Date: 05/05/2005
Source: Ministry of Safety and Security
Title: Nqakula: Parliamentary Media Briefing, May 2005
JCPS Cluster Media Briefing
This briefing endeavours to provide an overview and update of the Justice Crime Prevention & Security (JCPS) cluster work as defined for Cabinet at the January Lekgotla. We are satisfied with the progress achieved in terms of the targets and objectives set. Of course there are challenges that still need attention. However, the holistic approach to address matters of security and crime and justice are yielding positive results.
Developing a National Security Framework
The Ministry for Intelligence will hold between May 18 and 20 a broad consultative conference that will involve business and civil society. The three-day conference is another step towards developing a national security strategy. The first conference involving largely government departments was held in October last year.
Experts in the fields of economics, mining, IT, environment and human security, among others, will present at the forth coming forum. The outcomes will be integrated into a national security framework to be presented to Cabinet at the July Lekgotla.
The review of the national security policy comes after ten years of democracy and allows for a broad spectrum of groups to put their issues on the national agenda.
Feedback on the progress made to improve capacity in the intelligence community will be given when the Minister presents the Budget Vote of the Intelligence Services on 17 May.
Confiscating and destroying illegal firearms
The amnesty for possession of illegal firearms and ammunition was extended for a further three months from April 1 until 30 June 2005. It should be noted that the amnesty is for possession of illegal firearms and not for crimes that may have been committed with them. Consequently, all firearms handed in are subjected to ballistic tests in order to determine if any can be linked to crimes that are under investigation.
A total of 71879 firearms were removed from circulation between 1 January 2005 and the end of April 2005. During that period 12 592 illegal firearms were confiscated by the police while a total of 25 407 illegal firearms were handed in for amnesty purposes. There were 33880 licensed firearms that were surrendered voluntarily to the police by legal owners.
Arresting the Top 200
As indicated in our media briefing in February the law enforcement agencies were seeking to apprehend 32 criminals to complete the arrest of the 200 top criminals. These are suspects who had committed at least two or more crimes of murder, rape, robbery, cash in transit and bank robberies as well as other commercial and organised crime.
The 32 outstanding were wanted for crimes in the following categories:
Violent Crime = 1
Commercial Crime = 2
Organised Crime = 29
Joint task teams of the DSO (Scorpions) and SAPS were formed and the remainder of the 32 suspects have all been arrested.
Phasing out of Commandos
The Police’s drive further to increase their capacity is going to be enhanced by the recruitment of commando members whose units are being phased out in keeping with government policy. Many of these members will have the opportunity to be recruited into the revised SA Police Service reservist system. They will be recruited to perform the following functions:
* Functional policing at our police stations;
* Support services;
* Specialised functional policing as part of the Area Crime Combating Units and the Detective Services, and
* Rural and Urban Safety.
The reservists, therefore, will be deployed as part of the programme to reduce crime in the 169 priority areas as well as implement specific operational concepts such as rural protection.
It is envisaged that those commando members who are interested to join the SA Police Service reservist system will be deployed as part of decentralised Area Combating Units at station level, sector policing, crime scene first responders, intervention units, reaction forces and for the purpose of analysing crime at sector level. Between 700 and 800 members have indicated their interest to become part of the reservist system.
Transforming the justice system
Regarding the transformation of the justice system in general, we have set a process in place to develop a policy framework or blueprint to guide the transformation process. The blueprint will be submitted to Cabinet, together with key legislative proposals to fast track the transformation process before the end of August 2005.
We have created an environment for robust and vibrant discourse on the transformation of the judiciary. The matter is the subject of ongoing discussions of the Judicial Services Commission and the Magistrates’ Commission and the Heads of Courts, which is an informal structure to facilitate discussions on substantive transformational issues.
The transformation initiatives include development of a comprehensive Human Resource Development strategy to enhance the pool from which women and black practitioners can be prepared for appointment to the bench and to advance career mobility in the Department and within the Justice family at large.
The Heads of Courts have acknowledged the existence of elements of racism within the judicial system. A special committee has been established to investigate the extent to which racism exists within the judiciary and will submit a report to the Chief Justice in due course.
Finalising the Service Charter for Victims of Crime
The Service Charter for Victims as well as the Service Charter for minimum standards was approved by Cabinet and officially launched in Umlazi KZN, on 29 November 2004. A Steering Committee consisting of various directorates in Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has been formed to monitor the implementation of the Charter.
