Cape Town – The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) had run up R21.5m in irregular expenditure by the end of the last financial year, earning it a tongue lashing from the Police Committee at a hearing in Parliament this week.

It is a 740% increase from the previous year, GroundUp reports.

In addition, the Auditor General found over R3.2m in fruitless and wasteful expenditure. This was heavily criticised by the committee, with the chairperson, Francois Beukman, wanting assurances from IPID boss Robert McBride that there would be consequences for those found to be involved.

IPID’s financial woes, aired in its annual report presented to the Police Committee, were in part attributed to significant budget cuts. During 2017 it had to request a further R5m from Parliament in order to complete its investigation into the Marikana massacre.

In its report, most of the targets that were not achieved were attributed to funding shortages. Only 49% of the targeted 60% active decision-ready investigations were finalised, due to “budget constraints which resulted in the reprioritisation of investigations”.

Weaknesses and inadequacies in its supply chain management system were also reported, although it was noted that no unauthorised expenditure had been incurred in the year under review.

IPID currently has a budget of R242m. While strongly condemning its financial performance, the committee recognised with concern that a shortage of funding was affecting IPID’s ability to fulfil its mandate.

The committee also grilled McBride on other issues, including the instability caused by his and other senior officials’ suspension from IPID and the squabbles between it and other units, including SAPS and the NPA.

McBride declared that he would “take full responsibility” for the poor audit. At the same time, he spelled out to the committee that his unit was underfunded and understaffed, while its workload steadily increased.

His report refers to the impact of instability caused by the “suspension, restructuring and transfers” of mostly senior managers. He pointed out that staff capacity had been reduced from 423 to 388, and said budget constraints had resulted in the freezing of 35 posts.

‘SAPS has treated your body with contempt’

At the same time, he reported a 27% increase in cases, which translates into an additional 1 495 cases.

McBride claimed that interference from other entities also hindered IPID’s ability to complete its investigations.

He told the committee that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had declined to prosecute 26 cases and that 1 015 were still waiting for responses. IPID made 1 238 recommendations to SAPS, but had only 270 positive recommendations and 276 convictions.

This led to MP Dianne Kohler Barnard (DA) commenting: “SAPS has treated your body with contempt.”

She questioned whether its failure to meet its targets should be attributed to the charges of irregular expenditure, or whether SAPS simply did not respect IPID.

Speaking to GroundUp, McBride said “the public has confidence in IPID”, based on the number of reports and cases IPID received.

He conceded that IPID had not performed well in the annual report and agreed that much more must be done, emphasising that the irregular expenditure needed to be looked at.

Speaking to GroundUp about IPID’s budget’s constraints, Beukman said “it is critical that they [IPID] have sufficient funds”, and confirmed that “we will address this issue in our recommendations”.

JOHANNESBURG – Eskom will be trying to recover R1-billion and R564-million from McKinsey and Trillian respectively, the power utility said in a statement Thursday evening. 

The money was allegedly unlawfully paid out to the companies in 2016 and 2017. 

McKinsey has been implicated in potentially corrupt dealings between Eskom and the Gupta-linked consultancy firm Trillian.

The US-based company has denied being involved in corruption and has launched an internal probe into its dealings with Trillian.

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown on Wednesday said MPs have a right to question Eskom about the Trillian and McKinsey deals.

READ: Saftu plans to lay criminal charges against Trillian

This follows the release of a report confirming Eskom was warned two years ago that its contract with McKinsey was in contravention of a National Treasury instruction to cut costs.

Eskom said the interim findings from its investigations into the circumstances surrounding payments made to both the companies, point to certain decisions made by the parastatal, as well as the payments, being illegal. 

“Eskom is obliged, pursuant to its statutory and common law duties, including the PFMA (Public Finance Management Act) and the Companies Act, to seek to set aside these unlawful decisions and to have all the money unlawfully paid out returned.  Accordingly, Eskom wrote to each explaining the action it would take and requesting their co-operation in the matter,” the statement read.

