Justice and Correctional Services Deputy Minister Mr. Thabang Makwetla has lamented the dangerous, and reckless, behaviour of motorists on the country’s roads, making a passionate plea to South Africans to return to the rule of law and mutual respect.
Addressing more than 3 000 correctional officials, family members, senior government officials from other departments and members of the community in Swellendam yesterday (Tuesday, 12 May 2015), during the memorial service for the eight correctional officials who perished in a gruesome motor vehicle accident on the N2 near Swellendam in the Western Cape last Tuesday (5 May 2015), the Deputy Minister paid a moving tribute to the deceased, adding that they were correctional employees who performed their duties with unprecedented commitment and dedication.
“Correctional Officials are the unsung heroes and heroines who have to look after those rejected by society. When the school teacher, the Sunday school teacher, the parents, the church and society at large has given upon these individuals, it is our correctional officials who have to come in and mould this person, who have to rehabilitate and inculcate a whole system of values of Ubuntu in this individual,” Deputy Minister Makwetla said.
The eight correctional officials lost their lives when the driver of an oncoming truck, travelling at high-speed, lost control and crashed into a bakkie, forcing it off the road on the N2 between George and Cape Town. The truck then immediately lost control and hit the oncoming Department of Correctional Services (DCS) minibus that had been transporting the eight officials to start second watch (duty) at the Buffeljagsrivier correctional centre.
“There is definitely something very, very wrong with motor vehicle drivers on the public roads of South Africa. I am still to visit another country around the whole world and find another nation that is as reckless on the road as we are. For example, the basic rule of driving says, ‘Keep Left, Pass Right’, but in South Africa you can swear that the rule says, ‘Keep Right Pass Left,’” the Deputy Minister said to the bereaved audience.
Deputy Minister Makwetla expressed a heartfelt sense of gratitude to the families of the late officials, thanking them for having shared their lives with the DCS family. He further decried the fact that the uncertain deaths of these officials would have a negative impact on the department, leading to a deficiency in institutional memory and at an operational level.
“Ideally, the Department of Correctional Services has to employ a workforce of 60,000 mployees. We are currently standing at a mere 39,000 and hope to reverse this state-of- affairs urgently, if we are to address issues of the effective rehabilitation and successful social reintegration of offenders,”he said.
The names of the late officials are Bunit Hendrik Brand, Frederick Johannes Carstens, Joseph Klaase, Dawid Johannes Arries, Sydwill Vina Johnson, Ronzio Christopher Merrington, Nicolaas Jansen and Josephine Roseline Gertze. A mass funeral for six of the officials will take place at the Swellendam Show Grounds at 11 am on Saturday, 16th May 2015.
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