Minister Mbalula plans to usher in an era of e-policing

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula wants the South African Police Service to go digital, saying this would help tackle corruption in the force.

Speaking to the Sunday Times in his office in Pretoria, the new political head of the police, popularly known as Minister Razzmatazz, said he also wanted to clean up the image of the SAPS and restore public confidence in it following a credibility loss compounded by infighting among its top managers and corruption in its ranks.

"The police are projected overall as very reckless and [as having] a don't-care attitude, especially the frontline desk ... in the main police stations.

"That has not given the police a good projection," he said.

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Dressed in a blue pin-stripe suit and Louis Vuitton loafers, Mbalula said digitisation of the SAPS case-management system would address the disappearance of dockets.

"If you go to a police station, [you are told] a case has disappeared, a docket has basically disappeared," he said.

A regular Twitter user, the former leader of the ANC Youth League said he wanted the SAPS to start using the latest technology in the fight against crime.

Mbalula said he wanted the police to develop a software application to encourage the anonymous reporting of crimes.

"First is to introduce IT e-policing, which is very important to deal with the backlog of cases and make the reportage of cases to be IT-driven at police stations.

"This will release the majority of SAPS members to do the real duty of arrest, and bring professionalism in the recording of cases.

"You can be anonymous [when reporting crime] and be safe. What I want to do in the next two years is to be heavy on that to ensure that people can access a police station through a cellphone app, free of charge, when reporting a crime," said Mbalula.

Turning to the leadership problems plaguing the SAPS, Mbalula said he wanted to tackle the high staff turnover with the management of the police service and "stop the wrangling" among the various units.

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The SAPS and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate have been engaged in a running public battle stemming from Ipid's decision to probe corruption allegations against acting police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane.

"We must address high turnover of acting positions within SAPS top management. It is my goal to do away with acting posts within the SAPS, some of which have been created by litigation. Crime intelligence is one such post. We need stability within the SAPS. The wrangling must stop. I need the Hawks to be at its best ever to deal with organised crime."

However, Mbalula came out in support of Ipid's probe of Phahlane, saying the acting national police commissioner was not above the law.

Phahlane has long complained that the Ipid probe into his lifestyle was a violation of his rights and that it amounted to an abuse of power on the part of Ipid head Robert McBride because the unit was working with private forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan.

But Mbalula wants none of that and has thrown his weight behind the Ipid investigation.

"Presumption of innocence until proven otherwise is what is guiding us. There is nobody who is above the law; all these damning allegations are now being tested in a court of law. Is Ipid doing something illegal? No, they are doing something within the prescripts of why they were established.

"If General Phahlane feels that he is being acted upon unfairly he will take the necessary steps to prove that on the matter," said Mbalula.