honourable BNM Balfour
23 May 2006
Madame Speaker
Honourable members
Senior management and staff of the Department in the gallery
Compatriots
Colleagues, partners and the public viewing the speech on big screens in all
our regions
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
A word of welcome to our special guest, Bongiwe Ronoti from Immaculata High
School in Wynberg who will be working with us today and tomorrow as part of our
contribution to the Take a Girl Child to Work Campaign.
The dawn of freedom in South Africa in 1994 ushered a new beginning in the
lives of the majority of our people, it ushered a life of hope, high
expectations, excitement and enthusiasm for the previously oppressed whilst for
some in the privileged minority, it also ushered a life of fear, discontent,
disenchantment and loss of hope because the ascendance to power by the African
majority to some signalled the worst.
We have now just entered the second decade of our democracy and freedom
wherein despite the challenges that still confront us; the overwhelming
majority of South Africans black and white have witnessed significant changes
in the quality of their lives and are full of hope and expectations about the
future. The local government elections held in March this year have
demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that the majority of South Africans
have confidence in the leadership of their vanguard movement, the African
National Congress (ANC).
Madame Speaker, there is no revolutionary struggle that has no sacrifices,
loss of lives or flow of blood. There is no peaceful settlement without a war
or battle. Ours is a silent revolution borne out of the struggles and battles
fought through the peaceful marches led by Lillian Ngoyi, Charlotte Maxeke,
Ellen Khuzwayo and other great women of our struggle for freedom, the wars of
resistance waged by Makana, Bambatha, Dinizulu and others, the gallant student
revolution engineered by the student movement of 1976 and the peopleâs wars
waged by the heroic and death defying âyoung lionsâ of the 1980s. We are what
we are today because of the sacrifices of many of these martyrs, the sung and
unsung heroes of our peopleâs revolution who laid down their lives so that
today we could be free.
Therefore as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Constitution and the
50th anniversary of the Womenâs March and also as we commemorate the 30th
anniversary of the 1976 Students Uprisings and the Bambata Centenary, let us
reflect back on the successes we have achieved and the challenges we are facing
in fulfilling the wishes for which these martyrs and veterans of the struggles
and wars of resistance died.
Madame Speaker, it is now exactly two years and three days since I joined
the Department of Correctional Services. I must say that it has been a richly
rewarding experience because it has afforded me the opportunity to test and
implement the noble intentions of our visionary founding documents, the Freedom
Charter and the Constitution of the Republic. As I stand here today having
gained insights into the challenges of our correctional system, I am more
convinced than ever before that our forebears were correct when, 51 years ago,
they declared in the Freedom Charter that âImprisonment shall be only for
serious crimes against the people and shall aim at re-education , not
vengeance.â
Similarly, as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Constitution of South
Africa, 1996 I am proud to say that our country has systematically ensured that
the pervasive principles of equality before the law and access to basic human
rights also incorporates inmates, who in many societies including the advanced
democracies, are among the most vulnerable members of society. If indeed it is
true that one of the real tests of the democratic values of any country is the
manner in which it treats its most vulnerable members, then we are making very
good progress.
My management and I do believe however that it would be grossly patronising
and irresponsible to talk about the importance of the human rights without
emphasising the need to balance them with responsibilities. This we believe is
the essence of the correctional system: to treat inmates with dignity while at
the same time, providing them with life skills and inculcating a sense of
responsibility that would make them realise the folly of their ways and commit
to becoming responsible members of society upon their release.
My submission to this House today will attempt to demonstrate how,
notwithstanding operational constraints, we shall continue to strive for this
balance through our inter alia, the amendment the Correctional Services Act
(Act 111 of 1998), implementation of the Government Program of Action,
implementation of new and existing policies, efficient management of the
2006/07 budget and compliance with internal control measures in our day to day
activities.
