Correctional Services Minister, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, MP, will lead South Africa's delegation to the 12th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice taking place in Salvador, Brazil on 18 and 19 April 2010.
Minister Mapisa-Nqakula, together with her colleagues from the international community, will ratify outcomes of two weeks of deliberations by member countries aimed at achieving synchronicity and international best practices in crime prevention, integrated criminal justice systems including offender treatment that is cognisant of the most basic of human rights.
Some of the topics to be addressed by the congress are; the treatment of prisoners in the criminal justice system, best practices against overcrowding in correctional facilities and recent developments in the use of science and technology by offenders and by competent authorities in fighting crime including the case of cybercrime.
"The United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is a global high level platform to share information and experiences on the criminal justice system, at the domestic, regional and international levels. South Africa is committed to meaningful participation in the congress and other related for a," says Mapisa-Nqakula.
South Africa's historic hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in little over a month is also expected to come under the spotlight during the deliberations.
"Initiatives with international communities have been established to facilitate the exchange of expertise and evolve new strategies to combat any threats from local or international crime syndicates (with the intention) to disrupt or affect the event negatively," says the minister.
On the sides of the congress, the minister will also be meeting with her Brazilian counterpart to discuss among other things parole management, streamlining of correctional facilities, management of public private partnerships as well as the electronic tagging and tracing of offenders as she forges ahead with her transformative agenda of South Africa's correctional system.
Minister Mapisa-Nqakula will also use this opportunity to embark on a study tour of some of Brazil's correctional facilities in Salvador to gain greater insights into these areas including the incarceration of women with children and programs of rehabilitation. This visit will build on a similar visit last year by former Deputy Minister Loretta Jacobus.
The minister will make a brief stop in New York, United Sates of America to compare notes with her American counterpart as she consolidates her policy vision for the department going forward. The minister has expressed interest in the United States corrections system, especially the utilisation of technology and rehabilitation and social reintegration programs.
Minister Mapisa-Nqakula returns to South Africa on 25 April 2010.
Enquiries:
Sonwabo Mbananga
Tel: 012 305 8850
Cell: 082 045 3963
Issued by: Department of Correctional Services
13 April 2010
Source: Department of Correctional Services (http://www.dcs.gov.za/)