“Being such a critical entity, which is inextricably tied to the nation’s economy, it is in the public interest to do everything we can as Eskom to claw back all the fees which were unlawfully paid, while expediting the disciplinary processes currently underway.”

eNCA

Cape Town – A Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court ruling on Wednesday sentencing a man to 12 years in prison for robbing a paramedic proves that emergency medical services (EMS) personnel aren’t “soft targets” anymore, Western Cape community safety MEC Dan Plato said. 

The provincial department of community safety said Siphelo Manunga was found guilty of robbery. He robbed a Western Cape EMS paramedic in Khayelitsha in December. 

Plato said the ruling confirms that the courts will deal harshly with perpetrators of crimes against EMS staff.

“Key to this sentence is the fact that the court recognised the impact such attacks have on the ability of the Western Cape government to provide critical services, especially to poor communities,” he said. 

Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila could not be reached for comment. 

Over the past year there have been numerous reports of attacks by robbers on paramedics. In several cases, the emergency calls would turn out to be bogus. 

Extra training for paramedics

In May, four men robbed two paramedics of their medical supplies after they had responded to a call in Nyanga.

Five men armed with knives attacked and robbed a team of paramedics in Happy Valley informal settlement in Blackheath in July.

In August, a suspected criminal was killed and a police officer critically injured when an ambulance was ambushed in Gugulethu. 

An ambulance was stoned in Strand when it responded to an emergency call in September. 

Western Cape health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo previously barred paramedics from entering “red zones”, which are suburbs where paramedics have been attacked more than once, without police escort.

Mbombo said the department had introduced situational awareness training, which includes anti-hijacking training, for paramedics.

Ambulance windows have also been fitted with tinted smash-and-grab safety film.

“Despite our best efforts to protect our staff members, little can be done without the cooperation of the communities that we serve,” Mbombo said.  

JOHANNESBURG – A study of ANC members has found members are very concerned with issues around service delivery, party leadership and corruption.

But none will be abandoning the party anytime soon.

Members polled underlined a deep distrust of other opposition parties as a reason why they couldn’t imagine voting for any other party than the ANC.

Researchers tapped into 16 focus groups made up of ANC supporters in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.

They found a deep sense of loyalty to the party that’s governed South Africa since the birth of democracy.

WATCH: The Race is on for the ANC’s top job

Markdata and African Response interviewed a diverse group of 5,000 party members in all provinces – giving a voice to ANC members who voted for the party in the 2014 General and 2016 municipal elections.

Political analyst Ivor Sarakinsky said: “The real discussion is of the ANC supporters who are not members of the ANC, but aren’t coming out to vote for the ANC – and that’s very clear from the results of the 2016 local government elections.”

“Good opposition would see this as an opportunity to break into the ANC strongholds – but in terms of the dynamics within opposition politics, this doesn’t look likely in the immediate future,” Sarakinsky added.

In the lead-up to the ANC’s critical elective conference, eNCA will be showcasing further research from Markdata and African Response.

METHODOLOGY: Research on attitudes and beliefs of ANC supporters

eNCA

PORT ELIZABETH – Port Elizabeth police in the Eastern Cape arrested a wanted suspect on Wednesday afternoon, for the rape and robbery of two students at Nelson Mandela University.

The arrest comes two days into protest action where students are demanding heightened security at all NMU campuses.

On Monday night, a 25-year-old student and her friend were violently attacked at the Second Avenue Campus in a computer lab. A man allegedly raped one of the students, stabbed the other with a scissors and robbed them of their cellphones and wallets.

The terrified women were then forced to take a computer and monitor, which they had to carry until they were outside the building. The attacker ordered the women to pass the loot to him before he jumped the gate and fled, police said at the time.

Police spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu, said a 29-year old man was arrested in Govan Mbeki Avenue at around 3pm on Wednesday afternoon.

The man was apparently trying to sell a computer that he allegedly stole during the horrific attack of the two women.

Naidu said the man was also found in possession of a student’s cellphone.

He was arrested by members of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, assisted by members from the police’s Flying Squad.

Naidu said that police had been working around the clock to trace the suspect and effect an arrest. He is expected to appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of rape and robbery.

African News Agency