Since the beginning of this year the project of training the trainers has been completed in the following relevant government departments:
Justice and Constitutional Development
Safety and Security
Health
Education
Social Development
Correctional Services
In addition 4,000 officials from the Justice College, the Human Rights Commission and other departments were trained. It is also planned that some of the magistrates will be trained.
Protecting our Children (Child Justice Bill)
The Child Justice Bill has been redrafted and has been resubmitted to Parliament.
Specific interventions to address the backlog of cases pending trial include the shifting away from the correctional detention centres places of children in trouble with the law.
Children awaiting trial will be placed under home based supervision, in places of safety or back in the care of parents or caregivers. Three Child Justice Centres have been established in Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Port Nolloth.
The Minister of Justice will elaborate further on the Child Justice Bill and other initiatives when she presents her Budget Vote Address on 17 May.
Rehabilitation of Inmates
The overcrowding of correctional centres is an international phenomenon that South Africa is also grappling with. The Department of Corrections Services is working on the following initiatives to address this problem:
* Establishment of 36 Correctional Centres of Excellence as part of the implementation of the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa
* Encouraging debate that will contribute to a new sentencing framework that will reduce the prison population
* Enhance the utilisation of information and communication technologies to improve the security and safety of inmates such as the tracking system for awaiting trial detainees.
The Department is in the process of a large-scale recruitment and training drive. At present 1000 new personnel is being trained and 2000 more are being recruited.
New generation correctional centres
Construction work has started regarding the new generation correctional centres. There are two pilot private correctional centres that have been established in Mangaung and Kuntama Sinthumule which are being evaluated for effectiveness sand efficiency within three months by a special transaction adviser. The Report of the Transaction Advisor will help to define the approach the department will adopt in the construction of the next four correctional centres expected to start in 2007.
Remission of Sentences
As announced by the Minister for Correctional Services, there are certain categories of inmates who are going to be granted remission. These are offenders who do not pose a serious threat to the public.
Inmates granted remission will be linked to community corrections and supervision and will be carefully monitored. Any indication of abuse of it will result in the immediate re-incarceration of such persons.
Bringing services closer to the people
Mobile Units
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will take delivery on 13 May of the first 10 of an initial 67 mobile units which are fully equipped to provide services to people in remote areas, and particularly those areas insufficiently covered by existing fixed offices.
These units will provide the full range of Home Affairs civic and immigration services, including birth, marriage and death registration; ID and passport applications; immigration permit applications and so on. This will include the issuing of on- the- spot certificates and documents.
Transforming Immigration in South Africa
The Department launched the National Immigration Branch (NIB) on 12 April 2005. The ushering in of the new immigration regime in South Africa seeks amongst other things to; improve the exercise of control over the entry in, stay in and departure of foreigners in South Africa as regulated by the Immigration and Refugee Acts.
The transformation of the immigration service will also seek to give a concrete resonance to a myriad of government’s objectives. First, it seeks to discourage illegal migration into South Africa by encouraging foreign nationals to apply for different permits to legalise their stay in the country. Second, it also intends to create an enabling environment for foreign direct investment into South Africa and lastly, to attract scarce skills required by the economy in accordance with the 2014 vision of eradicating poverty and underdevelopment.
The NIB will create an effective, efficient, professional and friendlier immigration system that will facilitate of movement of goods, services and people.
Immigration Regulations
The Immigration Amendment Act (Act No 19 of 2004) signed by the President on 12 October 2004 places an obligation on government to regulate admission to, residence in and departure from the Republic.
To implement the Act, the Draft Immigration Regulations were published for public comment in the Government Gazette on 31 January 2005. The Regulations provide for the application of the requirements of the Act; the forms to be completed; the fees to be paid and financial requirements necessary for certain permits, as well as the conditions which may be imposed on permit holders. The Regulations will be presented to Cabinet and when approved will come into effect, ushering in therefore, a new immigration regime in South Africa.
Home Affairs National Identity System (HANIS)
The Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS) is an integrated identification system of all people in the Republic -citizens and- visitors alike. The three pillars of HANIS are the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), System Integration and Smart ID Card.
The HANIS Project will facilitate all application processes, enabling a quick, reliable and secure system of identification and delivery of services. The Department of Home Affairs has begun the implementation of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and has thus far converted 2,85 million of an estimated 30 million paper-based fingerprint records to the HANIS system.
Cabinet will soon be approached to endorse further plans with respect to the roll out of the Smart Identification Card agreed to in 2001.The Smart ID card will replace the green bar coded ID. It is envisaged that the first Smart ID cards will be issued by the end of 2006. The first recipients of the cards will be beneficiaries of the state social development grants.
