Correctional Services Acting National Commissioner Nontsikelelo Jolingana has reminded Correctional Officials of their worth and the fact that they matter.
Delivering a keynote address at the Imvuselelo Campaign held at Mamelodi in Tshwane on 19 March 2014, where members of different denominations, community leaders, correctional officials as well as other government officials gathered, Ms. Jolingana emphasised the pride she takes in what has been achieved by correctional officials during the 20 years of freedom. She praised correctional officials for their outstanding contributions made in realising a transformed Correctional Services that is a far cry from the prison system inherited from the apartheid regime in 1994.
Today’s event forms part of the department's Imvuselelo programme which is hosted across the country with the aim to foster social cohesion amongst communities. In 2013 Minister Sibusiso Ndebele declared the 2013/14 financial year as “The Year of the Correctional Official”, and it is on this premise that the prayer service was held today.
The mandate of the Department of Correctional Services is to contribute to a safer South Africa, through promoting stronger community systems, as well as victim support and empowerment, while pursuing the rehabilitation of those incarcerated through well-managed rehabilitation programmes. These goals are not possible without correctional officials who are dedicated in performing their duties for a better Correctional Services.
“When we celebrate Human Rights Day on Friday, we must appreciate correctional officials for embracing the human rights model and culture which were ushered in by our Constitution, the Correctional Services Act and the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa,” said Ms Jolingana.
“We must not keep quiet about our achievements in the 20 year journey and you, correctional officials, must gear yourselves for an unprecedented campaign to prevent, combat crime, rehabilitate to break the cycle of crime and facilitate sustainable social re-integration of offenders to help achieve the ideal levels of public safety envisaged in the National Development Plan,” she said.
She further mentioned the following achievements: 99.97% success rate in secure custody of inmates by reducing escapes by 96% from 1244 to 58 since the advent of democracy; Centralisation of education in the Department's rehabilitation programmes; Restorative justice and victim empowerment programme with the introduction of the Victim Offender Dialogue; and Increased agricultural production, to name a few.
“These achievements would not have been possible without the growing crop of ambassadors of excellence in Correctional Services. We owe them our gratitude for the positive results we see. We also know that when we celebrate excellence amongst the few of us, we transmit that excellence to all of us, so that excellence becomes our habit and part of our normative standards going forward.”
