Chairperson, Deputy Minister of Correctional Services in absentia, members of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, hon members of the Extended Public Committee, National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Commissioner of Police, Mr Cele, and the entire senior management of the Department of Correctional Services, Judge Van Zyl, Office of the Inspecting Judge, acting Chairperson and members of the National Council for Correctional Services, our members of the ministerial task team, officials and offenders who are watching from our centres, distinguished guests, including the representatives of Correctional Services from Bermuda, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda and Botswana, comrades and friends, firstly, allow me to convey our apology that the Deputy Minister, Adv Ngoako Ramatlhodi, is not able to join us for this Budget Vote debate as he is attending to the appointment of judges in the Judicial Service Commission.
Chairperson, two days to this day, in 1993, the ringing of a gunshot brought to the end the life of one of our notable struggle heroes and servants of our people, Comrade Chris Hani. Almost immediately, those of us who were in the leadership of our movement recognised the delicate period within which this event happened as well as our fears that the intentions of those who planned this killing might succeed and our country would be plunged into civil war.
Ironically, it was Hani's own dedication to peace that resounded in the minds of all South Africans as we received the plea by our leadership to honour his legacy by not allowing ourselves to be distracted from the quest of leading our people to freedom. We remember Chris Hani, we remember that which he has asked us never to forget or forego, namely that "if you want peace, you must struggle for social justice".
Our freedom, for which he died, has brought with it peace, but the struggle for social justice continues, and we meet as we do today to deliver this Budget Vote in honour and dedication to him.
This Budget Vote debate, this year, is about focusing on the planning process of the department towards the full implementation of the 2005 White Paper on corrections, and the commitments made in the performance agreement signed between the Minister and the President.
We are determined that the provisions of our policy and laws should be used to ensure that those people who do not have to be in our centres do not receive custodial sentences. In line with the commitment of the Freedom Charter, it remains our commitment that imprisonment should be only for those who committed serious offences against society.
In 2005, the department committed itself to ensure full implementation of the White Paper within 15 years, and six years on the system still needs to be strengthened to ensure the correction of offending behaviour through rehabilitation. The organisation continues to face serious organisational and policy challenges that inhibit its ability to implement both the White Paper and the Correctional Services Act of 1998.
The system and organisation of corrections in our country remain unchanged. It remains largely organised the way the old prison system was, yet it should deliver implementation of policy objectives of the new system as espoused in the White Paper.
It is important for all of us to understand that the policy shift towards rehabilitation and the development of the White Paper, in so far as its implication for the work of the department, its operations, processes and systems is concerned, was a fundamental one. It requires the creation of a completely new system, ethos and emphasis in both the organisation and functioning of our penal system. This is not about tweaking, but about a total overhaul of the system.
After 18 months of diagnosing the key challenges facing the department, we are ready to roll out a blueprint for a high-level transformation agenda within the department.
Our report to you as the legislature is that the interventions that we said we were going to make in stabilising the operations of the department are yielding success. As we report on these interventions, our message to you is that we are on track.
Overcrowding remains a priority for us. As a result, we have decided to deal with this problem in a sustained and integrated manner. We will be focusing on a phased fast-tracking of implementing the electronic monitoring for parolees and probationers. The introduction of a new system for the management of remand detention facilities will also alleviate overcrowding through the effective implementation of the Bail Protocol. The department will also appoint court liaison officials to co-ordinate joint assessments for the placement of both remand detainees and people sentenced to less than 24 months to be diverted for correctional supervision.
We are also in favour of the draft protocol on interstate inmate transfer within the Southern African Development Communities, SADC, as this will help in reducing the number of inmates from other SADC countries who are incarcerated in our centres. Of course, this matter is still under discussion. We are still discussing it as a cluster.
On the medical parole policy review, our undertaking was that relevant provisions governing the consideration of offenders for medical parole will be amended to bring the Act in line with the new draft policy. I am happy to confirm that the Correctional Matters Amendment Bill passed by this House has now been concurred by the National Council of Provinces. Once the President signs it into law, the new policy for medical parole will become effective.
Another objective of the Correctional Matters Amendment Bill was to provide for a new system for the management of remand detention facilities. Together with a new White Paper on remand detention facilities, the Bill provides for the establishment of distinct remand detention facilities, maximum detention periods, distinct clothing for detainees, care services offered to detainees, and access to the benefit of consideration for release based on medical grounds.
On the procurement of new facilities in respect of the public-private partnership, PPP, model, as indicated last year, we conducted a policy review regarding the procurement of four new facilities through the PPP model. Following this undertaking, we held a meeting with the bidders and formally expressed our position regarding the need for the state to provide security and custodial services in our new centres. The bidders responded to our policy review considerations and offered their views. On the basis of this new process, we requested an extension for the bid validity period until October 2012. We have appointed an interdepartmental Bid Evaluation Committee to take this process forward.
During a joint appearance of the Special Investigating Unit, SIU, and the department before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the SIU indicated that they are satisfied with the department's implementation of the SIU recommendations, in so far as those recommendations related to the department. Both the police and the National Prosecuting Authority, NPA, are continuing to work on those recommendations that are related to criminal investigations.
All the outstanding appointments for chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the parole boards have been finalised. I have, however, been concerned about the levels of inconsistencies between the different parole boards in their interpretation of law, policies and procedure governing the consideration of offenders for placement on parole. I have also been concerned about the resultant inconsistencies in the decisions of the various boards to the extent that offenders have developed a preference to be incarcerated in one centre over the others on the basis of the highest chances of being granted parole in such a centre. In this regard, we have agreed that the National Council for Correctional Services, NCCS, will assist in the training of parole boards.
Despite the work of the parole boards being autonomous, we are looking at a credible mechanism that will ensure adherence and compliance with the law and will provide oversight for quality in respect of the decisions of parole boards.
