National police chief Jackie Selebi won’t be engaging in any debate surrounding his call for the demise of the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD), said police spokesperson, Director Sally de Beer on Friday.
Business Day newspaper on Thursday reported Selebi as saying the directorate had ”outlived its usefulness” and could be dissolved, leaving the police to police themselves.
Selebi was quoted as saying the ICD had made ”inhuman demands” of police officers.
De Beer told the Mail & Guardian Online on Friday that Jackie Selebi is not interested in responding to his comments about the ICD.
”He was at a select committee meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday. He was asked specific questions by the chairperson and he responded to that. He is not prepared to enter into any public debate,” she said.
David Bruce, a senior researcher at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, told the M&G Online on Friday that Selebi’s call for the demise of the ICD could be based on a misunderstanding about why the ICD was established and the need for it in South Africa.
”The ICD wasn’t established as a transitional mechanism but is part of having a policing system which is appropriate to a democracy,” he said.
He said it’s ”helpful to have an oversight body to ensure that investigations against the police are conducted in a proper way”. However, there is a ”need to establish a proper internal investigation system within the police” as well.
Bruce said: ”What is needed is a comprehensive and coherent framework that sets out the role of the South African Police Service (SAPS), the ICD and other bodies in relation to investigations against the police.”
Acting ICD director Leslie Xinwa said of Selebi: ”He has always held reservations that he does not need to be monitored.”
He said the South African model of overseeing police activities was highly regarded in other countries.
”We have been lobbying for the concept of policing oversight and we are regarded as pioneers in this field, internationally and in Africa, more so because of our own independent impartial investigations.
”The fact is that the volume of work coming the ICD’s way as a result of unbelievable actions committed by some recalcitrant elements within the police service more than confirms the need for monitoring by an external body,” said Xinwa.
The Freedom Front Plus released a statement and agreed the ICD should be retained.
”The more than 5 000 complaints about the police that had been received by the ICD in the 2004/05 period is a clear indication that it is still very useful,” said FF+ safety and security spokesperson Pieter Groenewald.
”It is not possible for an institution, where corruption is discovered on a regular basis, to monitor and police itself effectively.”
The aim of the ICD, formed in 1997, is to investigate complaints of misconduct and criminality allegedly committed by members of the SAPS.
According to the annual 2004/2005 ICD report, 5 790 complaints fell within the mandate of the ICD from April 1 2004 to March 31 2005. This was a decrease of 2% compared with the previous year. — Sapa