Good morning to you all.
Thank you for attending this media briefing on the Department of Correctional Services 2013/14 Budget Vote, which will be tabled in the National Assembly this afternoon at 15h30.
The Freedom Charter says, “Imprisonment shall be only for serious crimes against the people, and shall aim at re-education, not vengeance.”
The transformation programme of our democratic government necessitated that prisons shift from institutions of humiliation to institutions of new beginnings. The field of corrections is gaining prominence. On 16th May, 45 students, from the University of Zululand, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Correctional Studies.
As at 27th May, South Africa’s inmate population was 152,514; 45,043 (29,5%) were remand detainees, and 107,471 were sentenced offenders.
According to the latest National Offender Population Profile (September 2012), the major crime categories were economic, aggressive, sexual and narcotics. Offenders sentenced to life imprisonment increased from about 400 in 1994 to more than 11,000 in 2013. More than a third of those incarcerated are youth, and a large number of inmates who, while not under 25, are still in the prime of their life. Children, as young as 17 years of age, have committed serious crimes. Our average inmate is a young substance abuser who, has dropped out of school before high school, is functionally illiterate and, more often than not, homeless.
Foreign nationals comprise 8,973 inmates (4,087 sentenced and 4,886 un-sentenced).
In addition, there are 65,931 offenders outside correctional centres who live in their respective communities; 48,716 are parolees, 15,491 are probationers (serving non-custodial sentences) and 1,724 are awaiting-trial.
On average, 15 to 20% of the 45,043 awaiting trial detainees are in custody because they cannot afford bail. This has resulted in the poorest of the poor being removed from their families, with related socio-economic implications. The Electronic Monitoring Pilot Project (EMPP) has proven to be economical, effective, efficient and relevant to the broader goals of DCS and the JCPS cluster. Electronic monitoring is now available to the courts, particularly for remand detainees, non-custodial sentencing and parolees. It costs the taxpayer R9,876-35 per month for each inmate presently, whilst electronic monitoring costs R3,379. Electronic monitoring enables offenders to be monitored within metres 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Alerts are immediately generated, and transmitted, should an offender commit any violation. Interference with the equipment, including tampering or failing to charge the receiver, is electronically relayed to the control room.
At least 95% of those incarcerated will return to society after serving their sentence. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. We are turning our correctional centres into centres of learning. Offenders must read, study and work. We must impact the hearts, heads and hands of offenders so that, upon release, they are in possession of, at least, a certificate in one hand and a skill in the other.
On Monday 27th May, we launched the Western Cape Arts and Craft Gallery at the Goodwood Correctional Centre for offenders to express their creativity. The Gallery of Hope will enable offenders to sell their art to the public, support their families and have money when released. Furthermore, this gallery will be used as an after-care centre to make reintegration much easier and better. We also launched Volume One of a poetry series by offenders entitled “Unchained”.
Within two months of launching the Reading for Redemption campaign on 17th September 2012, more than a million rand worth of books were donated. Various models of Reading for Redemption programmes exist globally. In South Africa, partnerships have been established with universities including the University of Zululand, University of KwaZulu-Natal, UNISA, Walter Sisulu University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. We are implementing the Reading for Redemption programme in a phased approach. We are currently concentrating on awareness raising, as well as encouraging offenders, and officials, to read. We, therefore, want to encourage individuals, and organisations, to donate as many constructive books as possible. A task team is finalising guidelines for implementation of the different phases, and further announcements will be made in due course.
Since the launch of the Victim-Offender Dialogue (VOD) programme on 28th November 2012, more than 85 VOD sessions were hosted and 1,342 DCS officials trained across the country on the VOD implementation guidelines. One such session was when we welcomed victims of the 1996 Worcester bombing, who arrived in Tshwane by train from Worcester on 30th January 2013, to meet the youngest bomber, Stefaans Coetzee, at the Pretoria Central Correctional Centre. VODs are based on a theory of justice that considers crime, and wrongdoing, to be an offence against an individual or community, rather than the state. Restorative justice, that fosters dialogue between victim and offender, shows the highest rates of victim satisfaction and offender accountability.
As per the National Framework on Offender Labour, we are increasing the number of offenders who participate in offender labour, and skills development, programmes.
On 12th February, we signed a MoA with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to use offender labour to build schools and supply furniture.
