point Plan.
The current government administration has put the fight
against crime and corruption amongst its top priorities. Government has made an
undertaking to transform the Criminal Justice System so that delivery of
services can be done in a much quicker way.
This is done so that we ensure that our fight against
crime is not in vain. Criminals need to be arrested and the courts need to
ensure that those found guilty receive the necessary punishment. Accordingly, I
have on repeated occasions emphasized the need to ensure that thorough
investigation precede any arrest so that all cases taken to the courts are won.
This means that we should investigate to make an arrest and avoid arresting in
order to conduct an investigation.
Mr Speaker, cases are thrown out of the courts because of
poor investigation, failure by witnesses to present themselves to testify during
courts proceedings and as a result create animosity between community members
and police because suspects arrested today will be seen loitering the streets
the following day.
We have noticed that most crimes committed are
characterised by violence and sometimes it is difficult to understand that
trend. It is not easy to understand why the criminals would decide to kill their
victims when the only thing they want is just a mere cellular phone or a hand
bag. This means that in dealing with the criminals, we need not to be soft. We
should be frontal and uncompromising.
We cannot allow the criminal to keep us hostage in our own
communities. Working together we must reclaim all our streets and make the lives
of criminals difficult such that any would-be criminal get discouraged by the
manner in which we respond to any criminal activity.
Last month two police officers and a police reservist in
Amersfoort were shot dead whilst on patrol. We made a commitment that we were
not going to rest until those criminals were brought to book and face the wrath
of law.
Mr Speaker, today I am glad to report that eight suspects
linked to the crime were arrested in Gauteng two weeks ago.
Mr Speaker, the crime statistics for 2008/09 was released
last year by the National Minister of Police. There is an apparent increase in
property related crime, with burglary at residential premises and burglary at
business premises showing an increase. Burglary at residential premises recorded
19,839 cases in 2008/2009 against 18,855 cases in 2007/2008 and burglary at
business premises recording 5,329 cases in 2008/09 against 4,273 cases in
2007/08. Business robberies increased from 305 cases in 2007/08 to 818 cases in
2008/09.
Generally, the crime rate in the province increased in
terms of the crime statistics for 2008/09 as released. A closer look to this
kind of a situation presents different pictures. Others can argue that this
means an increased in a number of criminal activities taking place, whilst
others can argue that the increased is as a result of the increased in access
hence people are able to report criminal activities. Whatever argument is put on
the table, there is still much to be done and as government we will continue to
mobilise all stakeholders to partner with us in the fight against crime. We have
to turn the tide and take the heat right to the criminals’ doorsteps.
Mr Speaker, the above illustration and interpretation of
the statistics does not in any way mean that the South African Police Service in
the province has failed to do its work. During the period under review the SAPS
in its endeavour to fight crime and corruption have achieved a number of
milestones. The Detectives service received an excellent rating of 53.74%,
putting them in the fifth place in the country. This is a great achievement
considering the fact that they started the financial year with an overall rating
of 45%. More than 50% of sexual offences were detected indicating that the SAPS
Mpumalanga is in line with national priorities regarding crimes against women
and children. There is still room for further improvement to ensure that the
fight against women and children abuse set them free from this scourge.
The following successes were also achieved during the
2009/2010 financial year:
- 22 687 dangerous weapons and 2 929 illegal firearms
were confiscated;
- 1 125kg of dagga was seized and 1 113 units of
mandrax and other drugs were confiscated
- 1 422 stolen vehicles recovered
Overall the South African Police Service arrested 61 073
suspects for all crime categories.
Mr Speaker, the need to continue to reduce the number of
firearms in circulation must be sustained as part of the strategy to combat
violent crime. In November 2009, the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa declared
a firearms amnesty which took place between 11 January and 11 April 2010.
The aims of the amnesty were to amongst others; advocate
the voluntary surrender for destruction of licensed firearms through the process
prescribed in the Firearms Control Act and to allow for people who missed the
cut off date for licensing to as well license their weapons. In total 2 503
firearms and 23 183 rounds of ammunition were surrendered in Mpumalanga. I would
like to take this opportunity and appreciate the people of this province for
their positive response.
