Minister Michael Masutha: Ministerial Youth Summit

Address by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Adv. Michael Masutha, MP Ministerial Youth Summit, Randfontein Local Municipality 

Programme Director
Honourable Randfontein Mayor: Cllr. Mzikayise Khumalo
National Commissioner of Correctional Services Mr. Zach Modise
Representatives from the Justice, Crime Prevention & Security Cluster
Our Stakeholders and Partners
The community of Randfontein
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Today we are gathered to rekindle what the late President Mandela once eloquently articulated:

“Memories of tender young bodies strewn in the streets, im the silence of death, in the fading smoke of the policeman’s guns, and amid the tears of the whole communities – all these memories come gushing back: to remind us of the terrible past from which we come; to infuse us with pride in the heroism of our youth; and to enjoin us once more, thatnever again shall state guns be turned on the youth or anyone else simply because they want a better education and a better life.”

It is now 20 years since our iconic Father of the Nation said these words and in the same year signed our ground breaking Constitution that entrenched basic rights and developmental rights of all people, particularly young people.

It is therefore a privilege to be in the presence of our most valued asset of the nation and the world, the youth as we commemorate the 40th anniversary that historic day in 1976. Youth Month is a very significant period in the history of South Africa, because as a nation we remember the bravery and heroism of the youth of 1976. The brutality of the apartheid regime against innocent people who demanded equal rights may have been forgiven, but will never be forgotten. Preserving these memories and using them to inspire ourselves to double our efforts to realize a better life for all especially the youth, will be a fitting tribute to the youngest victim of that violent day, Hector Pieterson, who was only 12 years old, as well as hundreds who died. It was after this day that the international community imposed sanctions on South Africa in an attempt to weaken the oppressive apartheid regime.

Youth Day and Youth Month are dedicated to paying tribute to the Soweto uprising and its vision. This year 2016, marks 22 years of democracy in South Africa. At the heart of our democratic state, lies our young generation which carries the baton from the students of 1976 to move South Africa forward. The success of the new generation is ensured when we educate the youth about their history and the role played by young people in the struggle for national liberation by reflecting on the events of 1976.

Our theme this year is: “Youth moving South Africa Forward”. As the department of Correctional Services and the government as a whole, the 40thanniversary of 16 June 1976, provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the changes and progress made since the dawn of the democratic dispensation, and the challenges we still face in our journey to fill social and economic emancipation of our people. It has also been a journey to move from prison to corrections, a people’s correctional system that all can be proud of and support. We do all these to ensure offender sustainable reintegration into society.

This journey has been about redefining the role of corrections in South Africa, to ensure that it indeed marks the end of a life of crime, and the beginning of restoration. We could no longer assume the connection that government represents the victims of crime, but justice must be seen to be done for victims with their effective participation across the criminal justice continuum. Indeed crime produces victims and we cannot allow crime to thrive by forgetting the victims of crime.  

We have progressively invested in ensuring that offenders leave correctional centres with better life and technical skills and with higher prospects of leading productive lives free of crime. In doing so, the department promotes corrections as a societal responsibility, contributing to enhanced public safety and reducing reoffending. Two years ago when we took office the rate of compliance with parole conditions and reduction was at 86 and today we are at 98%. We are succeeding in ensuring that those incarcerated do not return to communities to start where they let off, but be back as changed persons.

We had made a commitment to divert children from prisons, meaning those between 14 and 18 years of age, and we achieved phenomenally in this regard with a 93% reduction of children in custody. Currently, there are 610 juvenile remand detainees, meaning youth between 18 – 20 years of age, with about 596 sentenced juveniles in our care. However the fact that nearly 70%of the country’s 157 000 inmate population are young people, is a disturbing feature we must all address. It is a worrying factor that so many young people who should be at school or universities. Compounding our challenge is the fact that many have committed serious crimes such as murder, rape, robbery and assault. Many come from previously disadvantaged communities with lack of employment opportunities and are living in abject poverty from dysfunctional families. Of course this should not be used as a justification for crime, but we have an obligation to limit chances of these sectors being used by crime syndicates or themselves using crime as an alternative.

I have given an instruction to DCS to make every job opportunity to many unemployed young people. We no longer have one intake but three a year. It is his heartening to note that for only 4000 opportunities the department received over one million applications.

We are therefore as a department concerned about the majority of the young population that is filling up our centres. South Africa’s correctional system invests in the development of the youth in our care in an endeavor to turn things around. We have been increasing our interventions to correct offending behavior caused by criminal factors through at least 11 correctional programmes. We have also instituted interventions aimed at offender development to eliminate illiteracy, death of technical and vocational skills, and to provide among others food production skills. This is done through many farms we have across the country. The Youth Summits seek to explore ways of keeping young people away from crime and offending behavior. We will rollout the campaign across South Africa by engaging with young people all over South Africa especially those at risk of ending up in correctional facilities due to poverty, a lack of education and skills and, unemployment.

We launched the first Correctional Youth Summit in Umhlathuze in KwaZulu Natal, and proceeded to Free State and this is the third leg of these engagements. The aim is to find innovative ways of utilising the resources and expertise available at our 243 correctional facilities to advance developmental opportunities in the various regions through collaborative programmes between the Department of Correctional Services, other government departments, the private sector and civil society, and of course with strong partnerships with local municipalities.

Through offender labour the department wants to intervene in local communities and to build a better life for young people through Correctional Services workshops and vocational training and in agricultural projects to ensure our future leaders are sufficiently empowered to approach the future with the confidence they need to better their lives.

There are many pockets of excellence within Correctional Services. With this campaign we seek move the whole institution to emulate these pockets of excellence though out the country. Unemployed youth, from surrounding localities, are brought into correctional centres over a period of time to be trained with offenders in, among others, motor mechanics, furniture making, electrical engineering business management and agriculture.

As per the National Development Plan, safety and security are directly related to socio-economic development and equality. A safe and secure country encourages economic growth and transformation by providing an environment conducive to employment creation, improved education and health outcomes, and strengthened social cohesion.

We now pledge to accelerate these interventions aimed at empowering young people. We believe together with the youth we can accelerate efforts to move South Africa forward.

Thank you

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