Thank you Chairperson
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the media and all our guests.
Today South Africa’s criminal justice system has reached a new height in its quest to ensure that all people in South Africa are and feel safe.
Yesterday’s Cabinet meeting approved a White Paper on Remand Detention in South Africa, a critical milestone towards building a seamless and efficient criminal justice system that enjoys the trust and confidence of all people in South Africa.
In 2009 Cabinet took a decision that the Department Correctional Services should lead the management of Remand Detainees in South Africa and establish a dedicated branch for this purpose.
Since then an interdepartmental task team was established to investigate and make recommendations regarding all aspects in the management of remand detention.
These included improvement in the policy framework, the planning and execution of an infrastructure programme, optimising the use of technology to enhance the management of remand detainees and plugging observed material gaps and misalignments.
The management of remand detention still remains a shared responsibility between four key departments of the state.
These are the South African Police Services who arrest and investigate cases; the Department of Social Development in respect of children in conflict with the law; Department of Health in respect of detainees with mental ill health; as well as the Department of Correctional Services.
The management of Remand Detainees faces a plethora of challenges that include:
- Inordinate long detention periods of up to eight years and sometimes detainees are freed without finally convicting them
- Misalignment of policies, procedures and programmes aimed at effective management of detainees across the four principal player departments of government including absence of an integrated information management system
- Inherent risks of detaining in one place first time suspects with veteran criminals that were released then returned as awaiting trial detainees as the risk profiles of remand detainees were not treated as prerequisite imperatives for actual detention
- Security risks emanating from the fact that remand detainees are allowed to wear their private clothes as well as the implications of this arrangement on destitute detainees, notwithstanding the obvious security risks to this as we all witnessed in the mass escape of 41 awaiting trial detainees in Harrismith in KwaZulu-Natal earlier this year. All these escapees were in civilian clothing. Perhaps it is time we started the debate on the possibility of remand detainees wearing uniforms that distinguishes them from sentenced offenders
- Investment on remand detainees is very limited in many respects as they have no access to education, training and development programmes enjoyed by offenders as they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The new White Paper on Remand Detention therefore seeks to address these challenges with a purpose of improving the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the management of Remand Detainees in South Africa.
Through the approval of the White Paper on Remand Detention in South Africa, government today has policy direction that will ensure the following major changes:
- A uniform term to be used to refer to all those detained for various reasons by the four principal player department will hence forth be called Remand Detainees, to replace all previous terms used like Awaiting Trial Detainees, Awaiting Sentence Detainees, those kept in Secure Care Facilities by the Department of Social Development
- The prescribed maximum period for remand detainees awaiting the conclusion of their sentences is 24 months, compelling all functionaries in the criminal justice system to expedite the conclusion of cases/trials. The policy make provision for extension of the detention period under exceptional circumstances and the obligation is on the functionaries to justify before an independent judiciary why the extension is imperative, a matter that must be periodically reviewed and justified
- Release on account of acute medical conditions similar to those used for consideration and placement of offenders on medical parole will be implemented for all remand detainees
- A distinct clothing for all Remand Detainees will be provided to bolster security,
- Identity swap normally used by detainees to cause erroneous releases of dangerous remand detainees at the expense of weaker, vulnerable and low risk remand detainees is criminalised hence forth
- Building of a seamless information management system between all key players in the administration of the country’s remand detention system covering information on detainees themselves, service providers and all security operations
- Strengthen risk profiling of all remand detainees to enable appropriate admission, accommodation and security classification of all remand detainees
- Adjusting and improving services provided to vulnerable groups of remand detainees such as women, the aged, people with disabilities and detainees with mental ill-health
- This with a view to enable among others more family visits, medical examinations and separate accommodation to prevent potential abuse
- Development and signing of protocols among the South African Police Services, Department of Social Development, Department of Health and the Department of Correctional Services in order to regulate relations and cooperation in the management of remand detainees.
These are just highlights of what the White Paper on Remand Detention seeks to achieve.
A detailed implementation programme has been drafted by the inter-departmental committee driving the programme.
Given the estimated high costs of operationalising this White Paper, a five year programme of action will be rolled out covering infrastructure improvement, establishment of a dedicated branch in Correctional Services, integration of information management systems, training of personnel and provision of appropriate security and operations technology.
The Cabinet also approved the tabling before Parliament of the Correctional Matters Amendment Bill.
The bill aims to achieve three objectives:
- To provide for a new medical parole policy
- To strengthen the general policy on parole and correctional supervision
- To provide for a legislative basis for the management of remand detention as envisaged within the White Paper to which I referred above.
You will recall during our budget vote I announced our intention to review the policy regulating the placement of offenders on parole on medical grounds.
We had indicated at the time that despite the fact that the new policy was ready certain amendments to the act will have to be made in order for the new policy to be effective.
The new policy will change the definition and requirements of offenders who qualify to be placed on parole on medical grounds.
Section 79 of the Correctional Services Act of 1998 which referred to offenders ‘diagnosed as being in the final phase of any terminal diseases or condition’ as a requirement for placement on medical parole, will in terms of this bill, be repealed.
In terms of the new policy as sentenced offender maybe considered for placement on medical parole if:
- Such offender is suffering from a terminal disease or condition or if such an offender is rendered physically incapacitated as a result of injury, disease or illness so as to severely limit daily activity or inmate self care
- The risk of reoffending is low
- There are appropriate arrangements for the inmate’s supervision, care and treatment within the community.
The Bill provides for the manner in which the application for medical parole shall be lodged either by a medical practitioner or by a sentenced offender.
It is our intention that the passing and subsequent implementation of the provisions of this bill will improve the possibility for the managed release of both sentenced and remand detainees thereby reducing the levels of overcrowding and unnecessary custodial detention of offenders in our centres.
I need to emphasise that all procedures will be put in place that no offender who represents a real threat to the safety and security of the public will be released as a result of this new set of policies.
I trust that together we can do more to ensure that all people in South Africa are and feel safe.
Enquiries:
Sonwabo Mbananga
Cell: 082 045 3963
Tel: 021 464 4628