I am glad that the members of the National Council for Correctional Services are here this morning.
Chairperson, after 18 months of diagnosing the key challenges facing the department, we are ready to roll out the blueprint for a high-level transformation agenda within the department. The budget of the department for 2011-12 is R16,5 billion, increasing to R17,8 billion and ultimately to R18,8 billion over the 2012-13 to 2013-14 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF.
Expenditure is expected to grow from R15,2 billion in 2010-11 and is projected to reach R18,8 billion in 2013-14 at an annual growth rate of 7,3%. There are also budget cuts of R48,1 million, R54,8 million and R57,8 million, which were effected on the Administration Programme following a Cabinet decision to this effect.
The expenditure for the previous year totalled R14,7 billion from a total budget of R15,4 billion. There was an under-expenditure of R726 million, which represents 4,7% of the total budget. This amount, however, is preliminary as the financial year has just ended, and is due to decrease as a result of clearance of suspense accounts, corrections of misallocations, capitalisation of compensation of employees and final virement.
Chairperson and hon members, as you are aware, on 31 March 2011 the Constitutional Court handed down judgment in the Van Vuuren case and ruled that the Minister of Correctional Services will consider the placement of lifers sentenced before 1 March 1994 without the involvement of the National Council for Correctional Services, NCCS. I welcomed the clarity provided by the Constitutional Court and have immediately started with the consideration for placement on parole of the 385 lifers falling within this time period. I have in the past week considered 88 lifers, of which 21 were granted full parole, 24 day parole and 43 have not been approved for placement on parole. These are profiles which were readily available and on route to the, National Community Policing Forum, NCPF, and were diverted now for the Minister's attention.
There has recently been criticism from certain sections of our society of the process of renaming centres that we announced earlier this year. It is unfortunate that some among us have adopted a simplistic view that this is being done at the expense of more pressing issues that need our attention, given the challenges of the department. I do not agree. The public campaign for the renaming of our centres was designed as a public awareness campaign to galvanise communities and getting them to discuss the work of correctional services and rehabilitation. We are getting communities to identify with the activities of the centres where they live, to make those centres part of the community and to associate with them.
Contrary to the impression that is being created, this campaign is not about renaming these centres after political leaders. Although we have received submissions including names of political leaders, our inclination is more towards names that bring hope and identify with our objective of second chances for both the offenders and the community. We have always given the example of the Qalakabusha Correctional Centre as one of the names that represent the notion of a second chance and encourage a positive outlook to the purpose of the centre in the community.
We have decided to pilot a project that supports the establishment of halfway houses that will serve as a transition facility for those offenders to bridge the gap between their life in incarceration and reintegration into communities. Initially the pilot project will focus on juveniles who have not been released on parole owing to a lack of formal physical addresses as well as young people who were homeless at the time of their incarceration. We are currently in discussions with potential partners, both in government and the private sector, for support in achieving this, and we should implement the pilot project before the end of this year.
During the presentation of the Budget Vote last year, we undertook to give the issue of the provision of formal education a priority alongside with programmes for skills development for offenders. Considering that the youth constitute close to 70% of our offender population, we have decided to make formal education compulsory for all youth.
This year we have engaged the Department of Basic Education to have more centres registered as full-time schools. The following additional centres will now be eligible to offer the National Curriculum Statement Syllabus for 2011: Usethubeni Youth Centre, St Albans, Barberton Medium, Barberton Maximum, Cradock Youth Centre and Emthonjeni Youth Centre. We are working towards declaring the 13 dedicated youth facilities out of the 241 correctional facilities in the country full-time centres of learning.
Last year we lifted the moratorium on the filling of vacant posts - a moratorium that was in existence in the department due to budget constraints. We have since filled 2 234 posts - this past financial year - including 706 vacant positions in administration to allow for our trained officials to be deployed to centre-based positions, 1 032 learnerships for training in our colleges and 496 interns to assist with our asset verification project.
We intend to fill all the outstanding vacant posts by the end of March next year. In addition, four advertised Regional Commissioner and three Deputy Regional Commissioner positions will be filled by the end of May to provide for a full complement of management structures in the regions.
As far as the Regulatory Audit is concerned, we have made considerable progress in addressing the concerns of the Auditor-General that have resulted in qualifications of our financial statements over the past ten years. One of the four key qualification matters relating to assets was the issue of opening balances that could not be supported by documentation.
It is envisaged that before the finalisation of the annual financial statements, the Department of Correctional Services and National Treasury would have agreed on the adjustment to the opening balance and consultations on this matter done with the Auditor-General and the Audit Committee. I am also happy to announce that we are in the process of setting up a new Audit Committee for the department. The Department of Correctional Services, National Treasury and the Office of the Accountant- General meet on a monthly basis to assess progress with regard to areas of audit qualification.
In line with the focus of government on performance information, the department has started a process of improving performance information that will be used for management and decision-making processes. The process includes the audit of performance information by the Internal Audit component and the diagnostic on performance information by National Treasury. These interventions were initiated to assist the department in having appropriate systems to support the preparation of performance reports.
Information technology will play a major role in enabling us to do a phased roll-out of the White Paper and to deliver on the rest of our strategic imperatives. We have now approved the creation of the IT branch to be headed by a DDG: Government IT Office, Gito, to oversee the work of the branch and to provide support for IT business requirements in the department. A programme manager, who is also appointed as the acting DDG, has since been appointed and has already conducted a diagnosis of our IT challenges and provided a report in this regard. Based on this diagnosis, a lot of planning is currently under way for using information technology to increase the security of our processes, controls and the way our facilities are operated.
