Community Safety
With reference to the reply to question 30 of 19 March 2021:
(1) Whether the Court Watching Brief Unit is staffed with administrative staff who visit the courts or attorneys and advocates;
(2) (a) what is the cost of the unit, (b) how are the systematic failures rectified, (c) how many cases have been placed back on the roll as a direct result of the Court Watching Brief Unit and (d) how many disciplinary actions have been taken as a result of the Court Watching Brief Unit?
(1) Currently the Court Watching Brief (CWB) Unit is staffed by three admitted Advocates with criminal law backgrounds which serves as an added advantage when dealing with SAPS and court staff queries.
(2) (a) The Unit is a sub-directorate of the Directorate: Monitoring and Evaluation and the budget for one Deputy Director, two Assistant Deputy Directors and two Court Watching Brief officials is R2,120 000.
(b) The responses received from the Provincial Commissioner for SAPS Western Cape will indicate what the status of a matter is which was previously struck off the court roll, e.g. the accused was found guilty or not guilty or the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) still must decide whether to continue with the prosecution or not. The Unit also does post-monitoring to see if cases have been placed back on court rolls.
(c) The Unit performs an oversight role at courts. In order for cases to be placed back on a court role, the SAPS is required to complete its investigation and thereafter request the NPA to re-enroll the matter in order for the accused to re-appear.
(d) There have been 80 disciplinary actions taken against SAPS members as a result of the Court Watching Brief Unit.