Refugee Smart ID card
Given that South Africa is a signatory to both the UN Convention on Refugees and the OAU Convention on Refugees, the Department of Home Affairs, at all times seeks to comply with the obligation to treat refugees in a humane manner. One of the innovations in the transformation of the immigration service is the imminent introduction of the Refugee Smart ID Card. This card will be issued to all recognised refugees in South Africa estimated at 40 000 and will therefore replace the existing Refugee ID Book. The new Refugee ID card is a highly secure identification tool which provides offline verification (chip & fingerprint) and therefore will be difficult and expensive to forge.
Improving the Continental Environment
One of the challenges identified by government in the next ten years is the improvement of the regional environment.
In keeping with this strategic objective, members of the South African National Defence Force have been deployed in our continent to contribute to peacekeeping, democracy and capacity building efforts.
The biggest deployment of SANDF personnel has been in the DRC since December 2000, where a total of 1347 personnel are stationed. They are performing duties ranging from Emergency Work and integration and training on the one hand, to Infantry Battalion duties.
The next biggest deployment is in Burundi where SANDF personnel have been active since August 2004. The majority of the personnel formed part of the United Nations contingent. The remainder of the SANDF group performs VIP Protection duties as part of an AU Mission. This year, 277 SANDF personnel were deployed to Sudan, partly as military observers and partly as an Infantry Protector company.
With regard to deployment in Sudan, the first two teams consisting of 18 members from the South African Police Services (SAPS) were deployed in March this year. The teams comprised a Director who has been appointed as Commissioner of African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) Civilian Police and twelve operational members. It is envisaged that another team of approximately 40 members will be deployed later this month.
As government, we recently hosted the South Africa/DRC Bi-National Commission. South Africa has for some time played a significant role in the consolidation of the African agenda to put the continent t on the path to sustainable economic development and political stability. The Minister of Home Affairs and her counterpart signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Population and Immigration Matters as well as a Statement of Intent on Election Matters in November last year to enable the two IECs to formalise their cooperation in preparation for the National General Elections in the DRC.
Following the signing of these MOUs, senior Officials in the Department were deployed in the DRC to finalise the material assessment and needs on the ground with their DRC counterparts. The training of DRC Officials on the appropriate systems and capacity building relating to immigration and population will be conducted in South Africa in September this year.
Issued by: Ministry of Safety and Security
5 May 2005
Source: Ministry of Safety and Security
Title: Nqakula: Parliamentary Media Briefing, May 2005
JCPS Cluster Media Briefing
This briefing endeavours to provide an overview and update of the Justice Crime Prevention & Security (JCPS) cluster work as defined for Cabinet at the January Lekgotla. We are satisfied with the progress achieved in terms of the targets and objectives set. Of course there are challenges that still need attention. However, the holistic approach to address matters of security and crime and justice are yielding positive results.
Developing a National Security Framework
The Ministry for Intelligence will hold between May 18 and 20 a broad consultative conference that will involve business and civil society. The three-day conference is another step towards developing a national security strategy. The first conference involving largely government departments was held in October last year.
Experts in the fields of economics, mining, IT, environment and human security, among others, will present at the forth coming forum. The outcomes will be integrated into a national security framework to be presented to Cabinet at the July Lekgotla.
The review of the national security policy comes after ten years of democracy and allows for a broad spectrum of groups to put their issues on the national agenda.
Feedback on the progress made to improve capacity in the intelligence community will be given when the Minister presents the Budget Vote of the Intelligence Services on 17 May.
Confiscating and destroying illegal firearms
The amnesty for possession of illegal firearms and ammunition was extended for a further three months from April 1 until 30 June 2005. It should be noted that the amnesty is for possession of illegal firearms and not for crimes that may have been committed with them. Consequently, all firearms handed in are subjected to ballistic tests in order to determine if any can be linked to crimes that are under investigation.
A total of 71879 firearms were removed from circulation between 1 January 2005 and the end of April 2005. During that period 12 592 illegal firearms were confiscated by the police while a total of 25 407 illegal firearms were handed in for amnesty purposes. There were 33880 licensed firearms that were surrendered voluntarily to the police by legal owners.
Arresting the Top 200
As indicated in our media briefing in February the law enforcement agencies were seeking to apprehend 32 criminals to complete the arrest of the 200 top criminals. These are suspects who had committed at least two or more crimes of murder, rape, robbery, cash in transit and bank robberies as well as other commercial and organised crime.
The 32 outstanding were wanted for crimes in the following categories:
Violent Crime = 1
Commercial Crime = 2
Organised Crime = 29
Joint task teams of the DSO (Scorpions) and SAPS were formed and the remainder of the 32 suspects have all been arrested.