We are going to use the best internationally adopted security standards to improve our old computing and network infrastructure. The secured network will be in place by the end of this financial year. It will allow us to provide state of the art channels for delivering education and related programmes to offenders and to improve communication during times of emergencies. The new network will be scalable to accommodate the network data from the surveillance system that is currently running outside our department.
We will also supply new technology-based search equipment, such as body scanning machines, in identified key centres around the country. During this year, we will also finalise our discussions with the Department of Home Affairs to partner with us in the identification database of offenders through the utilisation of their Automated Fingerprint Identification System, Afis.
Chairperson, hon members, we have continued to be concerned about the level of health care provision for offenders in our centres. Our intention is to provide effective needs-based care to all offenders. In this regard, we established a joint task team with the SA Medical Association, which conducted an assessment of the challenges currently faced by the department in the provision of health care services. The team has made various proposals covering the structure and organisation of our health care services, the pharmaceutical services, HIV and Aids, as well as professional staffing.
We have since upgraded our health care services to a chief directorate and provided for additional dedicated directorates for pharmaceutical, HIV and Aids and psychology services.
The Offender Labour Policy Framework is ready to be rolled out as policy, after consultation with civil society has been concluded. Both the disease control corrections, CDC, centre and the branch finance centre will finalise the costing of the framework to allow for funds to be made available for implementation. However, as we indicated last year, offender labour continues to be implemented in various centres with offenders going out into our communities to undertake renovation work in schools and libraries, refurbishment of impoverished households, as well as initiating community nutrition gardens as part of government's antipoverty campaign.
We are currently in discussion with National Treasury, whereby the Department of Correctional Services will establish a trading entity for the management of revenue derived from the sales of products from our workshops and farms.
In appreciation of the many complex security challenges that confront us, we have established the Office of the Chief Security Officer who will assume responsibility for the integrated security management of the department across the board. The chief security officer shall report to the accounting officer and will be responsible for developing policies and standard operating procedures for strategic security risks; developing our gang intelligence unit; the training and resourcing of our emergency support teams; as well as ensuring the effective participation of the Department of Correctional Services in strategic cluster programmes such as the joint intelligence structures.
The department will continue with the process of establishing its own vetting field at a cost of R12 million this year. The enhancement of our own internal capacity is necessary, as we remain concerned that the bulk of our officials are still not vetted at the correct security clearance levels.
We have also taken a strong stance against corruption and have directed that the backlog for disciplinary cases be cleared. We will set up dedicated employee relations capacity to advise and process disciplinary cases relating to corruption within the department.
Last year we presented a memo to Cabinet, informing Cabinet about our intention to establish a ministerial task team to audit various categories of inmates in the centres and to look at best practices in response to the problem of overcrowding within our correctional facilities.
We mandated the task team to look at the utilisation of various legal provisions for the controlled release of offenders and to investigate other matters related to this. The scope of the task team was extended in March last year to also look into those aspects of the operating model of the department that were impacting on the effective application of policies.
We received the report of the task team in January this year and included in their findings and recommendations are issues relating to some of the delivery requirements for the White Paper, including issues of organisation, people, processes and facilities.
To this end, a programme management office function in the commissioner's office has been set up in February 2011 to drive and assist with the design, but, more importantly, with the implementation of various projects emanating from the recommendations of the task team report, the White Paper requirements as well as looking at international best practice.
Some of the White Paper requirements will be implemented as quick wins by the Enterprise Programme Management Office, EPMO, and include the development of sentence plans for all offenders, effective functioning of case management committees, CMCs, a centre level performance review, a model for professional services, and consistency in the application of policy instruments.
We continue to maintain and view sound relations with our stakeholders with whom we should work in partnership, both inside and outside the centres, to ensure the success of rehabilitation. We recently held a two-day stakeholder conference to consult on future policy considerations and potential areas of partnership.
We are also consolidating partnership efforts for international co- operation through various initiatives linked to our international work. We recently hosted an international conference for all national commissioners of corrections in the SADC region. The conference looked at various areas of co-operation amongst states, as well as shared best practices. The Department of Correctional Services will continue bilateral and multilateral partnerships in pursuit of Outcome 12 of the Government's Programme of Action, by providing institutional support to the African Correctional Services Association, thereby making a contribution to advance penal reform in Africa.
We have also continued to maintain a cordial working relationship with the Office of the Inspecting judge, with regard to their administrative support as well as the processing and actioning of their reports and recommendations. The work of the inspecting judge continues to safeguard the human rights of our offenders and to keep us true to our stated political commitment that "no one shall be condemned by an order of a government official". We are all accountable in terms of this commitment.
We are indeed indebted to all members of the portfolio committee, its chairperson and the Whips for the support they have given us, particularly with the amount of work they have put into the processing of the Correctional Matters Amendment Bill last month.
Our message to you is that we are an organisation at work. It is our endeavour to build confidence in rehabilitation, both amongst the offenders and the public. It is only when offenders realise the benefit of rehabilitation that they will actively take part in the programmes aimed at changing their lives for the better. Equally, it is important for the public to embrace the idea of rehabilitation in order for them to receive and continue to support offenders with their reintegration and help them to become worthy members of society.
We are inviting communities to join us in partnerships to ensure that corrections as a societal responsibility succeed and ensure public safety amongst our communities. We remain determined that we should succeed in this endeavour. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Hon Minister, I should have said this when we started. Hon members must bear with us. We have an unusual home this week. I think it will be the home for the remainder of the Budget Votes. Different Ministers will come here. It is not just you, hon Minster. Your colleagues will also come here. I hope we will make the best of the Chamber.
I can see the space between the ruling and the opposition parties is not sufficient. We took the Westminster tradition and it should be the length of two swords, because at that time the English came into the House of Commons with swords. If you got mad, you could not stab other fellows. We have a smaller space. Are you comfortable with the hon Selfe so close to you?
We have a very cosy relationship.
