professional skills and improve conditions of service
4 August 2006
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is in the process of
implementing a skills retention policy to attract and retain scarce specialist
and professional skills and also ensuring that the salaries of its correctional
officers and relevant professionals are improved.
A national drive to capacitate managers and unlock their potential to
perform efficiently is also underway.
The Minister, Ngconde Balfour and National Commissioner, Linda Mti have made
strides in negotiating for parity of salaries of DCS officers with those in the
security establishments despite the fact that it is the unions of staff
themselves that withdrew from the security cluster bargaining council.
Whilst this situation cannot be blamed on DCS, it is however expected that
soon it will be addressed as part of the comprehensive strategy of improving
the conditions of service of DCS members.
The new recruitment drive of correctional officers will soon see the
deployment of new 50 new recruits in the Eastern Cape, particularly the King
William's Town and Middledrift, many of whom will be specialists and
professionals such as teachers, social workers and nurses, to alleviate the
shortage of such skills in the province. These will commence duties in
September 2006.
Mass transfers of officers and offenders from the Middledrift Maximum
Security Prison and the re-deployment of new management and staff there is also
underway to ensure a smooth clean-up operation of this volatile centre. The
centre will possibly be down graded to a Medium B, holding mainly low risk
offenders and juveniles. In the interim as this process unfolds, the centre
might be closed to allow for the completion of this intervention process.
In strengthening and re-aligning DCS management capacity, some officials are
also being transferred from the national office and area offices to other
regions. This is a normal intervention that happens from time to time as a way
of boosting the capacity of DCS to deliver and also unlocking the potential of
its managers to perform efficiently.
Enquiries:
Luphumzo Kebeni
Ministerial Spokesperson
Cell: 082 453 2244
Issued by: Department of Correctional Service
4 August 2006
Source: SAPA
