Southern African Heads of Corrections and Prisons have signed the Sandton Declaration to form a networking forum to advance the transformation and harmonisation of corrections and prisons. South Africa was elected to chair the forum with Mozambique and Lesotho nominated to support the process of properly establishing the forum.
Signatories to the Sandton Declaration are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe that attended the Southern African Consultative Conference on Corrections and Prisons held in Sandton – South Africa from 23 to 25 March 2011.
Explaining the rationale for adopting the declaration, the National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Mr Thomas Moyane stated that “we must connect beyond the statutory multilateral and bilateral structures like the Southern African Development Community and the African Correctional Services Association, because even these structures can and still work better only if our connections are better than the obligations we have to these structures.”
Heads of Corrections lamented the challenges facing corrections and prisons in region, which include overcrowding, incidence of HIV and AIDS and reaffirmed their commitment to forge strong partnerships to find creative solutions to address these challenges. To this end, academics and experts shared best practices with participants on the need to provide meals to prisoners as required by international standards. Other best practices shared include regional cooperation on rehabilitation, alternative to imprisonment/incarceration, security and risk profiling management of offenders. Heads of Corrections and Prisons expressed the view that adoption of these measures could make a meaningful contribution to reducing crime levels and promotion of public safety in the Southern African Region.
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