Mr Speaker, in keeping with the undertaking we made in the
past in this august house, I would like to indicate that during the 2010/2011
financial year the following new police stations will be opened:
- SAPS Hazyview
- SAPS Mbuzini
- SAPS Tweefontein and
- SAPS Pienaar
As we continue to improve the face of the South African
Police Service and also deliver the necessary services to our people, the
following new stations will be built during 2010 - 2014:
- SAPS Bushbuckridge
- SAPS Mmamethlake
- SAPS Balfour
- SAPS Grootvlei
- SAPS Masoyi
The fight against crime demands a multi-pronged approach
because whilst criminal activities are becoming complicated, our response as
well must be advanced. Sector Policing remains relevant and central in our
strategy to fight crime and also improve the reaction time to complaints.
A Four Months Intervention Plan was
developed and implemented late in 2009 with clearly identified quick-wins, to
turn the situation for the better. The quick-wins included issues such as
improved proper command and control in different levels of management and
increase the level of discipline. Over and above this, additional resources were
given to the police stations that are the most crime contributors in the
province (Witbank, Middelburg, Ermelo, Vosman, Kanyamazane, Tonga and Kabokweni).
This was done to ensure adequate visibility and speedily attendance of the crime
scenes. There is currently a noticeable improvement and
quantified report with details shall be released in due course.
Our determination and commitment to fight crime is
unwavering. We will continue to do more to fight crime. As we do that, we are
guided by the objectives of transforming the criminal justice system. During the
2009/10 financial year, the South African Police Service recruited 659 officers
and procured 391 new vehicles. 382 vehicles were delivered in the same financial
year and the rest are going to be delivered in the 2010/11 financial year. We
are convinced that by continuously allocating additional resources to the SAPS,
more positive impact will be realised in Visible Policing, Detectives and Crime
Intelligence.
Mr Speaker and Honourable Members, the Province was
without a permanent Provincial Commissioner for some time. In one way or the
other, this situation might have had an effect on the operations of SAPS in the
Province. I am happy to formally inform the House that in November 2009,
Lieutenant General Ntobela was appointed as the new Provincial Commissioner for
SAPS Mpumalanga.
Part of our objectives for transforming the criminal
justice system is to ensure gender parity in the top echelons of SAPS.
Consequently we have appointed Major General Hadebe as Deputy Provincial
Commissioner responsible for Support Services. She is a woman. Over and above
this, a total number of 4 female Cluster Commanders were appointed. We currently
have 25 female Station Commanders in the Province. We are committed to gender
equality and we will not rest until parity is achieved.
During the 2010/11 financial year the SAPS Mpumalanga will
establish a WAR room for Mpumalanga. The Provincial Command Centre will be in
Head Office in Nelspruit and seven Cluster Operational Centres will be
established in Piet Retief, Pienaar, Witbank, KwaMhlanga, Ermelo, Mbuzini and
Hazyview. The Operational Centres will be responsible for gathering information
on all serious crime and known offenders as well as mobilizing relevant role
players with the occurrence of serious crime in the cluster.
As we move with speed in providing necessary services to
our people and as we endeavour to increase access to government services, a
10111 hotline based in White River was launched last year. We have taken
interest to monitor the performance of the hotline and indications are that our
people have seized the opportunity and reported matters and cases. The plan for
this kind of service will be extended to Secunda in Gert Sibande during the
2010/2011 financial year.
There is a need to warn those of our communities who abuse
the system and make hoax calls. We would like, however, to appeal to our
communities to utilize this service optimally.
Additional to these and other strategies of involving all
and sundry in the fight against crime, we remain committed to ensure that all
community policing forums and the Provincial Board are functional. During the
2009/10 financial year, 161 project plans were received from Community Policing
Forums and were all implemented. These projects included community outreach
projects as well as requests for management assistance. The 61 active Victim
Friendly Facilities in the Province are managed by the Community Policing
Forums.
