Deliberation on Vote 4 Adjustments Appropriation (Covid-19) Bill [B4-2020]

SPEECH BY ALBERT FRITZ

WESTERN CAPE MINISTER OF COMMUNITY SAFETY

Monday, 27 July 2020

Deliberation on Vote 4

Adjustments Appropriation (Covid-19) Bill [B4-2020]

Honourable Chairperson of the Standing Committee,

Honourable Members of the Standing Committee,

Citizens of the Western Cape,

Members of the media,

Honourable Chairperson, as with all other departments, my Department has had to execute its mandate under unprecedented constraints due to the lockdown. With it has brought mass socio-economic distress and unrest.

In response to this, the Department has acted and thought innovatively about the issues faced. As such, we have pioneered the following during the Covid-19 pandemic:

• Deployed 60 Chrysalis graduates and 15 NHW structures at places of gatherings;
• Deployed LEAP Officers in targeted Covid-19 hotspot areas to support the SAPS, SANDF, law enforcement, Metro police and traffic officers; and
• Rolled out of a communication strategy involving radio, billboards, local newspapers, posters and social media platforms to create positive Covid-19 related behaviour change.

Clearly, the physical safety and wellbeing of our residents has been the top priority of this Department during the pandemic.

Chairperson, after careful consideration of this Department’s needs and that of the Western Cape Government’s response to the pandemic, a net amount of R27.967 million has been surrendered by the Department towards efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

This amount comprises of:

1. R36.267 million surrendered through the baseline reduction; and

2. R8.3 million allocated from Provincial Treasury for COVID-19 related expenditure/Baseline increase. Of this amount, R6.8 million will be allocated to Neighbourhood Watches and R1.5 million towards operational cost including PPE.

The bulk of the surrendered funds came from goods and services, totaling at R15.5 million, and transfers, totaling at R11.5million, respectively.

In relation to goods and services, the bulk of the funds relinquished came from the in-house K9 project. This totaled at R9million. The remainder amount of R6.5 million came from operational costs relating to training, travelling, printing, government transport costs and catering. Ultimately, these are savings incurred as a result of the lockdown.

The transfers surrendered amount comprises of:

• R8 million from Chrysalis Academy;
• R2 million from the Youth Safety and Religious Partnership programme; and
•  R2.7 million from the Expanded Partnership Programme project.

To put this into perspective, the reduction in the baseline for the respective programmes are as follows:

• R1.5 million from Administration;
• R5.0 million from Civilian Oversight;
• R11.2 million from Provincial Policing Functions; and
• R10.1 million from Security Risk Management.