Community Safety
With reference to the reply to question 4 of 19 February 2021:
(1) (a) What are the (i) roles and (ii) responsibilities of the Court Watching Brief unit, (b) from which courts have these cases been removed, (c) what has he done to have these matters investigated or brought back to court and (d) what action has he undertaken in terms of these matters that have been removed;
(2) whether this unit is part of his Department; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1) (a) (i) The Court Watching Brief Unit monitors and reports on criminal cases struck off the court rolls as a result of police inefficiencies and ineffectiveness.
(ii) The Court Watching Brief Unit’s purpose is to exercise the Province’s Constitutional mandate to monitor police conduct and to oversee the efficiency and effectiveness of the South African Police Service.
(b) The cases were recorded at the Athlone, Atlantis, Bellville, Bishop Lavis, Bluedowns, Cape Town, Goodwood, Khayelitsha, Kuilsriver, Malmesbury, Mitchells Plain, Paarl, Simonstown, Stellenbosch, Somerset West, Strand, Vredenburg, Worcester and Wynberg Courts.
(c) The cases that are struck off the court rolls is due to SAPS systematic failures and are presented to the Provincial Commissioner on a quarterly basis. The aim is to facilitate a process where remedial action is taken (the systematic failure is rectified and the matter gets placed back on the court roll) or disciplinary action is taken where necessary.
(d) It is the responsibility of SAPS to make sure that all investigations are finalized and to request the National Prosecuting Authority to have the matter placed back on the court roll. It is for this reason that the reports are sent to the SAPS Provincial Commissioner to make him / her aware of these cases for remedial action and response on progress.
(2) The Court Watching Brief Unit is a unit within the Directorate: Monitoring and Evaluation and Chief Directorate: Secretariat for Safety and Security.