As we have stated previously, the delivery of corrections is a mammoth task
that requires the mobilisation of the biggest pool of social partners
imaginable. It gives me great pleasure to announce that some of those partners
are here with us today. They include Judge Seraj Desai, Chairperson of the
National Council on Correctional Services, Judge Hannes Fagan, the Head of the
Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons, colleagues from the non-governmental
organisation (NGO) sector, departmental officials, inmates and colleagues from
the Shuttleworth Foundation who have generously agreed to partner with us in
the development of Information Technology (IT) skilling among inmates. Thanks
to the support of the Shuttleworth Foundation, the eradication of the
boundaries and barriers created as a result of the digital divide will soon
become a thing of the past in correctional services as we embark on a drastic
digital and IT skills revolution for offenders. This IT revolution will usher a
new era in the learning and education programmes of offenders with the
establishment of Computer Based Learning Centres in all centres of
excellence.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, 24 May, I will be launching the first phase of this IT
skills revolution pilot project for offenders, at Pollsmoor. The launch of this
Open Source Learning Centres will result in the introduction of E-learning
options to offenders and their general capacitation in IT and computer skills.
The second phase of this pilot project will be announced in due course.
Madame Speaker, it is with deep sadness to note that as we are building
partnerships for corrections, we have, in the past three weeks alone lost some
of the our most dedicated cadres in the late honourable Stella Sigcau and
Siyabulela Mlombile, our former Regional Commissioner for Gauteng.
Siyabulela passed on after a long illness and was laid to rest in Qumbu,
Eastern Cape on 13 May. Siyabulela, the former guerilla of uMkhonto We Sizwe
and committed cadre of correctional services who dedicated his life to the
transformation of both correctional and intelligence services in South Africa,
was a selfless individual who made a profound impact on successes of the
Department of Correctional Services (DCS). Siyabulela is of one of the martyrs
and unsung heroes of our struggle who sacrificed their lives for this
democracy. Today, we are celebrating his life as we reflect on these successes,
to which he so much contributed.
His heroism and values for which he fought, lived and died will always be
cherished as we pick up his spear and soldier on to build a correctional system
of a country of his dreams and that of many others who have traversed this road
to pave our way for our freedom and our development. Rest in peace Siyabulela,
cadre of the movement, you left a huge void which will be very difficult to
fill.
Indeed, through great efforts of many committed past and present cadres of
our country, correctional services of today is no longer that of yesterday. We
have and continue to progressively advance transformation and development of
the countryâs correctional system with unprecedented levels on collaboration
with various players and the public. We had said, Madame Speaker, correctional
services were like a huge ship sailing in rocky and murky waters. It was indeed
a ship floating with no compass but I am delighted to say years of sweat are
paying dividends as we are now steering and guiding it towards the right
direction and out of the danger zone.
Today we can indeed say that our ship is turning, is clear of its direction
and is avoiding major dangers of rocky coast lines. However, steering a
correctional services ship in any part of the world has inherent âice bergsâ
that continue to pose dangers even to the most well built and resourced ship
and those challenges emanating from the sheer nature of human beings in a given
society, as the system is just a microcosm of its society.
I am proud to say we are through the rapids with clear achievements in the
long and arduous journey we have travelled that give us renewed energy when
facing the yet to be traversed new hills, valleys, rivers and mountains as we
march to one of the best correctional systems in the world that delivers with
absolute commitment to integrity and excellence. We can indeed identify with
the Presidentâs intervention that we are in an âAge of Hopeâ.
Without the history that informed the perceptions of ordinary citizens and
shaped their minds about correctional services in the past and present, we
perhaps may not have been able to appreciate the âAge Of Hopeâ. In the past, in
the minds of many of our people the mere mention of the word âprisonâ was
undoubtedly associated with âdark dungeonsâ run by âarrogant and corrupt black
warders and verkrampte boere,â whose job was to âfixâ âunrepentant murderersâ
and âsavage rapistsâ from the townships.
Those perceptions are changing as reflected by both our public perceptions
survey commissioned by ourselves in collaboration with the Government
Communications and Information System (GCIS), as well as the Markinor public
perceptions survey. Our research found that public perceptions are largely more
positive about correctional services delivery especially among those who had
come into contact with the new department over the past few years. We strongly
believe also that correctional services contributed fairly to the growing
public confidence in the criminal justice system that has marked sustained
improvements over the past three years from 41 percent to 53 percent.
