Conference Report: Policing in South Africa: 2010 and Beyond
Dr Cilliers officially opened the workshop and began his presentation by noting the many exciting developments in policing in the recent past, starting with the appointment of the Honourable Minister Nathi Mthethwa and the National Commissioner of Police, General Bheki Cele. He reflected that their appointments had contributed to a new dynamic in the police service. In particular
he noted that the minister had referred to developing constructive partnerships in policing and dealing with crime.
Dr Cilliers briefly sketched the background of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), stating that it was one of the largest independent research organisations in
Africa, with offi ces in four countries and projects in 40 different countries in 2009. Besides its studies on crime and justice in South Africa, other ISS programmes focus on international crime, peacebuilding and conflict prevention in Africa, as well as organised crime and money laundering, and corruption and governance.
As an example of the regional crime focus, Dr Cilliers noted that the ISS had recently completed a survey on the state of organised crime in southern Africa for the South African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO), and has a programme on cattle rustling at its Nairobi office. The ISS has worked through the SARPCCO structures in Harare on a number of projects and has helped raise funds to support capacity building across Africa. In this regard, the ISS has supported SARPCCO capacity building with training and developing training materials on UN peace building, HIV/Aids and policing, and by producing a course on small arms and one on counterterrorism. Some of this support has been through training-the-trainer programmes, whereas other interventions have been at broader multi- or bilateral levels. The ISS has been working on crime, justice, correctional and policing issues since the mid-1990s. It has worked closely with governments in conducting research and analyses of various issues.
Dr Cilliers remarked on the current willingness of governments for greater engagement with civil society. He said that the purpose of this conference was to build on this sentiment by bringing together the different stakeholders, including policing practitioners, policy experts, academics, and civil society organisations to share ideas on policing in South Africa, and to discuss their respective roles and contributions. He noted that the deliberations of this conference would be captured in a report and would be available on the ISS website. It was intended that the report provide a useful basis to take stock of the current situation in policing, as well as to serve as a basis for engaging with future initiatives. He said that there was a need to reconsider policing transformation as well as for a new policy document that would provide guidance on how to reduce crime, given the current challenges. The White Paper on Safety and Security 1999–2004, adopted in 1998, was now out of date and important policy shift s had since occurred. Any new policy document should be draft ed following assessment, research and consultation about the current and future challenges.
Politically, the 2009 administration signalled major policy shift s, such as strengthening the police’s response to crime through proposed amendments to section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act and attempts to improve supervision and discipline by reintroducing military ranks. Recent initiatives to tackle corruption and organised crime by establishing a Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (DPIC, also known as ‘the Hawks’) and strengthening the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) and the national Civilian Secretariat of Police were further examples of this trend. Dr Cilliers noted that the police had successfully ensured security during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and that the lessons learned then could be applied to the policing of public protest action and violence. However, it had to be noted that there were key differences between policing the World Cup and reducing violent organised crime and interpersonal violence.
Dr Cilliers said that the ISS’s work had shown that increases in the Gini coefficient as a measure of income inequality posed new challenges for Africa. He said that it was clear that the South African Police Service (SAPS)could not combat crime on its own. Crime is a societal problem that requires the mobilisation of everyone and the government must seriously consider the interests of its citizens, including the sharing of information on crime statistics.
