Cape Town - The police spent R30.3 million on its informers in the past financial year, but declined to say in public how its snitches were paid as this entered the domain of the covert, the police told the parliamentary police committee on Thursday.
And similar concerns were raised over releasing additional details in a public parliamentary committee meeting about the polices’s communication interception, effectively telephone taps.
“These type of issues… there’s a covert aspect to it,” said police national commissioner General Riah Phiyega about informant payments. “I think in a controlled session, we’ll share this information.”
But with crime intelligence generals before MPs, questions inevitably turned to the controversies around suspended crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli who, among others, is alleged to have hired various relatives as informants.
Pressed by DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard on Mdluli’s apparently stalled disciplinary proceedings, Phiyega said: “Our internal processes were postponed sine die (without a day) we are continuing,” said Phiyega.
On the suspension of Mdluli’s successor in an acting capacity, Major-General Chris Ngcobo, Phiyega said he did not face disciplinary proceedings because of his lack of matric, but for misrepresentation of his qualifications.
Under a special dispensation during the integration of the various police forces following the 1994 transition to democracy police officers without matric were accepted into the ranks, but this had to be disclosed.
On the wiretap front, the police said it had compiled 4 541 reports during the 2013/14 financial year.
Freedom Front Plus MP Pieter Groenewald asked how this number corresponded to the report of the so-called “bugging judge”, the office of the judge for the authorisations of interception, which indicated a significantly smaller number of interception applications.
According to Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence’s annual report, the police in the year to July 2013 applied for 141 wire taps, against 48 the previous year.
Again Phiyega raised concerns whether this was a matter for the current sitting and the possibility that such information may border on the domain of another committee - and instead requested to submit responses in writing. “We will look at it and how best to respond,” she said.
However, acting national crime intelligence boss Major-General Dr Bongiwe Zulu told MPs there could be a number of reports linked to each application for an interception brought to the designated judge. “I can submit 500 files (and) in each file I can generate 100 reports... We are calculating the reports,” Zulu said.
In response to Groenwald’s question whether the police could guarantee all interception complied with the law, Phiyega said these matters came personally before her. “That process has been tightened... Right now, the applications are very organised,” she said.
Phiyega was upbeat, saying crime intelligence vacancies were being filled, vetting of staff had improved and the crime intelligence turn-around strategy was paying off.
“I’m confident we are attracting the right people... A lot of good work is under way.”
Cape Argus