Phasing out of Commandos
The Police’s drive further to increase their capacity is going to be enhanced by the recruitment of commando members whose units are being phased out in keeping with government policy. Many of these members will have the opportunity to be recruited into the revised SA Police Service reservist system. They will be recruited to perform the following functions:
* Functional policing at our police stations;
* Support services;
* Specialised functional policing as part of the Area Crime Combating Units and the Detective Services, and
* Rural and Urban Safety.
The reservists, therefore, will be deployed as part of the programme to reduce crime in the 169 priority areas as well as implement specific operational concepts such as rural protection.
It is envisaged that those commando members who are interested to join the SA Police Service reservist system will be deployed as part of decentralised Area Combating Units at station level, sector policing, crime scene first responders, intervention units, reaction forces and for the purpose of analysing crime at sector level. Between 700 and 800 members have indicated their interest to become part of the reservist system.
Transforming the justice system
Regarding the transformation of the justice system in general, we have set a process in place to develop a policy framework or blueprint to guide the transformation process. The blueprint will be submitted to Cabinet, together with key legislative proposals to fast track the transformation process before the end of August 2005.
We have created an environment for robust and vibrant discourse on the transformation of the judiciary. The matter is the subject of ongoing discussions of the Judicial Services Commission and the Magistrates’ Commission and the Heads of Courts, which is an informal structure to facilitate discussions on substantive transformational issues.
The transformation initiatives include development of a comprehensive Human Resource Development strategy to enhance the pool from which women and black practitioners can be prepared for appointment to the bench and to advance career mobility in the Department and within the Justice family at large.
The Heads of Courts have acknowledged the existence of elements of racism within the judicial system. A special committee has been established to investigate the extent to which racism exists within the judiciary and will submit a report to the Chief Justice in due course.
Finalising the Service Charter for Victims of Crime
The Service Charter for Victims as well as the Service Charter for minimum standards was approved by Cabinet and officially launched in Umlazi KZN, on 29 November 2004. A Steering Committee consisting of various directorates in Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has been formed to monitor the implementation of the Charter.
Since the beginning of this year the project of training the trainers has been completed in the following relevant government departments:
Justice and Constitutional Development
Safety and Security
Health
Education
Social Development
Correctional Services
In addition 4,000 officials from the Justice College, the Human Rights Commission and other departments were trained. It is also planned that some of the magistrates will be trained.
Protecting our Children (Child Justice Bill)
The Child Justice Bill has been redrafted and has been resubmitted to Parliament.
Specific interventions to address the backlog of cases pending trial include the shifting away from the correctional detention centres places of children in trouble with the law.
Children awaiting trial will be placed under home based supervision, in places of safety or back in the care of parents or caregivers. Three Child Justice Centres have been established in Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Port Nolloth.
The Minister of Justice will elaborate further on the Child Justice Bill and other initiatives when she presents her Budget Vote Address on 17 May.
Rehabilitation of Inmates
The overcrowding of correctional centres is an international phenomenon that South Africa is also grappling with. The Department of Corrections Services is working on the following initiatives to address this problem:
* Establishment of 36 Correctional Centres of Excellence as part of the implementation of the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa
* Encouraging debate that will contribute to a new sentencing framework that will reduce the prison population
* Enhance the utilisation of information and communication technologies to improve the security and safety of inmates such as the tracking system for awaiting trial detainees.
The Department is in the process of a large-scale recruitment and training drive. At present 1000 new personnel is being trained and 2000 more are being recruited.
New generation correctional centres
Construction work has started regarding the new generation correctional centres. There are two pilot private correctional centres that have been established in Mangaung and Kuntama Sinthumule which are being evaluated for effectiveness sand efficiency within three months by a special transaction adviser. The Report of the Transaction Advisor will help to define the approach the department will adopt in the construction of the next four correctional centres expected to start in 2007.
Remission of Sentences
As announced by the Minister for Correctional Services, there are certain categories of inmates who are going to be granted remission. These are offenders who do not pose a serious threat to the public.
Inmates granted remission will be linked to community corrections and supervision and will be carefully monitored. Any indication of abuse of it will result in the immediate re-incarceration of such persons.
Bringing services closer to the people
Mobile Units
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will take delivery on 13 May of the first 10 of an initial 67 mobile units which are fully equipped to provide services to people in remote areas, and particularly those areas insufficiently covered by existing fixed offices.
These units will provide the full range of Home Affairs civic and immigration services, including birth, marriage and death registration; ID and passport applications; immigration permit applications and so on. This will include the issuing of on- the- spot certificates and documents.
