ICD Workshop
Independent Complaints Directorate Media Report 
http://www.icd.gov.za/media/2006/310106Nqakula.htm

The Minister for Safety and Security, Mr Charles Nqakula will officially open a workshop hosted by the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) on 06 – 07 February 2006, in the Burger Park Hotel, Pretoria.

The purpose of the aforementioned workshop is to establish a cordial relationship between the Police, the ICD and Civil Society: Problems and Prospects.

The workshop aims to give special attention to ways in which working relations between various stakeholders within the criminal justice sector (ICD, SAPS and MPS) can be enhanced, to provide an opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the working relationship between the police, ICD and civil society, to identify possible overlaps in terms of the mandate of the ICD and the Secretariat, to identify how the role of the ICD is perceived by civil society and the police, highlight the importance of strengthening police oversight and accountability and finally to explore a basis for future co-operative work among stakeholders.

Panelists will consist of representatives from amongst others the South African Police Service (SAPS), Institute for Criminology University of Cape Town, Open Society Foundation (OSF), Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). The other participants include the National and Provincial Secretariats for Safety and Security, Municipal Police Services, SAPS Provincial Commissioner’s Offices, Police Unions and NGO’s.

The following papers will be delivered at the workshop:

• The self-defeating, self-imposed mandate of the ICD and its negative impact on public confidence and police discipline;
• The importance of police oversight and accountability;
• Strengthening democratic policing in South Africa: The need to strengthen and co-ordinate the internal and external accountability system in SAPS;
• Responding to South Africa’s evolving security landscape: Improving the role and image of the ICD.

Members of the media are invited; confirmations of attendance should be directed to Steve Mabona.

Date : 06 & 07 February 2006
Venue : Burgers Park Hotel, Pretoria
Time : 08h30 – 09h00

Contact Person: Steve Mabona
ICD National Spokesperson
Cell: 082 809 1927
Tel: (012) 392 0400
Fax: (012)320 0474
Email:

State, Security and Police in Palestine. Workshop held in Gaza, December 2005.
Elrena van der Spuy, Institute of Criminology
05/12/2005

Police Transformation – Creating a Transparent, Accountable and Effective Palestinian Civil Police Service was the bold title of a two-day workshop held in December 2005 in Gaza.

Convened under the auspices of the Palestinian Council on Foreign Relations and the European Union Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (EU COPPS), the workshop brought together a large number of representatives from the Palestinian security establishment as well as civil society, a sizeable contingent of international police experts (under the rubric of the European Union) and a handful of international speakers. By engaging with the politics and logistics of police reform, the workshop hoped to feed into a broader momentum for reform of the security apparatus.

The discussions invoked many of the generic concerns associated with Security Sector Reform (SSR) in unstable political situations. In the Palestinian case ‘political authority’ is contested; the institutions of governance are weak and oversight underdeveloped; security is a highly militarized affair; guns are wielded by a staggering number of paramilitary formations and informal militias; factional loyalties are entrenched in security circles and, the police agency is at present under-trained, under-resourced and under siege (from both outside and inside). It is against this background that the December deliberations succeeded in exposing the conundrums of police reform in fractured settings. In the end, the workshop underscored the fact that police reform is at heart a political project (which involves elements of both state and nation-building) which requires financial resources on a scale often not properly appreciated. The workshop illustrated the supportive role which international institutions/development agencies can play in processes which involve both the conceptualization and operationalisation of police reform. The difficulties involved in the design of terms of reference for collaboration between local constituencies and international agencies should not, however, be underestimated. The Palestinian delegates were eager to engage with comparative lessons in police reform. Here the case studies from South Africa and Northern Ireland proved instructive. Such ‘lessons learnt’ not withstanding, local efforts toward peace-building and security sector transformation in Palestine are likely to be challenging in the near future.  Given the outcome of the recent elections, Hamas will have a central role to play in steering the process of reform in months to come. It remains to be seen where the quest for 'transparency, accountability and effectiveness' in the public police agency of Palestine will be consolidated or sabotaged. 

Overview of plural policing oversight in select Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.
Julie Berg, Institute of Criminology, University of Cape Town. December 2005.

"This desktop review provides an overview of the oversight mechanisms in place which hold the state police and private security industry in selected Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries accountable, either directly or indirectly, for their actions.  The countries included in this overview are: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  This overview is by no means complete but simply represents key oversight mechanisms and practices which exist on paper to hold the state police and private security industry accountable for their actions." 
View the complete report online >>>>

Fakie slams police for bad planning, ill-discipline 
Graeme Hosken. Cape Times 03/02/2006
Pretoria: The management of the South African Police Service (SAPS) have received a tongue lashing from the auditor-general over their defective administration system, which has led to ineffective planning and allowed apparent ill-discipline to thrive. View details >>>> 

Police officers, reservists, granted bail after arrest on theft charges 
SAPA. Cape Times 31/01/2006
A policeman attached to the crime intelligence division, a police constable, and six police reservists were released on bail by the Cape Town Magistrate's Court yesterday. They were arrested last weekend on charges of theft, defeating the ends of justice, and the illegal possession of a firearm.
View details >>>>

3 000 SAPS members learn the three Rs 
SAPA. Cape Times 31/01/2006
Pretoria: About 3 000 members of the South African Police Service who could not read and write have completed literacy training. They had also been given life skills education during the six months of adult-based education and training, Ben Smit, managing director of Secudac, a private company that provided the training, said yesterday.  View details >>>> 

Woman allegedly locked in cell with men 
Helen Bamford. Cape Argus. Available online: www.iol.co.za 21/01/2006
A petite young Cape Town woman was locked in a police holding cell with four men this week when she turned to the police for help after being assaulted.  View details >>>>

Police officer injures six
www.news24.com 21/01/2006
A police officer injured six people when he fired his shotgun at a group of protesters during a demonstration in Duduza on Saturday. East Rand police Superintendent Andy Pieke said the protesters were wrestling the gun from the officer when he fired.  View details>>>>

Cops shot at us
www.news24.com 23/01/2006
The Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo) is to press charges against police officers who shot at its members during a protest at the weekend, the party said on Sunday.  View details >>>> 

Cop arrested for corruption
BuaNews 18/01/2006
A police officer was arrested yesterday in Fourways, Johannesburg, for allegedly extorting money from a criminal suspect.  View details >>>> 

Africa News:

Justice Initiative condemns arrests of human rights activists in Sudan: Crackdown Comes as Sudan Campaigns for African Union Presidency
Open Society Justice Initiative 24/01/2006
The Open Society Justice Initiative today condemned the arrest of human rights and pro-democracy activists in Khartoum on Sunday, January 22, 2006. Approximately 30 activists, including eight foreign nationals, were arrested by Sudanese security forces and interrogated for several hours before being released.  View details >>>>

Zim prisoners 'denied food'
www.news24.com 19/01/2006
Harare - Ten HIV-infected demonstrators and one with tuberculosis were refused food and medicine while in police cells, human rights groups said on Thursday in a report that accuses Zimbabwe of failing to meet minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners.   
View details >>>>