Cape Town – National Police Commissioner General Riah Phiyega and Statistics South Africa’s Statistician General Pali Lehohla have announced that the two organs of state will, effective immediately, collaborate in the compiling of crime statistics to increase the quality of data.
The two officials made the announcement during a media briefing at the Imbizo Centre in Parliament on Thursday.
The announcement will come as good news to efforts to improve the already credible crime statistics.
General Phiyega said the collaboration would bolster the integrity of the crime statistics.
“Our collaborative agreement is a result of the relationship between the South African Police Service and Stats SA which dates back to 2011.
“Considering the continued cooperation … between these two government departments, we have decided to officially announce that we have established a partnership that will enhance the quality of the crime statistics.
“The beneficiaries of our partnership will be the citizens of this country to whom we account and serve.
“In order to ensure the continued improvement in the crime statistics that we present to the public, our collaboration will go a long way in enhancing the integrity of our crime statistics,” she said.
To formalise the partnership, General Phiyega and the Statistician General signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enter into partnership in the National Statistics System (NSS).
The NSS is the process of coordinating the production of quality statistics in the country through a partnership between producers and users of data in accordance with quality standards set down by the Statistician-General.
Partnership in the NSS will also see the SAPS developing management and administrative systems that facilitate compliance with NSS statistical production protocols and support the production of quality data from which statistics can be generated for the pool of official statistics on a sustainable basis.
Speaking at the media briefing, General Phiyega said four years ago - ahead of signing the partnership – the SAPS consulted with independent researchers, civil society organisations, other key local and international stakeholders to discuss ways of strengthening the management of crime statistics.
Amongst the organisations she engaged includes the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Medical Research Council, the Institute for Security Studies and Stats SA.
She said further consultations were held with countries such as the United Kingdom, United States of America and Mexico.
“This collective, collaborative approach, which will enhance the reliability and validity of our statistics, is something that we would like to pursue,” she said.
The Statistician General said the signing of the agreement was a watershed moment and a step in the right direction.
He said putting pen to paper formalises a lot of work that has been done behind the scenes to realise the partnership. – SAnews.gov.za
