criticism
28 September 2006
The Department of Correctional Services is of the view that one opposition
party's call for the head of its Accounting Officer should be dismissed as a
myopic perspective that turns a blind eye to phenomenal improvements made by
the department in the past three to five years.
The improvements made under Commissioner Mti's leadership include:
- The stabilisation of a department that experienced 'longer birth pains'
than other institutions from apartheid repression to a rehabilitation centred
institution for correction of offenders.
- The transformation of the medical aid system that was backed by investigation
of fraudulent and corrupt transactions which resulted in 16 medical
practitioners and hundreds of officials being either prosecuted and / or
disciplined.
- Over R1 billion savings were registered with significantly reduced medical
aid claims and elimination of unsustainable overtime payments while at the same
time reaffirming the management position and stabilising the labour
environment.
- The recruitment turn around times were significantly improved with over 5 000
new recruits either engaged or finally being employed in just two years, while
developing a strategy for the recruitment and retention of scarce skills.
Given the magnitude of the challenges of turning around a huge institution
with over 36 000 employees, some challenge remain and had resulted in the
qualification of its financial statements some of which are beyond its control,
while others are being progressively addressed with a clear intervention plan.
Anyone 'awake over the past few years' would appreciate that the Department has
made strides in addressing a mountain of challenges through numerous
interventions.
The Departmental Audit Committee acknowledges this progress in their report
while also the Auditor-General appreciates that other than a few issues causing
the qualification the statements, "present fairly" the financial position of
the department in line with the prescripts and the Public Finance Management
Act.
The Department wishes to state clearly that a plan is in place to address
the issues raised by the Auditor-General. The plan includes strategies for
addressing challenges of asset management, staff debts, completing changes to
its medical aid scheme and housing loans to ensure full compliance with the
policies and prescripts.
Enquiries:
Manelisi Wolela
Tel: (012) 305 8204
Cell: 083 626 0304
Issued by: Department of Correctional Services
28 September 2006
Source: Department of Correctional Services (http://www.dcs.gov.za)
