DA to push for greater funding for beefed up police watchdog
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be pushing for greater funding for the newly created Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) when the Police Portfolio Committee deliberates on its budget on 17 April.
While the IPID has significantly improved on its predecessor, the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), it has similar constraints in terms of insufficient funding to effectively perform its constitutionally defined role as police watchdog. What we cannot allow is the IPID to be treated as yet another Cinderella body, short of funds, personnel and resources.
According to a report in The Times this morning, IPID Director Francois Beukman laments the fact that the directorate will only receive R36 million in the next financial year on top of its R196 million budget. The entity requested R63 million. For the 2013 financial year the IPID will only receive an additional R44 million of the requested R84million, and for the 2014 financial year it will only receive a promised R53 million instead of the R101 million sought. The DA will accordingly argue for an increase of at least double the amounts allocated in each financial year.
The IPID is tasked with solving thousands of murder, rape, assault and corruption cases involving police across the country every year. Considering the sharp increase in cases of police brutality, murder, assault and misconduct in the past four years, the IPID's role in ensuring that police play by the book and abide by the law is becoming increasingly important.
Weak legislation and a lack of funding severely hampered the efforts of the ICD, coupled with what seemed to be a deliberate decision on the part of the Ministry to give them the smallest possible budget. This resulted in over 80% of their ‘recommendations' to the SAPS about criminality within their ranks being ignored. The IPID, with its more focused and beefed up mandate, cannot afford to be crippled by the same challenges.
Increasing the IPID's funding will therefore be one of the DA's key focuses in the upcoming budget deliberations and budget vote scheduled for 17 April and 9 May, respectively.
Parliament has gone to great lengths to ensure the IPID has the teeth to curb rogue police officers. Begrudging the IPID the necessary funds to do this essential work, particularly in the face of a massive R58 billion SAPS budget, would seem like a deliberate attempt by SAPS management to weaken the body, as happened with the ICD. The strengthened legislative mandate must be coupled with more appropriate budgetary commitments.
Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard, DA Shadow Minister of Police, April 10 2012
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