For the greater part of the 2009/10 financial year the
province was characterised by protests. We have observed during this period that
the majority of these protests were violent. The SAPS Mpumalanga attended to a
total of 258 unrest situations in the Province. As a result of these unrest
protests, 1 027 people were arrested.
Participating in a protest is a Constitutional right of
our citizens and government will always support people’s right to democratically
express views on issues they feel strongly about. As well, government will
continue to strike a balance between everyone’s right, the rights of citizens to
protest with the rights of lawful business and its employees to continue working
without unlawful disruption or intimidation and the rights of other members of
community to continue their daily lives without excessive disruption.
Whilst the Constitution grants people the right to lawful
demonstration, this right comes with limitations. This means that in some cases
the SAPS may find it necessary to place limitations on protests if there is a
reasonable belief that the route applied for may result in serious public
disorder, serious damage to property and serious disruptions to the life of the
community.
Honourable Members our mandate in this regard is to
prevent crime and disorder, illegal protests and as a result police officials
will always strive to be even handed and proportionate in any response to
protest.
In order to find a uniform way of responding to unrest
protests, a Summit was convened in March 2010, attended by different
stakeholders. Key issues discussed during the Summit were good governance, law
enforcement and prosecution. Resolutions taken during the Summit are going to be
integrated to the resolutions taken during the Service Delivery Summit for an
integrated response to this challenge.
Stock theft remains a challenge. 66% of the cases recorded
are stock taken from the grazing camps and 3% is stock slaughtered on the
premises from where it was stolen. Stock theft is mostly occurring but not
limited to the Gert Sibande Region. This is due to the fact that most of the
stock farmers in the province are from Gert Sibande. There is a need to review
the location of the stock theft units such that they are closer to areas where
there is stock farming and where the theft is prevalent.
Mr Speaker, we continuously received complaints against
the conduct of police officers whilst conducting their duties. The Independent
Complaints Directorate (ICD) derives its mandate from the Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa. The SAPS Act, Act 68 of 1995 also makes provision on
the mandate of the ICD. Currently there is a new legislative framework that is
being envisaged.
It is envisaged that this piece of legislation will be
promulgated later this year, with the aim of strengthening the ICD and provide
more powers to execute its legislative mandate and ensure full independence from
the SAPS. When the new law is promulgated, the ICD will also be able to
investigate serious crimes such as alleged rape by a police officer
(irrespective of whether the police officer was on or off duty) and alleged rape
of a complainant by other detainees while the complainant is in police custody.
The ICD remain not easily accessible to the rural
communities. We are committed to improve the situation and make sure that
services are also provided to the neediest. We would also like to take this
opportunity and request witnesses to co-operate with the ICD so that opened
cases can be investigated and concluded.
Mr Speaker, we have evidence that the youth dominate the
prisoners population in the province. The future of any country is its youth and
if the majority of our young people are languishing in different jails, the
future may look bleak. Currently most of our prisons are overcrowded. Barberton
Maximum is 175% overcrowded because it is the only Maximum Centre in Mpumalanga.
The approved accommodation is 845 and the total lockup is 1 477.
Nelspruit Correctional Centre is the only centre which
detains adult awaiting trials in the Management Area and is 133% overcrowded.
The approved accommodation is 828; the number of offenders sentenced is 357 and
756 unsentenced. Should all be sentenced, there will be challenges with
accommodation. Honourable Members we have a serious social problem
and all stakeholders will have to join hands and make sure that young people are
encouraged to occupy themselves with social cohesion programmes.
Mr Speaker, there is a total number of 30 district courts
and 7 branch courts in the Province. In addition, we also have a total of 32
Periodical Courts which deal only with criminal work and customers have to go to
the main courts for other services like domestic violence, estates and
maintenance. The seat of the Divorce Courts is stationed in Durban with a
circuit court in Nelspruit. All the courts in the province will be aligned
according to the municipal boundaries. This process is being finalised with the
Demarcation Board.
