Three years after the completion of the work of the Khayelitsha commission of inquiry, steady progress has been made in the implementation of its recommendations.
Western Cape Premier Helen Zille established the commission in 2012, chaired by Judge Kate O’Regan and advocate Vusi Pikoli, to investigate the alleged breakdown in the trust relationship between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the community of Khayelitsha. The final report and recommendations were handed over in August 2014.
A task team was formed in 2015 to facilitate the implementation of the 20 recommendations made by the commission.
The team meets on a regular basis to monitor progress and to iron out areas of concern. It includes senior representatives from the SAPS, the Department of Community Safety and civil society structures.
Progress has been made in several areas including the appointment of additional detective resources in Khayelitsha.
The precinct has been granted 170 detectives posts. Currently there are 156 investigators serving the area, while the SAPS is in the process of filling the vacant posts.
The number of case dockets per detective has been reduced to 65 per member, compared to 100 at the time of the commission.This work was led by an inquest backlog team appointed to clear the backlog - from 3400 cases in 2014 to 1601 in June last year.
Meanwhile, the filling of crucial leadership and management posts across all stations has brought a greater level of stability operationally. This includes the appointment of Major-General Johan Brandt as the cluster commander since August 2014. Brigadier Tania Hosking was appointed as deputy cluster commander in July 2016.
Six other leadership vacancies have also been filled.
The establishment of a monitoring and oversight team, comprising the SAPS’ top leadership and officials from the Department of Community Safety, to monitor the SAPS’ inefficiencies has been a significant move.
This team specifically monitors inefficiencies across all the police stations including the Khayelitsha family, child and sexual offences unit, covering at least 26 focus areas which include: monitoring dockets not brought to court and ensuring that necessary steps are taken where it happens, monitoring the workflow of the unit, community policing forums and neighbourhood watch operations, among other areas.
Another significant step has been the roll out of a neighbourhood watch strategy by the Department of Community Safety, which ensures the accreditation and training of neighbourhood watch groups to patrol high-risk areas.
While the recommendation mandates the issuing of guidelines for visible policing in informal settlements, which is a national government responsibility, provincial structures have worked within the law and available resources to fill the vacuum.
The department has been facilitating the accreditation of neighbourhood watch groups since October last year.
The goal is to conduct regular patrols in high-risk areas.
By June this year, four neighbourhood watch groups in Khayelitsha (Ilitha Park, Site C, Ayethu in Lingelethu West and Mthuma Fighters in Khayelitsha), had received accreditation.
Meanwhile, there has been a steady reduction in vigilante killings in Khayelitsha, which was a key area of concern at the time of the commission.
The extent of the vigilante violence has decreased from 74 incidents in 2014/15, to 72 incidents in 2015/16 and a sharp decline to 45 incidents in 2016/17.
Another recommendation points to the establishment of a multi-sectoral task team on youth gangs. In response, a priorities committee meets on a monthly basis to discuss an anti-gangsterism strategy and its co-ordination in the province.
We have also conducted a survey of community attitudes to alcohol usage and illegal liquor outlets in Khayelitsha by Professor Richard Matzopoulos of the University of Cape Town. The survey will be published soon.
Some of the recommendations by the participants include stricter licensing processes and regulations at all points in the distribution chain and a need to strengthen the law enforcement role of the SAPS, municipal law enforcement and the liquor authorities, among others.
However, while the commission’s recommendations have received a great deal of attention and are being steadily implemented, several areas of concern remain.
Outstanding recommendations include staffing issues identified at the family, child and sexual offences unit.
These issues persist, in the main, affecting the effective functioning of this crucial unit.
The resourcing of police stations remains a point of contention and is now the subject of litigation. This mandate rests with the national minister of police.
The SAPS has also failed to release monthly crime statistics at station level.
This, again requires the national minister’s sign-off, which is yet to happen.
There remains a need for a new police station at Makhaza, for which the SAPS, led by the national minister, is responsible for police infrastructure.
* Mpofu is spokesperson for Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.