Chairperson, Minister, fellow South Africans, hon members and comrades. Let us, from the outset, declare our support for the 2011-12 budget proposals of the Department of Correctional Services. Our support is the acknowledgement of the important role towards nation-building that must be played by the Department of Correctional Services.
We support the budget because the responsibility that the department bears in as far as the custodianship of those that the judiciary have ordered to be removed from society, as punishment, is an important element towards nation-building. We support this budget because successful rehabilitation programmes, as well as effective reintegration back into civil society, is central to the restoration of the human dignity of all those that have been incarcerated. This task of rehabilitation and reintegration is one of the most important factors in ensuring that we continue to develop as a mature and civilised society.
We support this budget because section 35 2(e) of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution states that:
Everyone who is detained, including every sentenced prisoner, has the right ... to conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity, including at least exercise and the provision, at state expense, of adequate accommodation, nutrition, reading material and medical treatment ...
The portfolio committee, informed by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, last month considered and adopted the Correctional Matters Amendment Bill. This legislation addresses the matters of remand detainee management as well as matters relating to parole. Some of the key provisions of the amendments to the current legislation talk to human rights in respect of the time spent by those awaiting trial, the humane treatment of vulnerable individuals detained in the remand detention facilities and the release on the grounds of medical parole for those who qualify.
Other very important provisions are the setting up of an Independent Medical Advisory Board tasked with verifying the medical state of inmates that apply for medical parole as well as setting out very clear criteria that must be considered before releasing any inmate. This piece of legislation will go a long way in clearing up any uncertainty that existed thus far.
Minister, the successful implementation of this legislation relies on co- operation of sister departments such as the SA Police Service, the SAPS, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Social Development and the Department of Health. The committee expects these departments to be ready and able to implement their obligations with regard to this legislation. Otherwise we, as a society, will sit with very good laws that are not implemented and thereby negatively impacting on our quest for nation-building.
Chairperson and Minister, having declared our support for the budget and the reasons why we did so, we wish to comment on five specific line items contained in the budget. Firstly, the ANC welcomes the savings and cost effectiveness measures that resulted in a savings target of R48,1 million, which we referred to earlier.
Chairperson, it is refreshing to see that the department has identified the following for cost-cutting purposes: consultancy, vehicle maintenance, travels and accommodation costs, as well as advertising as areas that will be focused on. As the ANC and the portfolio committee, we will keep a close watch on this commitment by the department.
Secondly, the budget allocation according to the Estimates of National Expenditure reflects that a staggering R275 million was spent over the last four years for the information technology, IT, system of the department, and an additional forecast of R460 million is allocated for the next three years. All in all, the cost to the department for the IT system over a seven-year period amounts to R735 million.
We do not believe that this kind of expenditure by the department is sustainable. We, today, make an undertaking to further interrogate this expenditure in the very near future and to pronounce whether, in our view as a committee, there is value for money that will be realised on this line item, taking into consideration the targets and the objectives that we have set for this IT system.
Thirdly, the department's budget for small projects makes provision for R173,1 million for this financial year and a total of R535,7 million over the next three financial years. These projects will include the upgrading of correctional facilities, building of parole board offices, access gates, visitors waiting rooms and the replacement and refurbishing of kitchen equipment, boilers and incinerators amongst other such projects. This presents the ideal opportunity for the department to contribute towards the call for job creation.
We once more want to highlight the fact that we are aware of instances in previous years of fronting by historically disadvantaged individuals only to obtain tenders for big business or nonqualifying individuals. The committee requests the Minister to monitor the situation closely. Where this practice is uncovered, we expect such tenders to be reversed and practitioners of this fraudulent practice to be blacklisted. Certainly, as the ANC and the committee, we will not hesitate to name and shame those that are found to be guilty of fronting and of using fronting as a means of being awarded departmental tenders.
Fourthly, the nature of service delivery by the Department of Correctional Services is such that employee numbers are high. We remain concerned that, despite the call by the President for all vacancies to be filled within a reasonable time, the 1 240 vacancies within this department are unlikely to be filled within the first six months of the financial year.
We are strongly encouraging the department to address this matter with far more urgency. In doing so, the strategic plan indicator, namely that the department will ensure that all employees are ideal correctional officials within an appropriate organisational culture, must be adhered to. According to the White Paper, this ideal cadre must be a unique combination of specific personal qualities, experience, expertise, professional ethics, personal development and multiskills.
Added to these qualities, the ANC wishes to encourage the department to speed up the vetting of all Department of Correctional Services employees. You did allude, Minister, to that attempt. In a security environment like that in which the department operates, we in the ANC think that it is of vital importance that all employees are indeed vetted.
Chairperson, the final area of focus which we wish to highlight is that of the megainfrastructure project spending. The department has budgeted for feasibility studies for the planned additional four public-private partnership, PPP, centres. We remain convinced that the building of new facilities will not resolve the overcrowding problem. As stakeholders, we must start a discussion around whether we build new facilities or whether we renovate the existing facilities to address the obligation for a humane detention and dignified accommodation environment for the vulnerable groups such as women and children.
Recently, reconstruction of the Kimberley facility was undertaken by the state and is operated fully by the Department of Correctional Services. The operational costs incurred by the state for the Kimberley facility amounted to approximately R85 million for the past financial year. This must be compared to the cost to the department of approximately R843 million for the running costs of the existing two private correctional facilities over the same period.
Minister, we want to caution and ensure that our actions and decisions do not result in major debt obligations that will be transferred to future generations. Over the next 20 years, for the contract of the existing PPPs still to run - if one uses the current cost for this financial year - the total cost to the state will be approximately R16,9 billion just for two correctional centres. We raise these facts and assumptions to argue that the PPP model being used for the existing facilities cannot be the most economically viable model. Notwithstanding the contractual obligations, we believe that an alternative must be sought to minimise the future debt to the South African society.
