Strengthening Civilian Oversight over the police in South Africa: The national and provincial secretariats for safety and security

This research paper evaluates the effectiveness of the national and provincial secretariats for Safety and Security in South Africa ten years after their 1995 establishment. The study finds that while provincial secretariats perform various monitoring and coordination roles, they suffer from a lack of national vision, poor coordination, and a failure to fully utilize their legislative powers. The national secretariat is described as significantly diminished in role and capacity, often acting merely as an advisory body to the Minister of Safety and Security.

• The secretariats are not fully utilizing the powers and functions granted to them by current legislation to establish civilian oversight within the South African Police Service (SAPS).
• The national secretariat has experienced a significant reduction in its role and capacity, effectively becoming a body that exists primarily to advise the Minister of Safety and Security.
• There is a systemic lack of coordination and a missing strategic vision across the secretariats, with unstructured relationships between national and provincial bodies, and between the secretariats, the SAPS, and the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD).
• Provincial secretariats perform critical monitoring roles regarding SAPS service delivery, transformation, resource allocation, and performance, though their influence at the local police station level is limited.
• Working relationships between secretariats and the SAPS or ICD are often based on individual interpersonal goodwill rather than formal, structured protocols.
• The National Monitoring Tool (NMT), introduced in May 2004, is intended to improve coordination and monitoring, but is viewed by some provincial secretariats as too ambitious and unrealistic regarding time and resource requirements.
• Some provincial secretariats have established Complaints and Investigation desks to handle service delivery issues, which has led to tensions and perceived encroachment on the mandate of the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD).

APA

Mistry, D., & Kiplin, J. (2004). Strengthening Civilian Oversight over the police in South Africa: The national and provincial secretariats for safety and security. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/91.PDF

Chicago

Mistry, Duxita, and Judy Kiplin. Strengthening Civilian Oversight over the police in South Africa: The national and provincial secretariats for safety and security. Institute for Security Studies, 2004. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/91.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mistry |first1=Duxita |last2=Kiplin |first2=Judy |title=Strengthening Civilian Oversight over the police in South Africa: The national and provincial secretariats for safety and security |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=September 2004 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/91.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mistry2004strengthening, author = {Mistry, Duxita and Kiplin, Judy}, title = {{Strengthening Civilian Oversight over the police in South Africa: The national and provincial secretariats for safety and security}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2004}, month = sep, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/91.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }