Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele says that the renaming of correctional centres must assist in transforming places of incarceration to centres of hope and second chances.
The Minister’s comments follow yesterday’s (10 April 2013) official renaming, by President Jacob Zuma, of the Department of Correctional Services’ Pretoria Management Area to Kgosi Mampuru II Management Area. The event formed part of the celebration of April as Freedom Month, which has also been referred to as Heroes’ Month in South Africa.
“The adoption of the National Development Plan (NDP) by government, as the vision for the country, encourages us to intensify our efforts in pursuit of public safety. The work of the Department of Correctional Services, since the advent of democracy and the White Paper on Corrections, is human rights centred. The White Paper on Corrections calls upon all of us to transform places of incarceration, to centres of hope and second chances. For example, the name of Qalakabusha Correctional Centre, in KwaZulu-Natal, means a place to start over, or new beginnings, and is largely seen by the community, where it is located, as such.
“Next year (2014), our country will commemorate 20 years of democracy. The Constitution obliges us to ‘honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land. To this end, on 15 December 2011, President Zuma officially opened a memorial museum, at the C-Max Correctional Centre, to honour the 134 political prisoners executed at the gallows at Pretoria Central Prison during the apartheid era.
“On 30 January 2013, as part of our Victim-Offender Dialogue Programme, we welcomed victims of the 1996 Worcester bombing, who arrived in Tshwane by train from Worcester, to meet the youngest bomber, Stefaans Coetzee, on 31 January at the Pretoria Central Correctional Centre.
“On 22 March 2013, we officially performed the symbolic release, from Robben Island, of twelve fallen prisoners whose remains have been a mystery for more than 40 years. This ceremony served to inform the entire nation about the first steps towards the symbolic closure, of this painful chapter, that was endured by these family members for almost half a century.
“Yesterday (10 April 2013), we honoured Kgosi Mampuru II who was hanged in Pretoria Central Prison on 22 November 1883. Kgosi Mampuru was a revolutionary, who fiercely resisted colonial rule. The New York Times, of 19 December 1883, reads as follows: ‘Details have been received here by mail of the recent hanging of the Chief Mampuru at Pretoria. Mampuru was led naked to the jail yard in the presence of 200 whites. The first rope used broke when the trap was sprung and Mampuru fell into a pit below. He was dragged out however and another attempt to hang him was successful.’
“Through the renaming, we also celebrate how far South Africa has come and what we have achieved under difficult conditions of transition from apartheid to freedom and democracy. These sacrifices of our freedom fighters were not in vain, and we have a responsibility to demonstrate, and celebrate, that fact. Through their deeds, we are able, today, to enjoy freedom and dignity. It is against this backdrop that we honour these heroes, and heroines, of our country.
“The Department of Correctional Services is going all out, in tackling the most critical challenges that confront it. The management of overcrowding is receiving priority attention, through the Remand Detention Branch as well as the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster.
“Through the Victim-Offender Dialogues, Parole Boards and other structures, we are working hard towards democratization and creating more opportunities for people to join the fight against crime and build a new society.
“We are reinforcing corrections programmes through music, reading for redemption, creative literature, the arts, cultural events, heritage renewal events, sporting events, formal education and acquisition of skills, spiritual growth and self-correcting interventions, among others. From this month (1 April 2013), it is compulsory for every inmate, who does not have a qualification equivalent to Grade 9, to complete Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) level 1 to 4. We want offenders to read, study and work. Offender labour is also being utilized to construct, and maintain schools.
“We declared 2013 as ‘The Year of the Correctional Official’. As government, we want to raise the status, and profile, of the Correctional Official. Being a Correctional Official is an honourable, and most noble, profession. Correctional Officials have a serious responsibility to society, and the next generation. When society breaks down, Correctional Services picks up the pieces and deals with the entirety of the human experience. However, Correctional Officials themselves must first, through their own conduct, earn respect in order to give this profession the respect that it deserves.
“We are passionate about galvanising understanding for our transformative agenda from prisons to corrections, and preparing offenders to be reintegrated as functional members of society. We acknowledge the tremendous sacrifices made by the many men, and women, who gave their lives for their vision of a democratic South Africa. We are privileged to be a part of this process of reconciliation,” Minister Ndebele said.
Enquiries:
Logan Maistry
Email: 083 644 4050
