Minister of Correctional Services, at the National Council of Province
2 June 2006
Ministers
Deputy Ministers
MECs
Members of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP)
It indeed gives me great pleasure to return to the National Council of
Provinces and address the House as Deputy Minister of Correctional Services. As
some of you might know, this has been my home for five years.
As colleagues know, I was appointed in February of this year. Since that
time, I have been on a very steep learning curve regarding the many
complexities and challenges facing our criminal justice system. In my address,
I will try to respond to some of the challenges raised as well and, at the end,
maybe see if I can make additional responses. However, I am sure that the
Minister of Safety and Security is also very capable of responding to some of
these areas that were raised.
In my address, I would like to expand a bit more on some of the issues that
were raised by the Minister, as well as make a plea to you, as members of this
House, to spread our message of Operation Masibambisane. The Department of
Correctional Services (DCS) is propagating the message of corrections,
rehabilitation, social reintegration and that should be a shared
responsibility.
Most colleagues who spoke earlier have acknowledged that the overcrowding of
our correctional facilities is the single most biggest challenge facing the
Department of Correctional Services and has a significant impact on both the
rehabilitation programme in particular and also the criminal justice system as
a whole. Let me assure members that that issue is receiving our urgent and
undivided attention. You will be aware that our plans for the building of eight
new centres are proceeding steadily, albeit not without difficulties. However,
as the Department of Correctional Services, our focus has also turned towards
the strengthening of our community correctional services so that we can ensure
that petty offenders stay out of our centres but still benefit from a
rehabilitation programme.
Within the DCS, we have come to realise that the rehabilitation of
first-time and habitual offenders is an impossible task, unless these offenders
are able to return to their communities with the prospect of all four pillars
of social reintegration being put in place, that is housing, education,
employment and indeed the family.
Many offenders on the verge of leaving our facilities are faced with the
reality that not only do they not have shelter, education or a job; often they
are not wanted by their families who may actually be afraid of them. As the
department, we recognise that all the good we may do in rehabilitation of an
offender whilst he or she is in our facilities will come to nothing if they
find themselves on the streets upon their release.
Our experience informs us that it is the marginalised that are the most
susceptible to a life of crime, especially when individuals experience a
combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low income,
poor housing, a high-crime environment, bad health and a dysfunctional family
environment.
Social exclusion refers to the dynamic process of being shut out fully or
partially from anyone of the social, economic, political or cultural systems,
which determine the social integration of a person in society. These are the
factors that create the scenario for an entry into a life of crime. Therefore
if these conditions exist for offenders upon their release, they will
inevitably go back into a cycle of crime and find themselves back in our
correctional centres.
Our message as the Department of Correctional Services is quite simple: that
in order for the offender who has served his or her term to become a productive
citizen, we as the community need to play our role in providing the appropriate
support systems. Therefore the department has proposed an integrated support
system. The purpose of this support system is, amongst others, to make it
possible for offenders to attend correctional and developmental programmes in
their own residential areas; to allow for offenders to be counselled by
psychologists, social workers and religious workers in their own residential
areas or their communities where they come from; to make provision for
offenders to render community services within their own communities, unless the
court directs otherwise; and to, where necessary, refer offenders to agencies
for further assistance or support within the community during their
reintegration programme.
Communities, many a times, may prefer to leave the responsibility of
supervising re-entry, family reintegration, seeking employment and monitoring
compliance conditions to the law-enforcement agencies alone. However,
successful social reintegration is a multi-sectoral and community-driven
process. The Department of Correctional Services can only serve as a critical
resource and a guiding partner. Without a doubt, we will need the support of
partners and stakeholders, and yourselves, in many of these initiatives, in
order for us to deliver on our mandate.
There is therefore an urgent need for proactive and robust social
reintegration strategies, which could include the following or some of the
following: a mentoring programme, support and adult education, well-structured
day programmes, sheltered employment projects, life skills training,
recreational activity-based programmes as well as educational and employer
links.
Even though the purpose of imprisonment is to punish offenders and to put
them where they can do no harm, our White Paper requires us to prepare them for
subsequence release and reintegration back into society. We are, however, aware
that imprisonment does not achieve the second objective as a large number of
former offenders re-offend within five years of their release. There are many
reasons for this, not the least of which includes socialisation to prison
culture, lack of family support, lack of education and vocational training, and
social prejudices. Spending many years in prison may be a factor in
de-socialisation as it very often destroys the offendersâ ties with families,
their communities and the rest of society.
As a department, we have called on business or private sector to give former
offenders a second chance in life. We therefore appreciate the active
involvement of some business organisations that are starting to partner with
organisations of former offenders in order to offer employment opportunities to
these former offenders.
We recognise and appreciate the involvement of some small enterprises that
have recognised the skills potential that some of our offenders are trained in
various trades within our centres, and they then and actively recruit from
there. Their efforts bring pride and dignity to the few families who are able
to add yet another, if not the only, breadwinner to their homes. Consequently,
these efforts reduce the chance of repeat offending and, more importantly,
promote good citizenship.
Speaking to juveniles and children in detention is a major challenge and one
of the members mentioned that earlier on as well. During this month of June,
which is also called the Youth Month, and as the Child Protection Week draws to
a close, it is prudent that I remind you about our constitutional stipulation
and requirement that prohibits the admission of children into correctional
facilities, except as a last resort. I refer to chapter 2 of the Bill of
Rights, clause 28, and I quote:
Every child has the right not to be detained except as a measure of last
resort, in which case, in addition to the rights a child enjoys under sections
12 and 35, the child may be detained only for the shortest appropriate period
of time, and has the right to be kept separately from detained persons over the
age of 18 years, and to be treated in a manner and kept in conditions that take
account of the age of the child.
In his State of the Nation address, in February this year, the President
promised, I quote, âto reduce the number of children in custody.â We concur
with President Mbeki that children do not belong in custody. Consequently, we
have instructed all regions to conduct an audit of children in our correctional
facilities with the intention of engaging our partners in the justice, crime
prevention and security cluster, and Social Development in particular, in
seeking alternative accommodation for these young people who find themselves in
conflict with the law.
We have, together with the Department of Social Development, already
identified several places of safety for young offenders. We have also designed
intervention programmes to cater for these young offendersâ development, care,
correction of their offending behaviour and reintegration into society.
The general theme of our White Paper is on corrections, rehabilitation,
reintegration and new beginnings. All of us, including ourselves as Members of
Parliament, offenders, correctional officials, the family, the community and
society at large make this theme a reality.
We also note that there are some challenges that have been raised.
Unfortunately, my time is running out. I will not be able to respond and do
justice to the responses but we are available to the committee and to this
House at large for engaging on some of these challenges, and to try and find
some remedies together.
Issued by: Department of Correctional Service
2 June 2006
