Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services has expressed concern at the exorbitant costs the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) incurs in acquiring some services from external parties.
Department officials told the committee today that during the 2008/09 financial year the total value of outsourced contracts that the department engaged in amounted to R1,148 billion and involved 886 contracts.
“We are perturbed by this outsourcing. The department cannot spend in excess of R23 million a month on outsourcing for catering alone, who is the service provider,” said Committee Chairperson Vincent Smith.
Some of the costs incurred through the department’s outsourcing are: R5 million a month for maintaining television sets bought for R159 million; R667 000 per month on internal auditing; R4,95 million on training for junior and middle managers and over R1 million a month for maintenance of CCTV surveillance cameras bought for R436 million.
Smith noted that the department also paid R1,1 million on a feasibility study to determine whether outsourcing is the best option. “That is a management decision; why outsource it,” he asked.
The department was given two weeks to provide detailed responses and a breakdown of what exactly is outsourced, at what cost and to whom.
Enquiries:
Modise Kabeli
Phone: 021 403 3403
Cell: 082 420 0063
Fax: 021 403 3139
Issued by: Parliament of South Africa
26 August 2009
Source: Parliament of South Africa (http://www.parliament.gov.za/)