Mpumalanga Province does not have a High Court of its own;
all magisterial districts are served by the Northern Gauteng Division of the
High Court. In line with the Polokwane resolutions, processes for the
establishment of a High Court in Mpumalanga are underway. Litigants will no
longer have to travel to Pretoria or Johannesburg for their cases.
Automatically, this will cut down the costs of litigations.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
has secured a land for the building of the High Court in Nelspruit and Mbombela
Municipality has approved. It is envisaged that once construction starts,
completion should be completed in 3 to 5 years. Currently the process is to get
an existing structure for purposes of an Interim High Court at Emalahleni
Municipality.
The move to place the interim High Court at Emalahleni is strategic in
that once the main High Court is constructed in Mbombela, the High Court in
Emalahleni will continue to operate as the branch High Court to ensure easy
access to justice to communities around KwaMhlanga, Delmas areas etc, who have
been enjoying access to justice from Southern Gauteng High Court. These
communities might find it difficult to travel to Mbombela to access justice
services. We are committed in ensuring that access to justice for all becomes
the reality
I would also like to announce that the Department of Home
Affairs launched a campaign to register all children born of South African
parents, who were not registered in time. All children with birth certificates,
who have attained the age of 15 and above, are encouraged to apply for ID books.
The registration period will be up to 31 December 2011. All people claiming to
be SA citizens, who never registered before should come forward and register.
This process will greatly assist in combating fraud, theft of ID as well as
bogus marriages. This process also ends on 31 December 2010. All citizens are
encouraged to register their marriages either customary or by civil rights.
Customary marriage registration of all unregistered marriages will elapse on 31
December 2010.
Mr Speaker, as we transform the Criminal Justice System,
we should ensure that we also incorporate other complimentary approaches such as
the consideration of the environmental design of our areas. This approach
requires effective functioning Multi Agency Mechanism (MAM) structures located
in our municipalities. Municipalities have got a responsibility to ensure that
the design of the environment encourages desirable behaviour and discourage anti
social behaviour. This can have a significant potential to generate rapid
decreases in property crime and some forms of inter- personal violence.
Mr Speaker, our obligation would be to ensure that all MAM
structures in the province are functional. Linked to this will be continuous
support through training that is offered to both MAM structures and all
Community Policing Forums in the province.
Our multi-sectoral approach in the fight against crime
will continue to guide the format and nature of interventions we employ. This is
informed by the Crime Prevention Strategy. During the 2010/2011 we will continue
to offer assistance to municipalities to develop safety plans. The Dipaleseng
and Mbombela municipal safety plans were developed during the previous financial
year. The municipal safety plans for both Nkomazi and Emalahleni Municipalities
are planned for this financial year.
Community mobilization and engagement shall dominate our
activities and programmes in the 2010/2011 financial year. We have defined our
objectives and have decided on a path. This decision is informed by the six
izimbizo coordinated by the department during the previous financial year. Mr
Speaker, we decided to afford our communities a space and voice, not only to
lament about their daily challenges and tribulations but also to assume their
central role in the fight against crime and corruption.
Our people are raising issues and will continue to do so
because of the trust they have on the government of the day, to intervene and
address their challenges. All issues raised during the six izimbizo will be
packaged per department and referred to those departments to address the issues
as raised. Additional to that, we have as a department, in terms of our
departmental objective of coordinating and facilitating programmes aimed at
reducing contact crime, set aside programmes and projects aimed at responding to
the challenges faced by our communities.
Mr Speaker, the strategy is to engage and work together
with the communities so that they become active participants in the fight
against crime. This will make them to embrace these programmes, their successes
and failures. These social crime prevention measures will include campaigns such
as human trafficking campaigns; awareness campaigns on assault GBH and assault
common, anti-rape campaigns, stock theft, anti-illegal mining, gender based
violence as well as moral regeneration campaigns.