Chairperson, the existing two facilities are to be operated by the private sector for the duration of the contract. It is similarly envisaged that, with regard to the four additional planned facilities, this model of private sector management will be the model for the initial 8- to 10-year period. It is our contention that it is only the state that must be tasked with the responsibility for the custody and rehabilitation of sentenced offenders - only the state.
We are not opposed to the involvement and participation of the private sector in as far as the construction and maybe the maintenance of facilities are concerned. However, some of us remain unconvinced that, within the environment that the Department of Correctional Services operates, it is wise to follow the model that allows the state to outsource the management and operations of correctional facilities to the private sector. Further debate is urgently required with regard to this important policy matter.
The department has acknowledged the fact that the budget allocation between the various programmes of the department is not aligned to the White Paper. As the portfolio committee, we accept that alignment will not be achieved in one year. We nevertheless expect to see the realignment of the budget going forward.
We wish you, Minister, and the department the best of luck and much success in this very important and yet very difficult task. Chairperson and Minister, fellow South Africans, hon members and comrades, we conclude our input by making clear that the committee stands ready to contribute constructively in this endeavour of national importance.
Baie dankie. [Applous.] [Thank you. [Applause.]]
Chairperson, Minister and colleagues, the Department of Correctional Services occupies an unenviable, but crucially necessary part in the criminal justice system.
The department is obliged to admit, house, clothe, feed, rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders referred to them by the courts. These offenders are frequently very violent and manipulative. Many offenders are extremely rich and have criminal contacts outside the prison. Therefore, the work that the ordinary officials perform, particularly in the sections and at the centres, is frequently very dangerous. We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to them for the dedicated work that they do. Many of them are here today, and many others are watching.
The fact is, however, that unless offenders are corrected and rehabilitated, we will not make South Africa a safer place to live in. But the sorry reality is that most offenders are not rehabilitated. In fact, many offenders emerge more criminalised than when they were admitted. This is largely because most prisons are overcrowded and understaffed.
Many prisons or parts of prisons are controlled by gangs for long periods of the day. Most offenders do not get the rehabilitative interventions they need, or do not get them in sufficient intensity. Most offenders do not learn skills or the habits of hard work when they are in prison.
Speaking of gangs, it is a damning reflection on the extent of gang control in our prisons that an advertising agency can use this as part of a campaign against drunken driving. Are we so completely complacent about the fact that gangs control prison life, that abuse of inmates is an accepted part of the punishment?
There is a way to break this cycle, but it requires imagination and bold leadership. It starts with the institution of a system of alternative sentences, so that not every offender lands up in prison where he or she can be criminalised by gangs. It involves having an inmate tracking system, so that more parolees and probationers can be released without the risk of them absconding. It involves prisons that are less crowded and designed with rehabilitation in mind. It requires dedicated and incorruptible staff who understand what is needed and have the skills to rehabilitate offenders. It is based on the understanding that prisons work where prisoners work and prisons are self-sufficient. The department needs to ensure that the resources of the budget flow to these priorities.
Unfortunately, not much progress has been made towards these goals. While the Criminal Procedure Act provides for alternative sentences, these are not used nearly as widely as they could be. Specifically, many more offenders who do not constitute a danger to society need to do community service instead of serving prison time. This will relieve the pressure on overcrowding, but it requires the social reintegration branch to be properly resourced. This programme only receives 3,5% of the Department of Correctional Service's budget, far too little for magistrates to feel confident that those performing community service will be properly monitored and supervised.
Likewise, progress towards the rolling out of the inmate tracking devices has been painfully slow, and we hope that the Minister's expensive visit to New York last year will provide new impetus to this project. The portfolio committee was told that Cabinet had to block start-up funding to the electronic monitoring project. The Minister needs to explain to Cabinet that it is much cheaper to monitor a parolee or probationer in the community than it is to imprison that person. I was delighted to hear that the Minister is also going to explore the possibility of prison transfer agreements. But I recently asked her colleague, the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, whether or not South Africa was, in fact, going to negotiate any such agreements. The Minister's colleague replied as follows, "No, government will not enter into any prison transfer agreements." I think it is important for us to get clarity on that.
The progress towards the construction of new generation prisons has been equally slow. The department's reluctance to go ahead with the public- private partnership, PPP, prisons has been attributed to concerns about cost escalations, as the hon chairperson explained a minute ago, but what is inexplicable is the delay in the completion of the facilities the department is constructing itself.
A very good example is the prison in Vanrhynsdorp, the completion of which is two years overdue. Sections of this prison had to be broken down and reconstructed when the plans where found to be deficient. I understand that there were at least 13 variations of these plans. For example, there were single cells for women, constructed without toilet facilities. The manganese-enriched steel for the window bars was substandard.
The changes to the plans of this prison, many of which might have been avoided with foresight and proper planning, have not only involved delays, but have also involved wasted expenditure running to many millions of rands. I believe that R10 million, that was not anticipated, was spent in excavation works of that prison alone.
Whatever the disadvantages of the PPP prisons may be, and I suspect much of the opposition is misinformed and ideological, they were at least finished on time and within the budget. I welcome the ongoing debate on that topic.
Then there is the issue of the recruitment and retention of staff. More than 100 members of the department's staff leave the service every month. Over and above this, there is a large number of vacancies, especially of skilled artisans, educators and health professionals. There are still too many officials working in administrative and managerial posts and not enough at the coalface in respect of rehabilitating offenders.
Because of the shortage of the right kinds of staff, offenders are not productive for long enough. Very little in the line of rehabilitative programmes is provided for those who serve sentences of less than 24 months. While those with longer sentences are supposed to have an offender rehabilitation plan, these plans are frequently not adhered to because of a shortage of professional or educational staff or the seven-day establishment, which obliges correctional intervention officers to take time off.