Madame Speaker, we are therefore saying together we have to completely erase
that tainted past from the minds of our people and replace them with new
experiences and knowledge that empowers them to be victors, champions and
drivers of transformation instead of victims, losers and passive followers of
efforts to make South Africa a safer, secure and a better place for all our
people. This is a chapter we have introduced during the first decade of freedom
and intensified over the last three to four years of correctional services
delivery. A chapter where people began to internalise our purpose and to assist
in contributing to maintaining and protecting a just peaceful and safe society
by:
* enforcing sentences of the courts in the manner prescribed by the
Act
* detaining all offenders in safe custody whilst ensuring their human
dignity
* promoting the social responsibility and human development of all offenders
and persons subject to community corrections.
The enthusiasm and confidence that our people are beginning to display
towards correctional services was evident during the Government Imbizo in
KwaZuluâNatal from 7 to 13 March 2006, where we came across many former
offenders with qualifications obtained whilst serving in correctional centres,
as well student interns who want to become correctional officers so that they
could set an example of how rehabilitation and experience in correctional
centres has changed their lives for the better.
A classical example is that of the 28 year old Siyabonga Zulu of KwaNongoma
in Natal, Midlands, who served as a student intern at the Ncome correctional
centre and is today a BA graduate in correctional studies. Siyabonga has
pleaded with the Department to find him a job as an officer at any correctional
centre and we are determined to assist him in this regard being mindful however
of the many challenges we are facing in employing former interns in
correctional centres who have graduated, including qualified inmates.
This is a âcream of cropâ of the young generation who are willing to
contribute to the transformation of prisons to correctional centres that are
âuniversities of information and knowledge accumulationâ and centres of
corrections and rehabilitation. This is a drastic contrast to the substantial
but yet dwindling number of hardened criminals who want to make prisons their
âuniversities of crimeâ. We are however cognisant of the fact that not all
offenders can be rehabilitated and it is for this reason that we profile and
categorise offenders so that we are able to determine who has the capability
and potential to be rehabilitated or not. Whilst we wholeheartedly care for
inmates, we also show no mercy to hardened criminals. It is for this reason
that we have designated centres that accommodate the category of such offenders
so that they do not negatively influence those that still have a better future
after serving their sentences.
It is against this backdrop that we have introduced a revolutionary strategy
that advances a philosophy that âevery correctional official becomes a
rehabilitator and every offender a rehabilitated inmateâ. This is the new
beginning in the history of corrections in South Africa which has earned us
admiration and accolades from many of our counterparts in Africa and
beyond.
Celebrating an âage of hopeâ highlights
We can say confidently the financial year 2005/06 has been one of the
pivotal points in the history of the transformation of the criminal justice
system in general and the delivery of correctional services in particular, for
our achievements far outweighed the challenges we faced and therefore a cause
for celebration. Borrowing from our first President, officials, stakeholders
and partners in the delivery of corrections indeed seized the âtime to define
for ourselves what we want to make of our shared destinyâ in spite of our
numerous challenges.
During the policy pronouncement phase led by the Presidentâs State of the
Nation address, government announced a programme of action for building the
criminal justice system such that greater confidence exhumes from members of
the public, on whom we rely for partnerships against crime. On most of those
targets we have delivered in some instances beyond our own expectations. In
giving highlights of the financial year that was the following cannot be
omitted:
* Launch of 36 centres of excellence in all six correctional services
regions as landing strips for the implementation of the ideals enunciated in
White Paper on Corrections in South Africa, which will where possible be done
across all 241 correctional centres. The centres were prioritised for various
other interventions including training on the new rehabilitation model named
Offender Rehabilitation Path (ORP), which will be intensified.
* Madame Speaker, the centres of excellence where practical rehabilitation
programmes have begun to yield fruitful results are today the flagship of our
correctional system, as they are step by step but surely producing
rehabilitated graduates and professionals in plumbing, carpentry, electrical
engineering, teaching, to mention a few, who cannot wait to plough back their
skills for the benefit of their communities.
* Our national curriculum programme is beginning to pay dividends for
offenders who have grabbed this opportunity without hesitation as part of their
rehabilitation. This financial year, the Department will implement the national
curriculum statement for grade 10 in our centres of excellence, to further
enhance our commitment to ensuring that education forms one of the key tenets
of rehabilitation.
* To illustrate our commitment to this, the Durban Westville correctional
centre has had a 100 percent matriculation pass rate in the past two years,
producing inmates who are prospective teachers, communication specialists,
public relations officers and artists, ready to conquer the world as soon as
they have been released.
