1. AFU Report to Portfolio Committee – 9 March 2006
Presented by:
Willie Hofmeyr
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2. Overall objectives Increase the volume of cases
to build the capacity to do more cases to make a real impact in the fight against crime
2: Developing the law
to do test cases and create legal precedents that allow the effective use of the law
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3. 1: Increasing the volume of cases
2004 / 2005
2005 / 2006 (10 mnths)
Indicator
Target
Actual
% of
target
Target:
Full year &
10 mnths
YTD
Number of cases
Seizures
180
165
92%
207
118%
Cases completed
150
151
101%
171
128%
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4. Continued Indicator 2004 / 2005 2005 / 2006 (10 mnths) Target Actual
% of
target
Target:
Full year &
10 mnths
YTD
Value of cases
Seizures
R 250m
R 222m
89%
R250m R208m
R 275m
132%
Cases completed
R 100m
R 173m
173%
R100m R83m
R 93m
112%
Funds into CARA
R 60m
R 25m
42%
R50m R42m
R 18m
Funds to victims
R 20m
R 66m
332%
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5. Notes on targets New seizures Number of cases: well above target
Value of cases: already achieved R267.5m against target of R250m
Completed cases
Value of cases: above target
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6. Provisional targets 06/07 Indicator Number of cases: Monetary targets:
New seizures
230
R300m
Cases completed
180
R120m
Funds into CARA
R40m
Funds to victims
R30m
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7. 2: Developing the law Indicator 2004 / 2005 2005 / 2006 (10 mnths)
Target
Actual
% of
target
Target:
year & for
10 mnths
YTD
Judgements
overall
(In CC or SCA) 30 47
(0 + 6)
157% 34
(1 + 3)
91%
Successful
67%
64%
(50%)
-3%
71%
(75%)
+4%
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8. Continued Judgements to date Success rate to date All cases 165 63%
CC/SCA cases
3 +14
100% & 57%
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9. Success rate in Judgments
Have maintained success rate of more than 85% in all cases
Also measure success rate in cases where judgments are obtained
In 4 years to April 2003
won only 44% of judgments (21 of 48)
Big change in past 3 years in attitude of courts
03/04 won 75% of judgements (23 of 30)
04/05 won 64% of judgements (30 of 47)
05/06 won 71% of judgements (22 of 31)
Since Nov 2004, have won 5 of 6 cases in SCA
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10. SCA / CC cases
SCA cases
Seevnarayan judgement on instrumentalities made it almost impossible to act against dirty hotels
Recent SCA decisions in Prophet and Prophet adopted a more balanced approach for fixed property
SCA cases - other
Nel and Du Toit lost – issue of legal expenses
CC cases
Phillips application for leave to appeal refused
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11. Partners Have excellent relations with
SAPS – about 90% of cases, 30% value
DSO – about 8 % of cases, 67% value
Others: NPS, SARS, SARB, FIC
Have SAPS task teams in most AFU offices
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12. Employment equity All Staff Management Designated groups 82% 76% Black
All Staff
Management
Designated groups
82%
76%
Black
61%
66%
African
37%
29%
Women
45%
41%
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13. Major challenges
Major challenge to expand its capacity sufficiently to deal with all the cases that are currently in court and where asset forfeiture can be done
Estimate is about R1 to R2 billion, apart from other proceeds that can be targeted through civil forfeiture
Prepared a business case to expand capacity sufficiently to deal with this over 5 years
Requires expanding the budget almost ten-fold - Securing funding a massive challenge
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14. Legislation
A number of areas have been identified where the law should be clarified or strengthened
Amendments have been prepared and submitted to DOJ
We have identified a shorter list of urgent amendments
Helpful if they can be processed in in the second half of the year
Minister is about to publish regulations to specify the maximum legal expenses that may be paid from assets preserved ito chapter 6
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15. Conclusion
Asset forfeiture is an important part of the war against crime ‑ it hits the crime bosses where it hurts most ‑ in the pocket
In this way it helps to deter criminals
But most importantly, forfeiture is a vital weapon to take the profit out of crime
If we are to deal effectively with crime, it must become true “that crime does not pay”
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