Program Director
Management of Department of Correctional services (DCS)
Our Honoured Guests
Officials of the department
Our offenders, specially the women
I am very excited that we are meeting here for the official handover of the first new generation facilities dedicated for women who are serving sentence with young babies in our centres. Over the remaining period of the women’s month, we shall officially open more facilities in other regions across the country as part of this program.
Program Director, Colleagues and friends,
Today we stand on the brink of a new dawn, we welcome a development that so profoundly expresses in practical terms the imperative of the White Paper on Corrections to incarcerate offenders for rehabilitation in safe custody and with the respect of their human rights.
Chapter 2 of the South African Constitution, enjoins us to amongst others: - recognise that the “Bill of Rights is a cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom.”, and further directs that the state must respect, protect, promote and fulfill the rights in the Bill of Rights.
In fact the fundamental function of the government and the state in a democracy such as ours, is to be the custodian of the Constitution. Everything that we do, from planning Administration and execution of our strategies, all this is about facilitating the practical expression of the rights of our citizens.
As we who are in the public service report to our work every day, we should understand that at all times everything that we do is about giving practical expression to the rights of all our people – making it possible.
This is the reason why we are here today.
By all indications, women are a category that is growing ever so fast within our offender population. Although there is recognition of this reality, the system of Corrections in that country has for a long time remained unprepared and unsuited for the specific needs and rehabilitation requirements of women. Women have had to fit into and live by a system which for the past 100 years, was designed for the incarceration of male offenders. From the design of the physical structures to the conceptualisation and categorisation of care, very little consideration was taken into account for the needs of women.
The transformation imperative of the White paper to which I referred above, not only talks about the need to overhaul the organisation of DCS in terms of its structures, systems and processes, but also that we should turnaround the mindset of officials, offenders and the public into recognising the fundamental need for conditions to be created to support real and successful rehabilitation.
This is not the first initiative to create separated cells for mothers with babies, but this will be the first time that they have a dedicated unit away from the main women’s centre. The idea is to allow the child as close to normal an existence as possible even if such is under the conditions of incarceration of the mother. We want these children to be able to touch sand, to feel the grass, to know dirt and to be able to see the blue sky during their early childhood. We do not want the early memory of their mothers to be that of a person in chains.
As you will observe during the tour of the facilities, the intention is for a tight negotiation of a balance between creating this “normality” for the children without compromising the necessary security standards required to protect both the inmates and the public.
The facilities have been designed with the interest of the child in mind. The decision to create these dedicated units was motivated for protecting the wellbeing of the child. This program is first and foremost, about the well-being of the child. It is based on the high principle that there is no need to punish the child just because the mother made a mistake.
If we deal with this program from that point of view, looking at what is best for these small innocent babies, and that their mothers should be given the support and environment required for the proper upbringing, then we can appreciate the point of this effort.
The program itself will keep the mothers with their babies for a period up to when the baby is 24 months old. After this 24 months, the children will be surrendered to the care of a family member whom the mother chooses, who is also assessed for suitability b the social workers. In the instance where there is no family member available or suitable then, the child will be place in suitable foster care.
An important feature of this program is that during the first 24 months the mother, the child and the would-be care giver, will have constant interaction to get to know each other and build a bond. The mothers will return to the women’s facility to continue their sentence after 24 months, but will have regular visits and contacts from the care-giver and the child. They will also get regular reports from their social worker as well.
It is our view that children should not be denied the psychological and emotional benefits of initial contact with their mothers for the first 24 months. We also believe that this contact, if managed in a supportive environment, is also beneficial to the mothers and for their path to change.
Program Director and colleagues, loosing contact with your own child, particularly that earlier on, can be a devastating experience even for mothers outside in normal homes, what then for a mother who is incarcerated without any support?
Studies show the children benefit from the contact. A study conducted by Prof. Mary Byrne of Columbia University, supported the already large body of research in its conclusion that:“ children separated from their inmate parents run higher risks for emotional and behavioural disorders, school failure and trouble with the law. The babies born to mothers in prisons generally are better off staying there with them”.
She also noted that "the outcomes are promising, if the prison nursery programs have the appropriate resources, and support” (our emphasis).
These facilities will have dedicated medical facilities both for the mother and the baby. Mothers will also have facilities where they attend both their correctional and development programs. There will be kitchens that the mothers can use to prepare meals and warm milk for their babies as well as a fully functional nursery for the children.
Program Director, motherhood is an experience like no other and as a said if it happens within a supportive environment, it is an experience that can change a person. Motherhood and indeed fatherhood, is the time when you learn for the first time that someone else other than yourself, is more important to you.
It is for this reason that this program should also help these women to become good mothers. It must give them the both the self-esteem and the mothering skills to be fulfilled by this experience. This will be positive for their rehabilitation and their period of incarceration here.
For those offenders who have had other children in the past, this will be a new and learning experience for them too. Because for some of them this is really a first-time real mother-child relationship, which can be more meaningful than if you’re on the streets or an environment of substance abuse which all created a negative social environment.
To the mothers who are going to go into this facility, please remember that everything we do together here is about second chances. Please grab this one with both hands as an opportunity to give you and your child a real chance to survive the mistakes that you once made. I urge you to use your time here to reflect on your own lives. If needs be write about such reflections either in a poem, a song, a story or even a letter to your child or your parents where this is possible.
We want to see you forming a common bond, not only with your child, but with other inmate mothers as well. Support each other, and be a community for these children.
Let me also indicate that this initiative is also special because of its possibility for community involvement and support. Since we started here, we have had a lot of support from NGOs and business partners without who we would never have succeeded. We are urging for further assistance as we will need a lot of support and considering the limit of resources that we can allocated to this work.
The labour for preparing and renovating these facilities was done solely by our inmates. The welding, the gardens, the painting, the doors, the gates, the walls and entire furnishing and refurbishment were done by offenders from our various workshops here in Polsmor. I want to thank all of them together with the officials who supervise them. To them I say, this is your day of success too.
My friends, what we are trying to achieve here is the maintenance of family structures. The vicious cycle of reoffending by adults and later the involvement of their own children in crime, starts from the collapse in the family structures and parents who are never there for their children, in some cases because they are incarcerated.
We hope that we will continue to protect the family while preparing those of our offenders who need to get ready to be reintegrated as functional members of society. You have an extended invitation from me to join us in this quest.
Malibongwe!!!
I thank you