* Based on the successes of Durban Westville Youth School, the Department is
in the process of registering all its current youth centres as full-time
schools so as to ensure that centres of excellence are fully transformed into
rehabilitation centres of education, knowledge and information, thereby,
creating an enabling environment for offenders to begin a new life.
* To strengthen our delivery capacity we employed over 3000 entry level
personnel to phase in the implementation of the seven day working week and to
eliminate the burdensome and unsustainable overtime. We further promoted over 8
000 officials who are essentially working at the coal face of correctional
services delivery and also improved the working conditions of Social Workers.
The challenges of filling critical vacancies in areas of scarce skills proved
elusive and steps will be taken in the new financial year to overcome these
stumbling blocks.
* The settlement of a long standing labour dispute in a manner that affirms
the Department as an essential service institution that acknowledges and
promotes exercise of peopleâs and workers rights marked the ushering in of a
new phase of labour relations maturity in the Department. An outstanding
feature of the agreement is taking labour relations to a bar higher through the
introduction of relationship building by objectives model. On 25 and 26 of May
2006 (Thursday and Friday this week) the Ministerâs Labour Consultative Forum
established to engage unions beyond the basic bread and butter issues will be
sitting in Pretoria to pioneer the new approach.
* We expanded and institutionalised public participation through the
appointment of chairpersons of 52 Correctional Supervision and Parole Boards
(CSPB) and began processes of further appointing Deputy Chairpersons from
communities as well. We established the National Council for Correctional
Services (NCCS) under the leadership of Judge Seraj Desai.
* The management of the special remission of sentences registered a
significant impact on overcrowding as it declined between June and August 2005
by over 31 000 sentenced offenders, from 187 000 to just over 156 000, as well
as contribution with over R70 million of savings in running costs. We take our
hats off many players including our partners in the CJS, NGOs like Nicro and
Khulisa, Food Business Operators (FBOs) like the South African Council of
Churches (SACC) and the Salvation Army, as well as ordinary South Africans who
welcomed the granting of a second chance for essentially petty offenders.
Although the rate of re-offending was very low, we remained extremely concerned
about some serious crimes committed by some beneficiaries, who will face the
full wrath of the law.
* Madame Speaker, we have just established the Parole Review Board which
will review parole decisions made by the CSPB and public complaints related to
issues of parole. It needs to be stated however that the granting of parole or
reviewing of parole decisions will not be done willy-nilly. It will take into
account the need to reduce overcrowding in correctional centres without losing
sight of the concerns of the public, particularly victims of crimes committed
by the offenders, the nature of the offences committed and the demonstration of
rehabilitation character by the offenders earmarked for parole.
* Regarding the thorny issue of children awaiting trial, we have also
registered improvements in numbers of children awaiting trial in correctional
centres which was reduced by 65 percent between December 2004 (over 1 700) and
December 2006 (1 277).
* The partnership of the Department of Social Development and Department of
Education is reaching new heights and provision of more places of safety is
being attended to by social development. The Deputy Minister will also
comprehensively deal with this matter in her budget speech.
* Security in our correctional centres has also significantly improved in
all fronts, with the minimum security standards policy approved, the reduction
of escapes by 90,3 percent in 10 years, from 1 244 in 1996 to 120 in 2005.
Centres registering a nil record of escaped also increased from 13 to 197
within the same period. My officials are telling me that this is a record low
number of escapes in over 94 years.
* We do acknowledge that a lot more needs to be done, as smugglings and
collusion with offenders continue to rear their ugly faces and leading to
unnecessary loss of lives and sever injuries to people as we witnessed in
Zonderwater in November 2005. The human resources focused intervention is but
one of the pillars of an integrated security strategy aimed at closing gaps and
preventing these incidents in future.
* Another pillar of the strategy, physical security made a leap with the
introduction of the biometric access control system with turn stile gates and
CCTVs in 36 centres of excellence and 30 high risk centres. This has been
completed and a programme for skills transfer is underway. As we speak, we are
in the process of finalising the installation of security fences with motion
detectors in these 66 centres.
* Four corrections programmes were developed and accredited, marking a real
focus on root causes of crime in our society viz anger management, sexual
offenders programme, HIV and AIDS awareness and pre-release programmes. Days of
voluntary engagement in rehabilitation programmes are numbered, as in due
course we will finalise a policy to introduce compulsory rehabilitation
programmes for all offenders in our centres.
