The Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), Nontsikelelo Jolingana, addressed officials, guests and a number of female offenders during the Women’s Month Commemoration at Zonderwater Correctional Centre in Gauteng.
In her address, Jolingana acknowledged the strides that the Women of 1954 had to endure in order for the Women’s Charter to be in existence and also the hard times that brought about the 20 years of Freedom and Democracy. She mentioned that “Correctional Services decided to mark this milestone, take stock of progress made in mainstreaming gender into all facets of our lives, and also make renewed commitments to accelerate the transformation of all organs of the state and society.”
She said, “Traditionally, prison service was anchored on use of brute force with men having an inherent advantage over women. Primarily men dominated every facet of the prison systems with even strong motivations to sustain the skewed representation of gender, citing the fact that only about 3 percent of inmates are women. With the attainment of freedom and the introduction of a humane and rehabilitation-centred correctional system, doors were opened for better representation of women.
“Between 1994 and 2014, great progress was made in engendering the correctional system of South Africa. Barriers to women’s entry into management echelons began crumbling with the collapse of the apartheid system, which led to the Government of National Unity appointing an African Minister in 1996 and African National Commissioner of Correctional Services in 1996. Since then women representation overall moved from 11 percent of the staff component to 31.82 percent, almost similar to United States of America, that has had centuries of constitutional democracy. Of the 42 057 correctional officials, 13 382 are females. Women at senior management level had reached 35.9 percent of the 160 senior managers, while at the Senior Executive Management level women representation has reached 42.5 percent. DCS is no longer considered the last outpost for those with no other choice of employment. It has become an occupation of choice for many.”
She also mentioned various programmes that are currently implemented for the advancement of Women, which are:
- Gender Sensitisation Programmes (targeting Sexual Harassment, Gender Based Violence and Change Management);
- Emerging Managers Development Programme (EMDP targets both males and females in the Department);
- Advanced Managers Development Programme (AMDP targets managers between levels 9 to 12); and
- Accelerated Development Programme (ADP targets high-flyer managers especially females and people with disabilities)
“These interventions are indeed accelerating the transformation of Correctional Services, but we acknowledge the road ahead remains long and challenging. We have established sanitary towel production workshops to support female inmates and school children in poor communities. We have built 16 Mother-and-Baby units to cater for special needs of babies and children”.
Enquiries;
Manelisi Wolela
Mobile: 076 062 2180
