New SAPS plan to tackle crime

POLICE commissioner Khehla Sitole will be knocking on the door of the National Treasury with cap in hand to ask for funds to implement his ambitious turnaround plan amid the slashing of departmental budgets.

This emerged when the top brass of the SAPS made a presentation of the plan to Parliament’s police portfolio committee in the absence of Sitole, who was attending the cabinet lekgotla in Pretoria.

The committee heard that performance targets set out in the turnaround plan were not part of the 2018-19 budget, which is to be tabled after April.

It is, however, envisioned that the plan’s targets will be incorporated in next budget cycle for the upcoming medium-term expenditure framework period.

The plan, presented by Major-General Leon Rabie, redefines the strategic direction of the SAPS and also ensures “the police do things right”.

Rabie said the plan was not doing away with their “back to basics” approach.

“It is to use the foundation laid out, and build on it. We are not at a point to say we have a secure, crimefree environment,” he told parliamentarians.

He also said the SAPS needed to ensure they created a safe and secure socioeconomic environment.

“We need to mobilise resources according to the prevailing crime threats,” he said.

At the centre of Sitole’s plan is asserting the authority of the state, responsive investigation of every crime, efficient utilisation of resources and crime intelligence-driven policing.

“We are not always doing things the way we are supposed to,” Rabie said.

Sitole’s turnaround plan also spoke to the role of communities and government entities, as well as defining the role of the SAPS in the implementation of priorities contained in the National Development Plan.

However, MPs were shocked to learn that the plan’s performance targets would not form part of the budget plans to be tabled in the financial year starting in March.

Instead, the annual performance plan will have a chapter highlighting the targets.

Committee chairperson Francois Beukman said if the performance targets were not linked to the budget, they remained a wish list.

The Freedom Front Plus’s Petrus Groenewald said he had lost count of turnaround plans in the SAPS.

“The proof of the eating is in the pudding. We will see,” he said.

Groenewald also complained about a lack of reference to the establishment of specialised units.

“If we are to effectively fight crime, we need more specialised units,” Groenewald said.