We have unequivocally demonstrated that fraud and corruption has no place in
correctional services as our collaborative efforts between the departmentâs
corruption busters and our partners, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU)
netted great results which include:
* Over 27 medical practitioners being investigated and 16 appearing in court
resulting in one conviction, a suicide case and over R300 million recoveries
and savings in the medical aid claims of more than half a billion rands. Over
400 officials are being investigated and 18 were dismissed in 2005.
* A new code of conduct was approved closing gaps in the disciplinary system
which led to millions of rands losses due to among others, delayed completion
of cases and prolonged suspensions.
* A memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the South African Management
Development Institute (SAMDI) and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) was
signed during the last financial year for closing the dynamic gaps in our
integrated anti-corruption strategy, managers that are prone to un-ethical
behaviour.
* Madame Speaker, the Department is currently analysing the final report of
the Jali Commission to distinguish between cases that have either been already
dealt with or currently under investigation by either the departmental
investigation unit or the Scorpions in order to ensure that the content of the
report is handled in its entirety without duplication of actions or omitting
cases that still need to be dealt with. The results of this process will be
available in due course.
* The Departmentâs own anti-corruption campaign to create a secure and
ethical correctional system in the country is also informed by the findings of
the Jali Commission of Enquiry.
* During this financial year, we will see a comprehensive response by the
Department to the recommendations of the Jali Commission. Madame Speaker, the
Commissioner has already established a departmental task team to develop a plan
of action so as to expeditiously implement the outstanding recommendations of
the Jali Commission.
The President in his State of the nation address acknowledged the value of
the views of the South African population regarding the functioning of the
Integrated Justice System (IJS) as the least performing among various clusters.
As we had acknowledged, we had no illusions about the challenges of delivering
correctional services in the world and in particular South Africa with its
chequered past and its legacy. The President welcomed the concerns expressed by
the South African population and committed to spare neither effort nor strength
to improve its effectiveness and efficiency and to build public confidence in
the CJS.
Correctional Services priorities for 2006/07
Both the Cabinet Lekgotla in January 2006 and President Thabo Mbeki in the
State of the Nation address acknowledged progress made in ensuring a better
life from various fronts highlighting economic growth rate, access to basic
services like electricity and water, better health and overall improvement in
the social wage for the poorest of the poor.
The President further noted the concerns of the South African public
regarding delivery of services by the JCPS cluster as well as local government,
the two sectors that though registering some improvements remained the lowest
rated by the people of South Africa. Committing government to improving service
delivery in these areas and in ensuring overall acceleration of development of
South Africa, the President said:
âWe must act more aggressively with regard to our criminal justice system to
improve the safety and security of our people, especially by improving the
functioning of our courts and increasing our conviction rates to strengthen the
message that crime does not pay.â
âWe will further improve case load management in our courts, building four
additional correctional facilities, reduce the number of children in custody
and implement the recommendations of the Jali Commission.â
â(Ensuring that) the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South
Africa (AsgiSA), succeeds in its purposes which include the reduction of the
unemployment levels.â
*We must ensure that the machinery of government, especially the local
government sphere, discharges its responsibilities effectively and efficiently,
honouring the precepts of Batho Pele.â
Informed by these priorities and the ongoing priorities of correctional
services such as reduction of congestion in our correctional centres, the
Department has distilled key delivery areas to inform its programme of action
for the financial year as I will outline for the benefit of the honourable
members of this House and the public.
Building institutional capacity for White Paper implementation
Delivery of correctional services is a labour intensive programme and
provision of adequate and capacitated human resources is a critical
intervention area we have prioritised as we seek to build an institution
capable of successfully implementating the White Paper on Corrections. To
realise this an allocation of R6,395 billion has been made to assist in
achieving the following deliverables:
* Engagement of addition 2 600 new recruits as part phasing in of the seven
day working week which requires an increase of the staff complement by 8311
entry level officials over three years. Adverts have been carried in the media
recently targeting young and energetic South Africans.
* Intensifying training of staff in all areas critical for them to be ideal
correctional officials as envisaged in chapter eight of the White Paper.
