IAATI South African Branch History
The Southern African Branch (SAB) of IAATI was established in 1990, and our Charter was granted on 22 Aug 1991 by the International Board, which is seated in the USA for administration purposes.
The SAB’s membership was, however, suspended in 1996 as a result of the (temporary) phasing out of the vehicle crime investigation environment during the transitional phase of the country’s history.
Our Charter was reinstated on 6 Aug 2008 during the Annual Training Seminar, which was held in Sydney, Australia. On this date, the SAB was 35 members strong in SA. Today, we have more than 350 members in 6 countries, i.e., The RSA, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Botswana, and Tanzania.
With our Southern African membership, we have also gained exposure to INTERPOL and the Southern African Police Chiefs Co-operation Organization (SARPCCO), which can assist our future endeavors.
The new SAB’s first 1-day training Seminar & AGM was presented on 16 Oct 2009 and 12 March 2009 at Toyota SA's head office in Johannesburg.
Since then, very successful annual seminars have been presented at the Weesgerus, SA Police Resort & Conference Centre, Modimolle, in the Limpopo Province.
Since 2021, three regional annual seminars have been presented in the Western Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal, and Weesgerus. This was very successful and will be continued.
At the 2012 seminar, the SAB announced that the winner of the Annual IAATI SAB Investigators Award (one of three annual awards) would be sent on a fully sponsored trip to the yearly international seminar.
The SA Branch also hosted the 2017 65th Annual International Training Seminar in Cape Town, the first international held on the African Continent! The SAB is bidding to host the International Training Seminar in 2027. This very successful five-day seminar was attended by 323 delegates from 23 countries ranging from North, South, and Central America to the length and breadth of Europe and the UK, as well as Australasia and Southern African delegates.
The IAATI SAB is also actively involved with training in the SADC and active on various forums involving preventing, combating, and investigating vehicle-related crime. One such forum is the National Vehicle Crime Forum, which various private sector stakeholders like the Insurance and Banking Industry attend.
In line with the International Standard Operating Procedure, the SAB was registered as a Not-for-Profit Company in 2012 (Comp Reg. No 2012/178848/08). The SAB is also a registered Public Benefit Organisation (PBO Number: 930 053 948), which means it can issue tax certifications for fully tax-deductible donations.
Furthermore, it must be mentioned that all the board members and members alike serve the IAATI voluntarily and receive no remuneration for their services. All work is conducted for the good of the country, its citizens, and crime suppression.