There is no way that we are going to achieve these goals, unless we involve the private sector and the nongovernmental organisations, NGO, sector. We need to have a partnership on this and we need to make it possible for the private sector and NGOs to become part of the solution.
However, nothing should stop offenders from working. There are correctional centres that have production workshops that don't produce anything. There are farms that stand fallow. The portfolio committee was told that there is not enough custodial staff to allow the farms to be utilised optimally. The portfolio committee was also told that the expansion of broiler projects was approved at four correctional centres, but these plans were rejected by the department's National Building Advisory Committee. Bakeries in seven correctional centres are the subject of feasibility studies. Too little too late, we say.
Offenders should be active and productive for a minimum of eight hours a day because this takes them out of the cells, out of the sections and away from the gangs and start putting back into society what those offenders have taken from society by virtue of their crimes. If there is not enough work for them in the prisons, they can always fill potholes or clear up the rubbish in the City of Johannesburg and other ANC-controlled municipalities. [Interjections.] There are no potholes in Cape Town.
Most disturbingly, the budget that we are asked to approve, once more, does not reflect and underscore the orientation of rehabilitation of offenders, the point that the chairperson made. Once more, the security and administration programmes absorb the lion's share of the budget. Again, the development, care and social reintegration programmes receive a scant 17,5% of the budget. We have to ask these very serious questions: Is the department serious about the vision of the White Paper? Is the department serious about correcting offending behaviour and rehabilitating offenders? I regret that there is nothing that we heard in the budget presentation or in what the Minister has told us today that has convinced us that they are. Unless there is the genuine transformation that the Minister was referring to, the department will simply admit increasing numbers of criminals reoffending. [Time expired.]
Mohlomphegi Modulasetulo, e reng ke dire gore re ipshine ka Sepedi. Ke rata go i?a malebo go mohlomphego Komi?inare ya naga, Bheki Cele. O dira mo?omo wo mobotse, monna wa ge?o, gomme re a go thekga. Go bolela nnete, a re se ke ra bolela fela ka t?e okarego ga di gabotse - ke ra dipho?o t?e o di dirago- eup?a re bolele le ka t?e botse t?e o di dirago.
Mohlomphegi Bheki Cele ke lenaba la mahodu. Ge mahodu a bona Cele, a bona lenaba la wona. O dira mo?omo wo mogolo, monna wa ge?o. Modimo a go phedi?e. O se ke wa babja goba wa hlokofala. O t?eere mo?omo wo o hwedit?e o bodile mo Afrika-Borwa ... [T?hwahlelo.] (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Mr L J TOLO: Hon Chairperson, let me ensure that we all enjoy Sepedi. I would like to thank the Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele: You are doing a great job. To be honest, we need also to talk about the good things you are doing and not only about your failures.
Police Commissioner Bheki Cele is an enemy to the criminals. You are really doing a great job. May God bless you with a long life. You do not even have to get sick or die. You took this position at the time when the situation was very bad in South Africa ... [Interjections.]]
Hon member, please address the Chair.
Ke a go leboga, mongaka. O hwedit?e naga ye e nkga. Bjale Bheki Cele o tsene fase o e t?hela ka dinkgi?amonate gore e nkge bose. [Disego.] Ruri Modimo a mo phedi?e, o dira mo?omo wa gagwe. Le yena ke motho o dira dipho?o t?e dingwe. Efela re swanet?e go hlokomela gore re bolela ka t?e botse t?eo a di dirago gore re mmee gabotse. Re na le wena, monna wa ge?o, re go ?et?e morago. T?wela pele morwa wa Cele.
Ke a go leboga, Tona. Ka Sepedi ba re mmago ngwana o swara thipa ka bogaleng. Ke leboga go bona Mopresidente a kgethile wena, mmagorena, gore o be Tona ya Ditirelo t?a Tshokollo. Re le ba Cope re re re thekga ditekanyet?o t?a kgoro ya gago. Eup?a re a di galala. Eke di ka oket?wa gape go feta mo. Na ke ka lebaka la eng ke bolela ka tsela ye? Dikgolego t?e mohlomphegi Modulasetulo a bego a bolela ka t?ona t?a praebete di ja t?helete ye nt?i bagage?o. Tona, ke dumela gore ge re ka pataganya ngwaga ka ngwaga, re ka aga kgolego e tee mengwageng ye mebedi ye mebedi godimo ga t?helete ye e ka lekanago R670 milione - ge eba ke e bea gabotse - ye e lefelago dikgolego t?a praebete t?a Mangaung le Kutama Sinthumule ye elego profenseng ya Limpopo. O tseba go mpheta, Tona. Ka a mangwe mant?u, R670 milione ye re lefelago dikgolego t?a praebete ka yona re ka aga kgolego e tee mengwageng ye mebedi. Ke dumela gore mafelelong palo ye re e tsomago re ka e fihlela. Bheki Cele o a ba katela bagolegwa. Dikgolego di tlet?e. O bogale monna yo. Se se ra gore re swanet?e go ihlaganela ka gore re re re sa katana le go aga dikgolego, a tle le bagolegwa. Bjale, Tona, ke dumela gore se se a re bolaya. Go ya ka rena re le ba Cope, eke re ka emi?a ka se gomme ra e hlwe?a ka letolo. Ka gonnyane ka gonnyane ke dumela gore nomoro ya dikgolego t?e pedi goba t?e tharo re ka kgona go e fihlelela.
Tona, re le ba Cope re re le ge re thekga ditekanyet?o t?e, re a lla. [T?hwahlelo.] (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Mr L J TOLO: Thank you. The country was not smelling good when Bheki Cele took this position, but he is now busy deodorising it so that it smells nicely. [Laughter.] May God bless him with a long life because he is doing his job. Like each and every person he does make mistakes, but we must also appreciate the good work he is doing and praise him. You must continue your good work, for we are behind you.
