N Balfour signs agreement to improve correctional services with
Zambia

12 May 2006

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour and the High Commissioner of
Zambia, Mr Lesley Mbula, signed a historic and ground breaking co-operation
agreement in Pretoria today that seeks to improve correctional service delivery
within the two countries and within the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) region.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the South African Department
of Correctional Services and the Zambian Department of Prison Services will
promote and institutionalise co-operation in various areas of management of
prisons including good governance, human resources development, sharing of
information and experiences, prison and agricultural industries and
partnerships in addressing multi-lateral issues of common interest.

Minister Balfour said the agreement testifies the long and sustainable
relations South Africa had enjoyed with the people of Zambia which can be
traced back to the days of struggle against apartheid. He thanked the Zambians
for the generosity which helped in the realisation of freedom in South Africa
and across the region. “The victory of the South African people against the
tyranny of apartheid would not have been so certain without the profound
support of the people of Zambia,” he said.

He said the Department of Correctional Services would diversify its support
to training in areas such as management development and leadership in line with
the programmes and courses offered by South African government through the
South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI) and the University of
South Africa (Unisa). And Zambia is expected to share its wealth of experience
in various sectors with the Department of Correctional Services.

The Minister said the agreement should also be geared towards assisting each
other to achieve or meet the minimum standards of incarceration and treatment
of offenders as defined by the United Nations (UN) standards on the treatment
of offenders, with which signatories are obliged to comply in their countries.
He said the standards should not be construed to mean that we should overlook
all other considerations with regard to the crime for which the offender has
been sentenced and the interests of the victims and the public in terms of how
we treat offenders.

This agreement does not signal the commencement of these relations but
rather cements the work that was started by the Commissioners Jethro Mumbuwa of
Zambia and Linda Mti of South Africa, who established a technical committee to
assess the needs of the two countries so as to determine the framework and
programme for the co-operation agreement. He also announced that between 2002
and 2005 the Department of Correctional Services provided a consignment of
equipment which included uniforms for inmates and correctional officials, locks
and other valuable logistical material to the value of R3 million to our
Zambian counterparts.

Zambian High Commissioner to South Africa, Mr Lesley Mbula, hailed the
signing as a further advancement of bilateral relations that already exist
between the two countries in the field of corrections. “It will be regrettable
if this agreement, after signing, is shelved at your head offices to gather
dust,” said Mr Mbula, adding that the two governments will be expecting
tangible programmes that will bring changes in the management of correctional
facilities or prisons and the humane treatment of offenders.

Mbula described South Africa’s support to Zambian Prison Services as “great
inspiration and a shining example of how correctional and prison services
should co-exist.”

Enquiries:
Manelisi Wolela
Deputy Commissioner of Communications
Cell: 083 626 0304

Issued by: Department of Correctional Services
12 May 2006