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COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO ALLEGATIONS OF POLICE INEFFICIENCY IN KHAYELITSHA AND A BREAKDOWN IN RELATIONS BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND POLICE IN KHAYELITSHA PHASE ONE Richard Bosman Date: 6 February 2014 Source: Pages 1900-2013 of Commission transcript COMMISSIONER: We will now move on to our next witness who is Mr Bosman. MR KATZ: Yes he is here Commissioner. He is here and he’s got no objection to taking the oath. COMMISSIONER: That’s good to know. And he knows that these are public proceedings and he doesn’t mind – he knows these are public proceedings? MR KATZ: Yes I know but you usually ask the witness whether they wish to take the oath. COMMISSIONER: I know. I also ask the witness whether they know they are public proceedings so I thought seeing as how you were going to tell us, you could confirm that as well. Mr Bosman if you’d like to take a seat over here. Good afternoon Mr Bosman. I apologise, we’ve been keeping you waiting for over 24 hours now. MR BOSMAN: Two days. COMMISSIONER: Yes, but thank you very much for making yourself available. We are grateful and I know that you have no difficulty with your name being made public and your evidence being ma de public. MR BOSMAN: None whatsoever, I have no objection to taking the oath also. COMMISSIONER: And you have no objection to taking the oath according to your counsel. MR BOSMAN: None whatsoever Commissioner. COMMISSIONER: And would you repeat after me? RICHARD BOSMAN – (sworn states) COMMISSIONER: Mr Katz? MR KATZ: Thank Madam Commissioner. EXAMINATION BY MR KATZ: Mr Bosman you are testifying on behalf of the City of Cape Town in your professional capacity as the Executive Director of the Director ate of Safety and Security or the Safety and Security Directorate of the City of Cape Town, is that correct? MR BOSMAN: That is correct. MR KATZ: Now the City of Cape Town have instructed Fairbridges Inc, and particularly Ms Deidré le Fevre who is sittin g on my right, who has instructed me to represent The City in these proceedings, and we have sat – either us or a professional assistance from Fairbridges and we’ve provided you with a snapshot of some of the evidence that has been led in these proceedings and you read in the newspaper about the proceedings that have taken place in this Commission, is that correct? MR BOSMAN: That is correct. MR KATZ: Now the evidence that you are going to give today I understand will be divided into three broad chapters; there will be an introductory chapter, a chapter dealing with the law and then thirdly a chapter dealing with the facts. Now the chapters are not hermetically sealed and perhaps as your evidence develops they will run into each other, but what is hoped is that you will give at least in the introductory chapter, the Commission a view of why it is and how it comes about that The City is involved in this Commission and the extent of that involvement, why it is that it is you and you particularly that is repre senting The City or giving evidence on behalf of The City in this Commission, and then thirdly, which I will touch upon after that introduction, a comment from you as to why it is you said in an affidavit provided to the Commission on the 6 th December 2013, that there exists what you called a good working relationship between your directorate and the Provincial Commissioner’s office. So what I’d like you to do to start with is have regard to the affidavit that you had handed to the Commissioner or that we h ad handed to the Commissioner on your behalf, The City’s behalf and specifically talk to two aspects upfront; one is who you are and that one we’ll find in paragraph 7, and then after that, if you could speak about The City’s stance to the Commission. In l ooking at The City’s stance I would want you to touch upon the terms of reference and answer questions which may come up as to why it is that The City aren’t giving all the answers to all the questions that might come. So if you could start off with talkin g about those three issues; (1) who are you, (2) what is The City’s stance to the Commission and (3) your directorate’s relationship with SAPS. MR BOSMAN: Firstly my name is Richard Gavin Bosman, born and bred in Cape Town. I started working for The City of Cape Town in 1985 after matriculating in ’84. I started working as a beach constable, as a law enforcement officer. I studied while at my tenure in The City through a bursary. I worked in different municipalities – Stellenbosch, Overstrand, I worked at the Provincial Government. MR KATZ: Mr Bosman what did you study? MR BOSMAN: I did a Bachelor of Law at Unisa. MR KATZ: Bachelor of Law at Unisa. So you’ve got some understanding when you look at legal documents, what they may mean, so if you have rega rd to the proclamation by the Premier of the terms of reference of this Commission you will have some understanding of what those terms mean. MR BOSMAN: Yes I would. I left City of Cape Town in 2002 and rejoined in 2008 as the Chief of Law Enforcement and the current position I hold has been since the 1 st April 2009. So I’ve been in this job just over four years. In terms of The City’ approach to the Commission has always been that we would assist as far as possible in any way and in that sense that was why I’ve been asked to also depose to an affidavit to present as much facts as possible, and I think one of the other reasons is the fact that I’m in the policing arena and I felt that we could make a contribution in some way based on the interaction we had with the SAPS. MR KATZ: Do you know that there was a complaint by both SAPS and the complainant organisations that the Premier had not included The City within the Commission’s terms of reference? Do you know about that? MR BOSMAN: Yes I am aware of that. I was part of the group of officials initially asked to respond to some request that the Premier had made based on certain complaints. I assisted with the input into some of those complaints. MR KATZ: The input to whom? MR BOSMAN: In response to the Premier in respect of complaints that she had received. MR KATZ: So The City as I understand it, co -operated with the Premier? MR BOSMAN: That was prior to the Commission yes, they co -operated. MR KATZ: I think the Premier made an affidavit to that effe ct in the High Court and Constitutional Court proceedings. MR BOSMAN: Yes. As I indicated I was asked to provide certain information in some respect also from my side. MR KATZ: Right. Now, if I understood your evidence, you have been asked to provide the Commission with the evidence that the Commission seeks because of your position, is that right? MR BOSMAN: That is correct. MR KATZ: What exactly do you mean by that? Why is it you rather than for example utilities or housing or some other directorate w ithin The City? MR BOSMAN: Well for the bulk of my career I have always had law enforcement agencies with me, whether I work at Stellenbosch or Overstrand, I always had traffic police with me, law enforcement with me, emergency services. And also having been in The City and very involved in the initial setup of the City Police in 2001 I think the view was that I’ve had a fair amount of experience and exposure. And also I sit on the Provincial Joints Committee, which is set up in terms of the SAPS Act, so I interact with the Provincial Commissioner directly and his deputies and I think they felt that with the experience I had and the exposure I will be able to make some sort of contribution to the Commission. MR KATZ: Yes. There is another reason that I was thinking of and correct me if I’m wrong, but it was really that within The City your directorate is the one that deals with the issues that the Commission is confronted with rather than some other directorate. MR BOSMAN: That is correct. We deal with th e uniform policing issues in The City itself and that directly dovetails into the Commission’s terms of reference dealing with policing issues in Khayelitsha. MR KATZ: And then following on from that question, if one has regard to what you say in paragraph 3 of your affidavit, you say that there’s certain documentation and information which falls under The City’s control. That you have obtained these documentations or information from other directorates which deal with aspects outside of your directorate’s mandate. Yet you have given bits and pieces of evidence about those other aspects, but you are not in a position if I understand it correctly, to for example speak to The City’s sanitation programme. That’s outside your mandate. MR BOSMAN: I also won’t be able to speak to it from any substantial point of view, it’s not my line function. We all have our different focuses but I wouldn’t be able to speak to it with any form of authority in any way.

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