Thank you, hon Minister. In Sepedi a woman is supposed to be brave. I would like to thank the President for appointing you as the Minister of Correctional Services. We, as Cope members, support the budget for your department even though it is not enough. I am saying this because the private prisons the hon chairperson was talking about are very expensive. If we can prioritize every year, we can be able to build one prison worth R670 million every two years - if I am correct - the amount of money used to pay for the private prison of Mangaung and that of Kutama Sinthumule in Limpopo. You know that better, hon Minister. All I mean is that we can take the R670 million that is used for private prisons and build one prison in two years' time. I believe as time goes on we will have enough prisons.
The prisons are now full because Bheki Cele is arresting criminals. He is a brave man. This matter needs urgent attention because the number of prisoners is increasing. Hon Minister, we as Cope members wish that the private prisons be brought to an end, because we can use the amount of money spent on them to build two or three more prisons.
Hon Minister, Cope supports the Budget Vote as even though we are not so happy with it. [Interjections.]]
Hon members, will you kindly switch off your cellphones, please.
Ke maswabi, Modulasetulo. Ke mokgalabje. Ke e lebet?e. Ke Ndlovu yo a ntshwenyago.
Tona ke dumela gore ditekanyet?o di swanet?e go oket?wa. Rena re le ba Cope re re taba ya basadi bao ba dulago le bana ba bannyane dikgolegong, ba dula kgauswi le batho ba bant?i bao ba sent?ego, ga e gabotse. Go pala kae gore re age folete gore ngwana yo mongwe le yo mongwe a golele ka moo a dula le mmagwe? Ngwana yo o tla t?wa ka lapeng, a ye sekolong gomme a boele ka moo foleteng. Se se tla dira gore moya wa kgolego o se be gona ngwaneng yoo.
Go pala kae bagage?o gore re nyake yunifomo ye nngwe ya go swana le sutu ye ya ka gore ngwana a se ke a gola a kwe?i?a gore mmagwe o apara diaparo t?a kgolego. Ke bolela se ka lebaka la gore selo se se tsena hlaloganyong ya ngwana. Ke ka moo re bonago ka gona. Taba ye e bohlokwa kudu. Ge o etela kua kgolegong, o hwet?a bommago bana ba apere yunifomo. Gona ka mo jarateng, o hwet?a banna e le bale ba apere yunifomo ya mmala wa namune gomme bana ba ba bona. Dilo t?e di dula dihlaloganyong t?a bana.
Ebile basadi ga ba kotsi. Basadi ga ba kotsi ka tlhago. Yo mongwe a ka t?ea taba ye ka bong, efela nna ke bolela ka tlhago. Basadi ga ba kotsi. Le ge o ka ba t?ea wa ba tsenya ka gare ga ntlo ya RDP yeo e se nago dit?hipi, ba ka se t?habe. Batho ba kotsi ka tlhago ke banna. Ke rata go bont?ha Tona gore dilo t?a mohuta wo basading bao ba nago le bana, re swanet?e go leka go di hlokomela. Ka le lengwe la mat?at?i re be etet?e Kgolego ya Thohoyandou. Ge re be re etet?e kgolego ye ya Thohoyandou, re ile ra hwet?a ba hut?eledit?e ngwana wa lesea bogobe ka meetse, e sego ka maswi. Eup?a se se diraget?e nakong ye telele ye e fetilego. Ke dilo t?e re sa tlogo di hlokomela. Ke ka moo ke rego, Tona, go bohlokwa gore dikgoro t?e dingwe kamoka di dire bonnete bja gore ditekanyet?o t?a Ditirelo t?a Tshokollo di a bonagala gore merero ye e swanago le ye ke bolelago ka yona e tle e kgone go phethagala.
Tona, ke badile ye nngwe ya dipampiri. Maloko a rena a tlogela mo?omo ka bont?i. A tlogela kgoro. [T?hwahlelo.] Ke lebogile, mongaka. [Nako e fedile.] (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Mr L J TOLO: Hon Chairperson, my apology. I forgot to switch it off because I am an old man. Ndlovu is the one who is disturbing me.
Hon Minister, I believe the budget has to be increased.
Cope members think that it is not good for female inmates who have children to be kept in the same prison with other inmates. Is it difficult to build flats in which those women can stay with their children? The children will attend school while staying in those flats and they will grow up without the idea of a prison environment.
Hon members, can't we find another uniform that does not look like the prison uniform? The child does not have to grow up knowing that his/her mother wears the prison uniform. This might affect the child psychologically. This is a serious issue. In the prisons you will find women who are mothers wearing the uniform. In the same yard you will also find men in their orange uniform, and the children are watching them. They grow up with these images in their minds.
Naturally women are not dangerous. You can keep them in an RDP house that has no burglar bars; they will not run away. Men are naturally dangerous. I am trying to make the hon Minister aware that the issue of women with children in prisons must be given attention.
We once visited a prison in Thohoyandou only to find a child being fed with porridge mixed with water instead of milk. It happened some time ago. Hon Minister, it is important for all government departments to make sure that the Department of Correctional Services receives enough budget funds to be able to address matters such as these.
Hon Minister, I read in one of the newspapers that most of the staff members are resigning from the department. [Interjections.] Thank you. [Time expired.]]
Sihlalo, Mhlonishwa neNdlu yakho ehloniphekile, ukukhishwa kwalabo abadonsa izigwebo ezinkulu ngokugula kufanele kubhekisiswe kakhulu ngoba kukhona abadlala ngakho. Lokhu kufanele kungathunazi izigwebo zezinkantolo eziphuma uma kugwetshwa abantu. Ngakho-ke Mhlonishwa, kufanele uqaphele ukuthi obani abaphumayo futhi baya kogulela ukufa yini emakhaya, hhayi ukodlala igalofu.