* Nearly double the legally prescribed allocation for human resources
development was made this year with R120 million set aside for, among others,
intensifying management development programmes for the benefit of 700 junior
and middle managers. The first 370 member group of manager trained during the
2005/06 financial year will be graduating next month at the Tshwane University
of Technology (TUT).
* Provision of additional bursaries for scarce skills with contracts signed
with beneficiaries to render services to the Department on completion of their
studies.
* Engagement and training of 500 unemployed graduates (interns) as part of
the Departmentâs contribution in fighting poverty and unemployment with plans
to increase the number to nearly 3000 over the MTEF period.
Intensifying of our campaign to harness organisational culture for effective
implementation of the White Paper is a flagship and holistic programme that
seeks to ensure an integrated institution building. Elements of the programme
include a branding programme that is informed by Batho Pele prescripts,
addressing institutional requirements, addressing skills gaps, solving
workplace challenges, alignment of structure and functions as well as effective
communication of actions for change.
Community partnerships:
Madame Speaker, the White Paper on Corrections is centred on two pillars
that relate to the making the DCS an institution for rehabilitation and also
ensuring that rehabilitation and social integration becomes a societal
responsibility.
Having committed ourselves to actively involve communities in the
rehabilitation of offenders, particularly their social re-integration and
monitoring of their behaviour after completion of sentence or during parole,
the Department is now happy to announce that partnerships it created are
increasingly yielding the desired results.
In this regard, I am happy to announce those partnerships with a number of
nonâgovernmental organisations (NGOs), faith-based Organisations (FBOs) and the
community-based organisations (CBO) in the rendering of reconciliation and
moral renewal programmes for both offenders and communities so that
rehabilitated offenders are able to find a receptive environment when they are
released. This will also ensure that there is closure for both the offender and
the victims or affected families or communities in so far as the offences
committed by the rehabilitated offender, thereby, creating conducive conditions
for smooth reâintegration.
The engagement with the faith community also aims to encourage them to play
a significant role in the reintegration of offenders back into society by
assisting with inter alia job creation. This is based on the belief that
spiritual healing of the offender goes a long way in creating conducive
conditions for the effective rehabilitation.
The Department has already initiated a quality assurance process to
formalise these partnerships so that the rehabilitation and social integration
programmes that are delivered meet rehabilitation needs.
This will also include the accreditation of skills development institutions
/ facilities in line with the call for appropriate and effective training of
offenders during the rehabilitation process. Very soon, my Department will be
commencing with intensive community outreach campaigns such as Operation
Masibambisane, to create platforms and avenues of interaction with our
provincial government structures, local government councils, civic and
traditional structures, so as to enhance community involvement in the
rehabilitation and social integration of offenders.
Rethinking management of awaiting trial detention system
The management of awaiting trial detention system in South Africa remains
one of the key challenges facing the criminal justice system and to take the
debate to a higher trajectory, the Cabinet Lekgotla has assigned correctional
services to lead an inter-cluster task team that has to map out a strategy for
consideration of the cabinet during the course of this year.
The strategy is expected to raise proposals regarding the location of the
function, dedication of appropriate resources and programmes for effective
management of these inmates who are in terms of the constitution regarded as
innocent until proven guilty.
Madame Speaker, to demonstrate the urgency of ensuring the reduction of
awaiting trial detainees, Commissioner Mti has just issued a directive to
regional and area commissioners to identify alternative facilities for the
incarceration of ATDs in correctional centres to reduce overcrowding in police
holding cells whilst a long term solution is being negotiated by the affected
departments within the inter cluster task team.
Infrastructure development:
Building of New Generation Centres
Madame Speaker, at this juncture, I would like to assure this august House
that the construction of the new generation centres announced by the President
in the State of the nation address in 2000, 2002 and 2006 is proceeding as
planned in spite of some mischievous and incorrect media reports to the
contrary. The reported delays in the media about the re-channelling of the
funds earmarked for the new generation centres was totally misleading and off
the mark. No money has been diverted from the budget of the construction of
these centres to other programmes in the department.
Status report on the new generation centres announced in 2002
The construction of the centres announced in 2002 was planned to start last
year for completion only after three years in Kimberly, Nigel, Klerksdorp and
Leeukop with bulk earth works already done in all three sites except
Klerksdorp. However, the following factors led to the undesirable delays:
Building industry market responses to calls for tenders proved beyond the
available budget for starting with all four centres last year; and
Environmental Impact Assessment report on Leeukop construction is only expected
to be finalised in August 2006.