Transforming Immigration in South Africa
The Department launched the National Immigration Branch (NIB) on 12 April 2005. The ushering in of the new immigration regime in South Africa seeks amongst other things to; improve the exercise of control over the entry in, stay in and departure of foreigners in South Africa as regulated by the Immigration and Refugee Acts.
The transformation of the immigration service will also seek to give a concrete resonance to a myriad of government’s objectives. First, it seeks to discourage illegal migration into South Africa by encouraging foreign nationals to apply for different permits to legalise their stay in the country. Second, it also intends to create an enabling environment for foreign direct investment into South Africa and lastly, to attract scarce skills required by the economy in accordance with the 2014 vision of eradicating poverty and underdevelopment.
The NIB will create an effective, efficient, professional and friendlier immigration system that will facilitate of movement of goods, services and people.
Immigration Regulations
The Immigration Amendment Act (Act No 19 of 2004) signed by the President on 12 October 2004 places an obligation on government to regulate admission to, residence in and departure from the Republic.
To implement the Act, the Draft Immigration Regulations were published for public comment in the Government Gazette on 31 January 2005. The Regulations provide for the application of the requirements of the Act; the forms to be completed; the fees to be paid and financial requirements necessary for certain permits, as well as the conditions which may be imposed on permit holders. The Regulations will be presented to Cabinet and when approved will come into effect, ushering in therefore, a new immigration regime in South Africa.
Home Affairs National Identity System (HANIS)
The Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS) is an integrated identification system of all people in the Republic -citizens and- visitors alike. The three pillars of HANIS are the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), System Integration and Smart ID Card.
The HANIS Project will facilitate all application processes, enabling a quick, reliable and secure system of identification and delivery of services. The Department of Home Affairs has begun the implementation of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and has thus far converted 2,85 million of an estimated 30 million paper-based fingerprint records to the HANIS system.
Cabinet will soon be approached to endorse further plans with respect to the roll out of the Smart Identification Card agreed to in 2001.The Smart ID card will replace the green bar coded ID. It is envisaged that the first Smart ID cards will be issued by the end of 2006. The first recipients of the cards will be beneficiaries of the state social development grants.
Refugee Smart ID card
Given that South Africa is a signatory to both the UN Convention on Refugees and the OAU Convention on Refugees, the Department of Home Affairs, at all times seeks to comply with the obligation to treat refugees in a humane manner. One of the innovations in the transformation of the immigration service is the imminent introduction of the Refugee Smart ID Card. This card will be issued to all recognised refugees in South Africa estimated at 40 000 and will therefore replace the existing Refugee ID Book. The new Refugee ID card is a highly secure identification tool which provides offline verification (chip & fingerprint) and therefore will be difficult and expensive to forge.
Improving the Continental Environment
One of the challenges identified by government in the next ten years is the improvement of the regional environment.
In keeping with this strategic objective, members of the South African National Defence Force have been deployed in our continent to contribute to peacekeeping, democracy and capacity building efforts.
The biggest deployment of SANDF personnel has been in the DRC since December 2000, where a total of 1347 personnel are stationed. They are performing duties ranging from Emergency Work and integration and training on the one hand, to Infantry Battalion duties.
The next biggest deployment is in Burundi where SANDF personnel have been active since August 2004. The majority of the personnel formed part of the United Nations contingent. The remainder of the SANDF group performs VIP Protection duties as part of an AU Mission. This year, 277 SANDF personnel were deployed to Sudan, partly as military observers and partly as an Infantry Protector company.
With regard to deployment in Sudan, the first two teams consisting of 18 members from the South African Police Services (SAPS) were deployed in March this year. The teams comprised a Director who has been appointed as Commissioner of African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) Civilian Police and twelve operational members. It is envisaged that another team of approximately 40 members will be deployed later this month.
As government, we recently hosted the South Africa/DRC Bi-National Commission. South Africa has for some time played a significant role in the consolidation of the African agenda to put the continent t on the path to sustainable economic development and political stability. The Minister of Home Affairs and her counterpart signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Population and Immigration Matters as well as a Statement of Intent on Election Matters in November last year to enable the two IECs to formalise their cooperation in preparation for the National General Elections in the DRC.
Following the signing of these MOUs, senior Officials in the Department were deployed in the DRC to finalise the material assessment and needs on the ground with their DRC counterparts. The training of DRC Officials on the appropriate systems and capacity building relating to immigration and population will be conducted in South Africa in September this year.
Issued by: Ministry of Safety and Security
5 May 2005
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