1. Mpumalanga Oversight Visit Status Report
Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Police

2. Introduction PCOP visited the Mpumalanga Province on 2-6 February 2015
The purpose of the visit was to:
Check the Role of SAPS at Lebombo Border Post
Check on Role of SAPS in the Anti-Rhino Poaching Task Team
Visit police stations in Nelspruit
Check on the functioning of the Public Order Police Unit in Hazyview
Visit the Independent Police Investigative Directorate
The Committee also visited the Provincial Head Office of SAPS
The visits formed part of Parliament’s Oversight Week

3. Findings: SAPS Mpumalanga
Provincial garages are taking up to 3 weeks to fix vehicles
Province only has 309 vehicles in service
Provincial discrepancy of 251 vehicles
Province has an official shortage of 193 vehicles
Nelspruit garage evicted from premises, waiting for DPW with implementation of R/246
Need provincial accommodation of offices for the Units in the province
Members working in the corridors of buildings
RAG is not taking into account the growth of informal settlements
Shortage of human and material resources

4. Findings: Lebombo Border Post
No offices are provided to the police
Policing needs are largely ignored during construction
The borderline is not properly secured
The police members are exposed to a unhealthy work environment with no adequate shelter with temperatures of between degrees Celsius; No toilets in the immediate vicinity
Dust is a major problem because the side of the road is gravel at the border post
When it rains, the searching stops
Unavailability of a scanner to check bulk cargo, so it goes unsearched
There is a shortage of members during the Easter and Festive season periods
The proposed one stop border post is not in place due to legal impediments raised by the SAPS and has not been operationalised.

5. Lebombo Border Post Require 9 dog handlers – only 3 available
Negligible amount of illegal firearms and drugs seized
Shortage of members, require 50 members
Fence is broken and not fixed along certain areas on 62 km border
Lack of visibility of senior managers
Integrity and commitment of staff a major issue
Traffic jams add to backlogs
DPW can assist with infrastructure – arrivals hall roof leaking

6. Findings: Anti-Rhino Poaching Team
827 rhino carcasses found in KNP in 2014, estimated figure will be 1025
Numbers of poachers are growing
4% chance of being caught
Estimated poacher force is 5000
179 weapons recovered in KNP
174 poachers arrested, 77 in Mozambique
Crime syndicates take up to five years to take down
Arresting the level 1’s
Need more intelligence (+ 1 million people), KNP 2000 staff

7. Anti-Rhino Task Team Need to clear the KNP from the outside
Integrity testing for ranger core proceeding
The majority of arrested poachers are from Mozambique
Nothing happening in levels 4-5 (end - users)
Complexity of investigations
Small proactive crime intelligence capacity (2 persons)
Debriefing discussed, not implemented
Rangers arrested, integrity tests for all staff on project
Polygraph testing for all staff on the project

8. Anti-Poaching Rhino Task Team
One helicopter with 2 crew (not dedicated)
Considering fixed wing aircraft to assist
Establishing a capability to police outside the KNP
NPA is main decision maker after arrest of suspects, 86 cases on the court roll
Prosecutors want to close the court at Skukuza, need for a court
Morpho Touch not operational, replaced by Max ID –check availability
New policy being developed on Polygraph test
KNP not a National Keypoint

9. Findings: Public Order Policing Hazyview
Serves 5 clusters: Acornhoek, Pienaar, Lyndenberg, Nelspruit and Tonga
Huge challenges with distances
Driving distances to areas:
Nelspruit 60km (1 hour)
Malelane 104km (1 hour, 31 minutes)
Acornhoek 70km (1 hour, 15 minutes)
Lydenburg 100km (1 hour, 25 minutes)
Barbeton 105km (1 hour, 38 minutes)
Komatipoort 160km (2 hours, 30 minutes)
Tonga 170km (2 hours, 40 minutes)
Mbuzini 220km (3 hours)

10. Public Order Policing Unit
60 staff members, all 60 trained in crowd management
13 vehicles, 8 Nyalas (7 not serviceable) – centralisation of garage management
Only 1 Nyala vehicle is operational
Using parade hall for office accommodation
A conference room is required
Only 2 members on standby in operational room after hours (1 information manager)
Need reserve platoon to be 145 members, to be 4 platoons
Shortage of IT equipment – hand held radios, cellphones, commanders laptop
Requires earpieces for their radios
Section leaders require cellphones

11. Public Order Policing
Requested the old court room be transferred to POPs for accommodation
Require the unit to be 381 members
No Inspectorate report on POPS, last inspected in 2005
Granted is 95 members on the fixed establishment, short of 33 members
There is no accommodation or barracks for members, renting in the community
Directive for old POPs members to be recruited
Require double-cab bakkies

12. Findings: Nelspruit Police Station
237 SAPS Act members
56 Public Service Act members
Short of 14 members i.t.o. fixed establishment
Detectives, 56
40 investigators, 16 in crime office
Shortage of 10 members
44 Vehicles, supposed to have 70

13. Nelspruit SAPS Poor management of NRTA at taxi rank (issue conflict)
Dependence at DPW since station is a non-devolved station
Accommodation for members
Too many events that affect policing
Conflict between SAPS and NPA over refusal to prosecute
Corruption
Certification of documents
Police station is used as an overnight place of safety for the homeless
No parking facilities
Blood Samples - Department of Health (drunken driving)
Probation officers from DSD is not available for Child Justice Act

14. Progress Update

15. Progress Update

16. Update…