Honourable Members, as a department we have resolved to
pay special attention to human trafficking as a challenge. Human trafficking
occurs when people, more especially women and children, are recruited, harboured
or transported by any means for labour or services such as forced labour,
slavery or servitude such as forced marriage, domestic service or prostitution.
Although victims of traffickers can be of either gender,
an overwhelming majority of the victims are women and children. Gender
discrimination, poverty and abuse drive people to run away and escape to
untenable situations. Millions of people are trafficked throughout the world and
Mpumalanga cannot be an exception.
Human trafficking is barbaric and need to be fought from
all angles. We need to encourage and provide the necessary support to all
organisations fighting human trafficking. We have noted that whilst government
in partnership with community organisation is doing something about this
challenge, the majority take no action or worse, condone, tolerate or
participate in this trade in human lives.
Our role is to galvanize all sectors of our society to unite
in the fight against human trafficking. We must however agree that the road
ahead is not going to be an easy one. The eradication of this scourge demands
from all of us to be resolute and dedicated soldiers. Let me indicate that
government together with FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee will be launching
the “Red Card Campaign against human trafficking on the 24th May 2010 at the
Mbombela Stadium.
During the 2009/2010 financial year border security
campaigns were conducted with the view to educate our communities about border
policing and crime related to the borders. We will continue to roll-out
community awareness programmes in our endeavour to ensure that there is
community mobilisation in the fight against crime; we will conduct awareness
programmes to deal with community values as well. Mr Speaker, we continue to be
challenged by issues of morality in our societies. Morality and ethics have a
close relationship.
Whilst we will be trying to encourage and motivate our
people to uphold the highest moral standard and values, we will also expect
public representatives and government officials to act in an ethical manner in
the conduct of government business. The fight against crime and corruption
cannot be over emphasised.
The process of signing a Memorandum of Understanding
between our department and the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation is
about to be completed. This memorandum will ensure integrated implementation of
programmes and campaigns aimed at involving the youth and at the same time take
them away from the street.
In order to give more impetus to our crime prevention
initiatives as well as to ensure that tourists visiting the province feel safe
and secure, we have decided to increase the number of the Tourists Safety
Monitors from 250 to 500. We have picked up information that Hazyview is hardly
hit by criminal activities targeting the tourists. This is a result of the fact
that Hazyview is situated in the main road to the Kruger National Park. The SAPS
has been engaged and we are going to strengthen our intervention to make sure
that tourists in that part of the province are safe and secure as well.
Mr Speaker, let me reiterate the fact that evidence have
indicated that the majority of criminal activities in the province are taking
place as a consequence of alcohol abuse. As part of our intervention to deal
with this challenge, the department hosted a Tavern and Shebeen Indaba. This
Indaba was attended by different stakeholders and the aim was to ensure that
tavern operators comply with the conditions of liquor licences as issued by the
Liquor Board and also for the SAPS to monitor and inspect adherence thereafter.
There is also a need for municipalities to ensure the
availability of requisite by-laws so that when the SAPS is out enforcing the
conditions of the licence, it is not prevented by the unavailability of some
by-laws. This matter has been raised with municipalities during the MUNIMEC
meeting.
Honourable Members, there is a need to begin to approach
the issue of alcohol abuse differently. The situation in our community is out of
hand. We had an Imbizo in Vaalbank in March 2010. This is an area in Dr JS
Moroka Municipality consisting of 14 villages but there are more than 115 liquor
outlets operating. This cannot be a normal situation. There is a need for the
Liquor Board to consider reviewing some of the conditions for the operating
licence. We may have to consider cutting down the business hours for both bottle
stores and taverns.
The School Safety Indaba was held in Witbank and as a
result the Integrated School Safety Strategy was developed. This strategy
addresses the following pillars: environment or physical pillar, behavioural
pillar and systems pillar. The involvement of all stakeholders in the provision
of safety for our children should remain a priority.