This is the situational analysis report that will inform the departmentâs
position on the commencement of construction on the Leeukop site whilst
construction with regard to other centres will proceed as planned.
Status report on the new generation centres announced in 2006:
Regarding the second group of four new generation correctional centres in
Paarl, East London, Port Shepstone and Polokwane, announced this year, the
strategic plan of the department submitted to the Portfolio Committee, clearly
indicates that the construction is expected to commence in the financial year
2008/ 09 and to be completed in 2010/11. The environmental impact assessment,
the feasibility study and identification of public land for the Limpopo centre
is already underway.
These will inform the decision of the Department regarding the construction
process and the financing model to be followed. Therefore there is no deviation
from original plan is so far as these projects are concerned.
Madame Speaker, the Department has acknowledged the experience in the
construction of the new centres, to the various institutions of governance and
oversight including the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services which was
comprehensively briefed on Tuesday, 2 May 2006, on the status of these projects
and the reasons for the delays in the construction phases due to a combination
of factors beyond our control. These delays in the phases of the construction
process may further shift the timelines for their completion with specific
regard to those announced in 2000 scheduled for completion in 2007 and
2008.
These delays pertain to the multiplicity of processes involved between
declaration of intention to build and the actual construction process,
coordination between various government departments involved, e.g. DCS, PWD and
National Treasury, managing the tender process and the unexpected realities
often encountered at the sites of construction.
Creating an ethical and secure correctional system
The development of an ethical and secure correctional system has grown over
the past year in leaps and bounds, with major achievements made in saying
loudly and clearly âno to fraud and corruptionâ. Despite inherent risks of
running a correctional system, which periodically reared their ugly faces as we
saw in two foiled attempted escapes in Zonderwater, we have made a mark.
We will build on the successes of the previous financial year focusing on
the implementation of our minimum security standards policy, training of
management on ethics through our partnership with SAMDI and TUT, re-launch of
our new code of conduct to help reduce turn around time of disciplinary cases
driven by the department with significant savings expected during the new
financial year.
Taking development and care to a higher bar
Central to delivery on our mandate is provision of humane and secure custody
in an environment that is conducive for rehabilitation of offenders. As earlier
indicated, our interventions in terms of development and care for offenders, is
premised on the need to build socially responsible characters from smashed
personalities.
To realise this mammoth task, the Department is finalising a new policy for
the introduction of compulsory rehabilitation programmes which were designed
and accredited in the last financial year. The programmes to be included are
sexual offenders programme, anger management, HIV and AIDS awareness and
pre-release programmes, which have given strong indications of effectiveness
during the pilot phase in 2005. To realise this will require a real national
effort for correction and social re-integration.
Madame Speaker, our comprehensive strategy to deal with the national scourge
of HIV and AIDS in our correctional centres will be dealt with by the Deputy
Minister. Suffice to say, the HIV prevalence survey in correctional centres
will be finalised this year. It needs to be mentioned that the status of
inmates with regard to this dreaded disease is regarded as a confidential
matter like with any other citizen and the Department is unable therefore to
compel or force inmates to disclose their status. The consequences of this
situation are such that the Department is only able to deal with opportunistic
infections or diseases that manifest themselves when the inmates become sick,
thus, rendering the required holistic diagnosis and prognosis impossible. The
Deputy Minister will further expatiate on this matter in her speech.
Let me reiterate that no inmate will be denied health treatment as long as
that is within the imperatives f the services provided by the Department. Where
these services are not immediately available, interventions will be sought with
the relevant departments to improve the health services in our correctional
centre.
Amendments to the correctional services and introduction of new policies
Our experience in the implementation of the Correctional Services, Act 111
of 1998, has demonstrated a need to align the Act with the new strategic
direction enunciated in the White Paper as well as new policies developed to
turn around the delivery of correctional services. Set for review are issues of
re-engineering social re-integration, enhancement of the inspectorate of
prisons and aligning the spirit and the letter of the Act. We are planning to
finalise the amendments for cabinet approval before submission to parliament
for public consultation and promulgation perhaps before the end of the current
session.
