T Mhlahlo: Department of Correctional Services breakfast with the
Business Community

15 October 2007

It is indeed a great privilege for me to address this occasion, which seeks
to build a lifelong relationship between government, particularly the
Department of Correctional Services, and the private sector.

Both the National Crime Prevention Strategy, which was adopted by government
in 1996 and the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa lay a solid
foundation for a variety of stakeholders, including business, to work with
government in partnership for effective rehabilitation of offenders in this
country.

The Department of Correctional Services can only succeed in its mandate if
we all come together to share its responsibility and emerge with lasting
solutions to its challenges of rehabilitating our people.

We are all aware of some of the reasons that lead to people to commit crime.
Poverty and unemployment are some of those reasons.

The province of the Eastern Cape is in a process of implementing its
Provincial Crime Prevention Strategy, which promotes a multi-agency
collaboration against crime.

It is then incumbent upon us as government and business community to create
the necessary conditions that will assist us in emancipating our people from
these social ills through opening up opportunities for the economic development
of rehabilitated offenders to ensure their successful reintegration back into
society.

This can assist in ensuring that the cycle of crime is broken and enable the
province to produce citizens that contribute to community safety and
development.

Last year, the Department of Safety and Liaison held a Provincial Summit on
Youth Against Crime for Peace, where young people of the Eastern Cape urged
government to engage the private sector to assist in deepening the
participation of their peers, who have been in conflict with the law, in
development programmes.

Since the advent of democracy, we have witnessed a policy shift on the
approach and methods of dealing with people, who have been in conflict with the
law and now we have reached a stage of ensuring sustainable rehabilitation
process of offenders outside the facilities of the Department of Correctional
Services.

This process largely requires business support through giving former inmates
a second chance in life by employing them, thus demonstration of trust and
confidence, because they have already been trained inside.

The Department of Safety and Liaison, has already started to set an example
by purchasing furniture for all district offices from the inmates through the
Department of Correctional Services at a cost of R250 000.

This is in line with our vision of "Growth and Quality of Life through
Safety and Security", as this initiative would boost the confidence of inmates
and encourage them to use their time productively.

I have personally visited the St Albans Correctional Centre in Port
Elizabeth earlier this year, where I came across furniture and products of good
quality. I would like to appeal to the business community to emulate this good
example and consider the Department of Correctional Services as a supplier of
good quality products.

In conclusion, I believe that working together, we can be able to deal with
the challenges that continue to confront our society and provide space and
opportunities for those, who have been in conflict with the law, for a better
future and a better society.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Safety and Liaison, Eastern Cape Provincial
Government
15 October 2007