Young people are expected to occupy the centre stage in
the fight against crime. The Youth Crime Prevention Summit was convened during
the last financial year to give young people a platform to engage and dialogue
on issues of common interest as we seek solutions to the fight against crime. We
are excited with the success of the Summit and we hope the resolutions and the
declaration adopted by young people will finally define the path they should
take in working together with government.
Mr Speaker, we are constitutionally obligated to monitor
the performance of the South African Police Service. The monitoring and
evaluation for effectiveness and efficiency of the police was conducted in all
police stations in the province.
The evaluation results revealed that 15 stations out of 85
stations were performing below average while the majority were performing at a
satisfactory level and only a few at an exceptional level. The overall Best
Station was Schoemansdal, headed by a women followed by Amsterdam Police
Station. Other police stations were also awarded in different categories.
The performance of police stations was acknowledged
through the MEC’s Excellence Awards held in Secunda. The intention of this
exercise is also to boost the morale of the police members. An intervention plan
has been developed for the poor performing police stations so that they too
improve their performance.
Mr Speaker, the preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
are well on course. Let me take this opportunity and assure the communities that
we are ready to ensure safety and security during this soccer spectacular. The
SAPS is ready to provide its services and make sure that everyone is safe. More
than a thousand (1400) police officials will be deployed at the different venues
such as the Mbombela Stadium, FIFA Fan Park, Public Viewing Areas, Hotels and
the Base Camp of the visiting team, Chile. The South African National Defence
Force will also be deployed to assist the SAPS during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Mr Speaker, a total of 553 bed space is reserved at
Nelspruit Correctional Centre for all those who will be found on the wrong side
of law. 505 bed spaces are reserved for male offenders and 48 bed spaces are
reserved for female offenders. All detention space will be separated according
to prescribed categories of incarceration such as juveniles, females and males
and isolation for special circumstances act. To create the space, we have
transferred sentenced offenders from Nelspruit Correctional Centre to other
correctional centres within the province.
In terms of ensuring that justice is seen to be done and
law prevails, a regional 2010 FIFA World Cup committee is in place to deal among
other things the smooth running of the dedicated courts that will be operating
at the Host City. Two dedicated courts have been established at the magistrates
court in Nelspruit which will be operational two weeks before, during and two
weeks after the event. One dedicated court has been established at Nsikazi for
this purpose as well.
The department of Home Affairs is ready to clear all
people coming for the soccer tournament. The following are the identified FIFA
Ports of Entry in Mpumalanga: Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, Lebombo
Border Post, Mananga Port, Oshoek, Mahamba, Emahlathini and Jeppes Reef Ports of
Entry.
Allow me to take this opportunity and wish our province a
safe and secure 2010 FIFA World Cup. Over and above as we witness Bafana Bafana
lifting the trophy, the appeal is to all our people to behave and enjoy
themselves. Indeed, we are determined that at the end of the games, we will be
the winners.
Mr Speaker, allow me to take this opportunity and present
the budget allocation for the Department of Safety, Security and Liaison for the
2010/2011 financial year. The Department has been allocated an amount of R111
438 million.
Mr Speaker we have set milestones for ourselves for the
2010/2011 financial year. We have given reasons for setting these milestones. We
are now required to gear ourselves towards ensuring that these milestones are
achieved.
In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity and
extend my gratitude to the Premier of the Province, Honourable DD Mabuza and his
Executive Council, the Provincial Legislature and Members of the Portfolio
Committee for their continued support to the department and the advices they
also offer in assisting the department achieving the provincial objectives.
The dedication by departmental officials led by the Head
of Department, Mr Isaiah Khoza, gives hope that if we continue to work together
as a team, we can succeed to maximise our performance as we seek to ensure safer
and secured communities. The unwavering commitment by members of the Justice
Crime Prevention and Security Cluster is encouraging. Importantly let me take
this opportunity and extend my appreciation to my family for being the pillar of
strength to all the challenges encountered during the course of my work and the
staff in the Office of the MEC for their undivided support.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Safety, Security and Liaison; Mpumalanga Provincial Government