Improvement of international relations
The President says, âwe cannot and will not walk away from our
internationalist responsibility to add our voice to global effort to create a
better world of peace, democracy, a just world order and prosperity for all
nations.â We have taken this commitment seriously and recognised the centrality
of corrections in African and international peace efforts. In this regard we
are progressively making our mark in mainstreaming corrections in the
development agenda of Africa and the world. Madame Speaker, I am delighted to
inform the House that our National Commissioner, Linda Mti, was elected Deputy
President for Africa at the congress of the International Corrections and
Prisons Association (ICPA) in Edinburgh 2005 while the United Nations
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (UNCCPCJ) appointed
Commissioner as a country coordinator.
Also demonstrating confidence in our system was the decision of the seventh
Conference of Eastern, Southern and Central Africa Heads of Correctional
Services (CESCA) to hold its turn-around conference in South Africa on 29 to 30
August 2006. South Africa is in the forefront of the formation of an all Africa
corrections body whose constitution will be finalised during the conference in
August before its launch in 2007 in Swaziland. The conference will be held in
Durban and preceded by a meeting of Heads of Prisons/Corrections in the SADC
countries and the historic games of SADC correctional officials. We are also
making progress on the bi-lateral relations front as this month we signed a
ground breaking memorandum of understanding with Zambia, one of the leading
countries in the struggle for freedom in South Africa.
Conclusion
Madame Speaker, the question of whether we have made a difference in the
lives of the people as we enter into the second decade of our democracy has
been answered. I am quite confident that the veterans and martyrs of our
struggle for freedom, whose blood nurtured the seeds of our liberation, are
surely nodding in agreement that we have fulfilled their wishes we have picked
up the spear and marched forward.
We have gone past the era of anarchy, violence and destruction and we will
never go back there. Therefore there is no reason why this particular
Department cannot fully transform into an efficient, effective and respectable
Department and shed its dark legacy.
Madame Speaker, with a committed, dedicated and efficient leadership at the
helm, this Department is determined to reclaim the public confidence and public
space, for good reasons. With such a gigantic team led by the cadre of the
movement, Commissioner Linda Mti, I am strongly optimistic that many of the
challenges we face will be overcome as we have already done so in the past in
spite of the many challenges we encountered that almost tarnished the image of
the Department.
We boast of a new patriotic, loyal, dedicated, disciplined and professional
cadreship that is determined to bring about fundamental transformation in the
Department. These are the brains and the think tank that has breathed in fresh
ideas and optimism which has turned around the Department and ushered a
ârevolution of ideas,â the new way of doing things.
In conclusion, Madame Speaker, let me thank members of the department who
have supported me throughout the trials and tribulations we have traversed, in
particular Commissioner Mti and his strong management team of chief deputy
commissioners, deputy commissioners, regional and area commissioners. Let me
also convey my gratitude to all the committed âfoot soldiersâ of the
Department, the âbackbenchersâ who work behind the scenes but still produce
amazing results. The credit goes to all of you.
The transformation of my Department cannot be complete without the tireless
efforts and support of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services. The
leadership of Cde Bloem who continues to roar even when there is no prey to
pounce on, cannot go unnoticed and I sincerely wish to thank him and members of
the committee and all members of this House, for their firm grasp of the
dynamics and fundamental challenges facing correctional services. Your
vigilance has not been in vain.
Madame Speaker, this is the year that promises wonderful results that will
take my department to a totally different level. We have all the good reasons
to be optimistic as we march towards the climax of our transformation agenda
after 11 years into democracy.
We will not be distracted nor intimated by the prophets of doom who continue
to castigate us when things do not go right despite the mammoth challenges we
face stemming from the apartheid legacy and turn a blind eye to all the
wonderful successes we have achieved within this short space of time. These are
poor souls that are victims of their own state of ignorance and intellectual
handicap who fail to grasp, unpack and locate the complex but yet simple
matters related to correctional services within the context of national
discourse, taking into account the historical and political challenges. There
is no turning back and we will continue to march forward towards a fully
transformed correctional service without any fear because we know ours is a
march and campaign for a just cause, mandated by the overwhelming number of
people who voted for this government. I have strong confidence and optimism
that success will prevail as failure is not an option.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Correctional Services
23 May 2006
