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Question no: 1002
Mrs D Schäfer (DA) to ask the Minister of Police:
(1) (a) When will the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) officially be reconstituted and (b) what are the costs involved in re-instating these units;
(2) whether trained staff that previously manned the FCS units will be re-employed in the new unit; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether this re-instated specialised unit will be any different from the disbanded FCS units; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) whether the old premises will be used for these new units; if not, (a) why not and (b) which premises will be used?
Reply:
(1)(a) There are Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units and specialised individuals at cluster or station level. The South African Police Service is at present in the process of discussing various options regarding the detective service structures at station, province and national levels which makes provision for dedicated FCS investigation and monitoring capacity.
(1)(b) Not in position to respond, the process of budgeting and costing will be determined after finalisation of the strength of the unit.
(2) The FCS trained staff that previously worked at the FCS units based at area level are the same staff used at cluster or station level investigating FCS related cases.
(3) The FCS capacity will be more easily accessible to the communities they serve and there will be an increased capacity to investigate a manageable workload. It will also enhance command and control.
(4) We are currently in a process of re-assessing the accommodation of all the units.