An ambitious new anti-gang strategy drawn up under the auspices of acting police minister Firoz Cachalia has been launched. Chris Barron asked Gareth Newham, special adviser to the minister ...
Your anti-organised crime strategy looks good on paper, but it’s all about implementation, isn’t it?
Yes, implementation is critical. If it is implemented effectively, we should see a reduction in gang-related killings.
Are there enough senior police officers who can be trusted to implement it?
We hope so. There are officers implementing the plan who have not been implicated by the Madlanga commission. We are going to be monitoring the implementation and impact of the strategy very closely. And we’re not only relying on the police; we’re also speaking to community-based organisations.
Is it a problem that they don’t trust the police?
They don’t trust the police, but they can tell us whether gang violence is going down and give us independent assessments of whether they think the police are doing the right things in the right places.
The plan talks about enhancing the accountability of those tasked with implementing it. How?
Looking at who you’re arresting, what you are charging them with, is it linked to specific murders, are you working with prosecutors to make sure these cases go to court ...
When will there be a thorough lifestyle audit of every SAPS officer?
That’s already something the president has mentioned in the state of the nation address, that there will be vetting. You need to start, of course, with the senior officers: 800 brigadiers and generals.
Has it begun?
I can’t answer that right now; I haven’t been given the report. Not only on whether it’s begun but what are they going to do when they find flags.
Unless they’re immediately expelled, it won’t do much good, will it?
If lifestyle audits flag certain issues — unexplained wealth, cash being deposited in bank accounts — then you start thinking investigations. If you then find there are problems or illegal matters, you can refer them to the prosecuting authority.
Meanwhile, the reality is that the police are still being led by a national commissioner facing charges of corruption. Surely this goes directly to the issue of accountability?
He’s not facing charges of corruption, and he hasn’t been charged yet. Apparently he will be charged with matters under the Public Finance Management Act in terms of managing a proper procurement process and preventing irregular expenditure.
Doesn’t violation of the PFMA amount to corruption?
There have been cases in the past where people have been convicted of that and it wasn’t corrupt. It was simply that they didn’t follow the processes. If you do it as a result of gross negligence or intentionally not following processes, then you can be convicted, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re corrupt.
How seriously can we take a plan that relies for its implementation on what Madlanga has shown is at best a criminally flawed leadership?
The Madlanga commission has implicated a number of top people. But remember, there are more than 150 generals, and we’re looking at a handful in very specific environments. It’s not like everybody else who is able to do operational management implementation has been implicated. Those that have been implicated are largely suspended and are not involved in these operations.
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