The obligations of DCS include:
- Manufacture and delivery of school furniture;
- Rehabilitation of school furniture;
- Construction of school infrastructure;
- Maintenance, and refurbishment, of schools; and
- Establishment of school gardens.
On 14th May, Noziwe Public School, in Khuma in the North West, was the latest school to receive 52 desks refurbished by offenders and 37 computers donated by business. Offenders across the country are giving back to communities, and demonstrating remorse for crimes committed. Offenders, and officials, have built, and renovated, several houses, and schools, in disadvantaged communities including tiling, re-roofing, installing built-in cupboards, painting and plastering, cutting the grass and trees, clearing bushes and cleaning yards.
Our production workshops, which operate as business units, include 10 wood workshops, 10 steel workshops, 19 textile workshops, a shoe factory, six bakeries and three sanitary towel workshops. Agricultural productivity takes place on our 21 correctional centre farms, and 96 smaller vegetable production sites, all spread over some 40,000 hectares of land.
During August 2012, the abattoir at Leeuwkop Correctional Facility, once again, emerged a winner at the 2012 Nama Phepa Awards. It was declared the best in the province for three successive years in the category of Low Red Meat Abattoir, winning the gold award. At the Boksburg Correctional Centre Bakery, 22 offenders produce 2,000 loaves of bread daily which feeds 5,000 offenders.
From April 2012 to March 2013, inmates at correctional centre farms and abattoirs produced more than 6,5 million litres of milk (6,585,711 litres), 551,000 kilograms of red meat (551,596kg), 1,8 million kilograms of pork (1,863,906kg), 1 million kilograms of chicken (1,077,908kg), 1,4 million dozen of eggs (1,473,995dozen), 9 million kilograms of vegetables (9,030,042kg) and 607,000 kilograms of fruit (607,768kg).
From 1 April, it is compulsory for every inmate, without a qualification equivalent to Grade 9, to complete Adult Education and Training (ABET) level 1 to 4. This year, 10,393 offenders are registered for ABET 1 to 4. Offenders are also being trained as Literacy Facilitators, to teach functionally, and totally, illiterate offenders to read, write, spell and study.
In the 2012 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, inmates achieved a 79,25% pass rate compared to 68,06% in 2011. This year (2013), 1,413 offenders are registered for the Report 550 (former Matric) mid-year examinations and 2,012 offenders for the NSC examinations in October/November. In 2012/13, 1,049 offenders were studying towards post-matric/higher education and training qualifications, 3,525 towards further education and training (FET) college programmes (including electrical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and marketing) and 4,188 towards skills development programmes (including basic business skills training and entrepreneurship).
Last year, R66,424 million was spent on training 5,837 offenders including scarce skills such as welding, plumbing, bricklaying, plastering, electrical, carpentry and agricultural skills programmes. In May 2012, 416 youth offenders graduated with their International Computer Driver Licence (ICDL) certificates.
To promote good governance, ethical administration and effective human resource management, we declared 2013 as “The Year of the Correctional Official.” When society breaks down, Correctional Services picks up the pieces and deals with the entirety of the human experience. However, Correctional Officials must first, through their own conduct, earn respect to give this profession the respect it deserves. The balance between internal security and order, as well as rehabilitation, is paramount.
A National Gang Management Task Team has been established to implement a multi-dimensional gang management strategy. However, gangs in correctional centres are not unique to South Africa. On 27 January, Venezuelan prison minister, Iris Varela, announced the closure of the Uribana prison, near the city of Barquisimeto, where more than 60 inmates died in a riot.
On 11 February, we convened a Ministerial Consultative Forum with recognised trade union partners where it was resolved to establish a Ministerial Task Team comprising representatives from organised labour and management. The task team has since been meeting regularly to tackle a number of employee-related issues, including employment equity.
We have instructed management to implement a turn-around strategy, to ensure improved financial controls. We must all fight fraud and corruption with vigour. During 2012/13, 19 officials were dismissed, two were demoted, 15 were issued with final written warnings and 14 were suspended without pay.
Finally, our National Development Plan states: “In 2030, people living in South Africa feel safe and have no fear of crime. They are safe at home, at school, at work and they enjoy an active community life free of crime. Women can walk freely in the streets and children can play safely outside…..”
Therefore, we must deliver justice for victims and ensure that offenders make restitution both to society for their crimes, and leave correctional centres with better skills and prospects.
Enquiries:
Logan Maistry
Cell: 083 6444 050
