Expert witness: SAPS must be held accountable for how they spend their budget

Tait said that oversight should include more than just how police treat civilians. He highlighted the difficulties that the Auditor General (AG) experiences with SAPS. At the national level, the books balance: SAPS can show how their budget has been spent in the appropriate categories. However, explained Tait, the AG is unable to determine whether these funds are reaching police stations.

Tait provided the example of bullet-proof vests. He explained that if SAPS were to acquire 10,000 extra vests for new recruits, the current auditing system would not be able to provide a paper trail from station to national level. While it would be possible to show that the vests had been purchased, it would not be possible to determine if the intended recipients of those vests had in fact received them.

Tait testified that the SAPS budget over the past ten years has increased at an average of 12% per annum. For the year 2003/2004 the national budget was R21 billion. For 2013/2014 it is R68 Billion.

In his cross-examination, Advocate Norman Arendse, representing SAPS, asked Tait “We have many more good stories to tell than bad stories …Wouldn’t you agree?”

Tait responded, “There are certainly good stories… however there are also many unacceptable occurrences.”

Community Police Forums

Tait’s testimony later dealt with Community Police Forums (CPFs). The CPFs are intended to create civilian-police communication and oversight. Earlier this year, the Commission of Inquiry heard evidence of defunct, disempowered and poorly-run CPFs, overrun with local party politics. The Inquiry has heard that CPFs are met with apathy and disinterest from SAPS. The success of CPFs across the country has been patchy.

Tait said, “Simply having a forum is not good enough … it needs to be a true and real partnership with communities, working out what the needs are … The entire spectrum needs to be brought into the conversation.”