Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele today, 3 October 2013 visited the Aranjuez Prison - the only prison in Spain which houses a Family Department for couples with children under three years.
Minister Ndebele, accompanied by Ms Pumla Mathibela (Chief Deputy Commissioner for Community Corrections) and Mr Nkosinathi Breakfast (Regional Commissioner: Eastern Cape), is currently in Spain on an official study tour of the Spanish penitentiary system.
Yesterday, Wednesday, 2 October the Minister and his delegation travelled to Alava to the Araba penitentiary institution. This is a modern, polyvalent maximum security facility with a security system designed by a leading global technological and services company, INDRA. Inmates at the facility work in the canteen and industrial workshops and also do gardening and cleaning.
Private companies bring in work to the prison, and inmates earn a salary to support themselves and their families. Inmates also receive their social security benefits. The various security technologies, including CCTV cameras, incident-predictive technologies and security fencing, were also outlined. Each inmate has a tailor-made treatment programme which caters for socio-psychological services, education, work, sports, culture, reading and cinema.
Educators are drawn from public education institutions, and male and female inmates are housed in the same facility. Inmates do not wear uniforms but their own clothes.
On Tuesday, 1 October in Madrid, Minister Ndebele met with the General Secretary of Penitentiary Institutions of Spain, Mr. Angel Yuste Castillejo. The South African delegation received presentations on Security in Penitentiary Centers, Procedures in cases of emergency, Rehabilitation Programmes, Respect Departments and Social Integration Centres. The Minister drew parallels between the Spanish constitution, its penal code as well as the South African human rights culture and rehabilitation programmes such as Reading for Redemption.
Spain, like South Africa, Minister Ndebele noted, had past histories of authoritarianism with Spain previously being a dictatorship for nearly 40 years under Francisco Franco. He spoke about South Africa’s need to balance public security imperatives with rehabilitation and social re-integration efforts desired by our country’s constitution.
Meanwhile, yesterday and today (2nd and 3rd October) in KwaZulu-Natal, more than 600 inmates from correctional centres across South Africa showed off their music and traditional performance skills.
Offenders depicted all cultural groups comprising the rainbow nation at the Department of Correctional Services National Offender Cultural Festival at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban. The theme for the event was: “Reclaiming, Restoring and Celebrating our Heritage”. The Offender Cultural Festival was the first of its kind, and is intended to become an annual celebration whereby different cultures will be displayed to portray the diversity of our nation even in correctional centres because that’s what brings us together as a nation.
The aim of the festival is to provide offenders with an opportunity to celebrate their diverse cultures, and showcase their talents through music, poetry and traditional dance while reviving their inner self through their heritage.
Correctional Services acting National Commissioner, Ms. Nontsikelelo Jolingana, conveyed her gratitude to offenders for coming out in numbers and grabbing the opportunity offered to them by the department to celebrate and honour their heritage. She mentioned that although some offenders were incarcerated for atrocious crimes, their heritage is part of who they are and they represent the different communities they belong to. “Through these activities, the Department of Correctional Services wants to emphasize that offenders are also human beings who deserve nurturing and development so they may realise their full potential and act as responsible and creative citizens who can contribute positively within their communities. It is envisaged that more stakeholders will come on board and ensure that offenders are fully rehabilitated, while preparing them to fit within their communities once released from custody,” said Ms Jolingana.
Enquiries:
Logan Maistry
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