NYANGA POLICE STATION

1. NYANGA POLICE STATION 10 September 2014

2. INTRODUCTION • Three common issues emanating from oversight visit to the Nyanga and Philippi police stations that affects most stations countrywide: • Inadequate resourcing • Crime Intelligence capacity • Management of sick leave • Positive

3. RESOURCE ALLOCATION GUIDE (RAG) • As recent as March 2014, the SAPS indicated that the RAG will be reviewed annually • And that its is a theoretical calculator for police stations. It has been reviewed and is utilised as the source for the Standardization and Normalization of the Staff Establishment. (Human Resource Establishment Committee) • According to the latest information provided by the SAPS, it has introduced a fixed establishment (FE) methodology and has done away with the RAG. • A SAPS report will be provided to the Committee during September 2014

4. RESOURCE ALLOCATION GUIDE (RAG) • According to Mr Makasi (CPF Secretary: Nyanga), the following promises were made at a meeting in May 2014 with the entire Provincial Management led by then Acting Provincial Commissioner Maj. Gen. Burger: • RAG is under review and its changed into fixed establishment (FE); • Nyanga has enough personnel but the Province will relook at the issue of human resources vis-à-vis quality and quantity; and • All Nyanga vehicles will be prioritized at the SAPS garage.

5. QUESTIONS ON THE RESOURCE ALLOCATION GUIDE (RAG) • The Committee should request the Department to provide a solid and final explanation on how resources will be allocated in future, if the RAG is done away with. • Does the fixed establishment methodology only apply to human resources? • Will other resources be allocated on a different basis? • Will the Asset Registry method be used for the allocation of vehicles to stations and how is this strategy different to the RAG? • The Committee should ask whether the revision of the RAG regarding Ports of Entry, Railway Police and other operational units will go ahead. Earlier this year, the SAPS stated that ‘upon conclusion (of the RAG review), submission of the Committee will be effected on the budgetary requirements’. The Committee should ask whether the budgetary requirements are available. • The Committee should request the SAPS to elaborate on the function of the SAPS Human Resource Management Committee. It should also request the achievements made by the HRM Committee to date. • The Committee should request an explanation on the Standardisation and normalization of the SAPS Staff Establishment.

6. CRIME INTELLIGENCE • Neither the Nyanga, nor the Philippi police station had Crime Intelligence Officers deployed at the stations. However, the SAPS stated that the stations had Crime Information Officers (CIO). • Briefs the station commander on crime threats, patterns and challenges. These officers are supposedly crime intelligence gatherers.   • In March 2014, the SAPS reported the following: • The current Crime Intelligence structure provides for crime intelligence gatherers at both police station levels and cluster levels (covert). • Each cluster has a dedicated capacity for gatherers. • An audit of vacancies was completed at police stations and cluster level, and will be confirmed as part of the Standardization and Normalization of the staff establishment. • It is important to note that intelligence and information are not synonyms. Information is raw data, through observation and the like. Context and value must be added to the raw information. Intelligence is the product of information that have been analysed and refined in order to make that information useful to steer operations/policy making.

7. QUESTIONS ON CRIME INTELLIGENCE • The SAPS should explain their understanding of information vs intelligence. To state that each station have crime intelligence gatherers is somewhat concerning - is it not more appropriate to refer to information gatherers and not intelligence gatherers? • The SAPS should explain how the information gathered at station level is analysed and refined to produce intelligence at station level? Or is this done at Cluster level? • It is generally accepted that all SAPS officers/members should be information gatherers. In this regard, the SAPS should explain how they are utilizing all SAPS members to gather information and how the information is harnessed. Is there a process where officers can pass their information to the Crime Information Officer (CIO)? • The Committee should request the Department to explain the revised allocation of Crime Intelligence capacity at police station level.

8. SICK LEAVE Abuse of sick leave The current system now includes the four rest days after sick leave was taken, which exhausts sick leave much quicker. According to the Human Resource Manager at the Nyanga police station, this has impacted positively on SAPS members no longer abusing sick leave and is no longer a major challenge for the SAPS.

9. QUESTIONS ON SICK LEAVE • The Committee should request the SAPS to provide the written report on the Turnaround Strategy for sick leave as requested by the previous Committee in order to understand the rationale for the change and also the manner in which it was changed. • The Committee should also request that the SAPS provide the analytical report on the impact abuse of sick leave had and is still having on the SAPS. • The Committee should remind the SAPS that the average sick leave for police should be included in the 2013/14 Annual Report.

10. Nicolette van Zyl-Gous Researcher: PC on Police 021 403 8416 nvanzyl-gous@parliament.gov.za