Okunye, ukusebenzisa izinsuku eziyisikhombisa Mhlonishwa esontweni. Lokhu kubeka iziboshwa engcupheni futhi kubeka nabasebenzi komkhulu umthwalo. Kufanele izinhlangano zabasebenzi kanye noMnyango bafune ikhambi elingcono lokwenza lo msebenzi ube yimpumelelo.
Kufanele kuphenywe kakhulu ngokweqa kweziboshwa emajele ngoba thina beNkatha asikholelwa ukuthi awukho umkhonyovu kulesi senzo. Labo abatholakala benesandla ekwenzeni lo mkhuba abafanele ukusebenza kulo Mnyango ngoba badicilela phansi umsebenzi omkhulu owenziwa amaphoyisa ephenya icala, izinkantolo zigweba abonileyo bese bededelwa kalula oshomi babo nabangani babo abaphuza nabo amatiye bebiza o-cheers. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.) [Mr V B NDLOVU: Chairperson, hon Minister and the august House, the release of those who are serving long sentences because of ill health must be vigorously reviewed, because there are some people who are abusing it. And this should not undermine the sentences that are handed down by the courts when sentencing criminals. Therefore, hon Minister, you must know who are going to be released and whether they are going to spend their last days at home being sick, and not playing golf.
The other thing is the issue of using a seven-day week, hon Minister. This puts inmates in danger and it also places a huge responsibility on the staff members. The unions and the department must look for a better solution to the problem, so that this work can be a success.
There must be a thorough investigation with regard to the escaping of inmates from prisons because we, as the IFP, do not believe that there is nothing fishy about this. Those who are found having a hand in this act are not supposed to be working in this department, because they are letting down the police who have done good work in investigating cases and also the courts which handed down sentences to criminals, by allowing them to get off easily through the help of friends with whom they drink tea and shout cheers in the process.]
Corrupt officials should be, or must be, fired, hon Minister, when they are being found to be corrupt after a thorough investigation. They have to be fired. There should be no leniency on that.
Emajele kufanele kube indawo lapho kusetshenzwa khona futhi balungise iziboshwa ukuthi uma ziphuma zikwazi ukuphila ngaphandle. Inkatha Yenkululeko iphakamisa ukuthi akupheze ukuhlukumeza labo asebebuya ukuyodonsa izigwebo zabo. Abangabizwa ngamagama aziswana. Noma ngabe akubalungele ukuthi bangaphandle kodwa nabo kufuneka bazi mhlawumbe umhlaba usushintshile kunalowo abawushiya uyiwona. Izintombi abahamba benazo sezahamba. [Uhleko.]
Ukuqanjwa kabusha Mhlonishwa kwamagama amajele mhlawumbe uMnyango ufuna kube yinto oyibhekisisayo leyo. Lo Mnyango udinga imali eningi ukulungisa lokho. Awukwazi-ke ukuthatha lenkece encane kangaka uyisebenzise ukushintsha amagama amajele kube kukhona lapho kunezidingo khona, abantu lapho kudingeke khona ukuba basebenze khona, lapho kudingeka khona ukuthi bagadwe ngokusemthethweni.
Kufanele Mhlonishwa uMnyango ukubhekisise ukusebenzisana nomphakathi kanye nosomabhizinisi ekwakhiweni kwamajele. Ngithokozile ukuzwa uSihlalo wethu ekhuluma ngakho lokhu o-p bathathu Mhlonishwa, futhi lokhu kube ngendlela yokuthi ukuphepha kwabaphakathi kanye nezindleko zosomabhizinisi kuyenzeka njengokufanelekile. Kodwa loko akungenzeki ukuthi kukhame noma kunciphise imadlana encane esinayo eMnyangweni noma bangayenza eminye imisebenzi. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Prisons are places where hard labour is practised and where inmates are rehabilitated so that they can leave the prisons empowered and able to be reintegrated into the communities. The IFP proposes a stop to the harassment of those who have completed their jail term. They shouldn't be called by degrading names. And even if they are not fit to be released yet, they should know that the world has changed from what they knew it to be. The girlfriends they had have been taken now. [Laughter.]
Your department needs to reconsider the renaming of prisons, hon Minister. This department needs a lot of money to do that. You cannot, therefore, take the little funds that you have and use it to rename the prisons, while there are other sections of your department that need services, where there is a shortage of staff, and where proper ways of guarding inmates need to be implemented.
The department, hon Minister, needs to look into the co-operation between the communities and the business sector in the construction of prisons. I was pleased when our chairperson was talking about the three Ps, hon Minister, which should take into account the safety of inmates and the costs of the business sector, which should be calculated accordingly. But that should not be done with the small budget the department has even if they can still do other projects.]
The economic climate keeps on changing and maybe at this moment we should invest more in using our people, the inmates, to build correctional centres than to hire other people to do so. The skills developed by the inmates while working for the department will assist them when they leave prison. Ngiyabonga. [Thank you.]
Agb Voorsitter, as 'n mens met mense praat wat in die gevangenis is, dan is hulle almal onskuldig daar. Hulle is almal engeltjies. Maar ons weet dat hulle misdadigers is, wat 'n straf moet uitdien.
Dit is so dat daar altyd hulde gebring word aan lede van die polisie, want daar word ges hulle lewens word in gevaar gestel om misdaad te bestry. Maar, Voorsitter, ek wil vanoggend hier s ons bring ook hulde aan daardie personeel wat moet omsien na hierdie misdadigers nadat die polisie hulle gevang het. Dit is nie 'n maklike taak nie. Dit vind baie keer agter die skerms plaas, maar weet dit: Daar is waardering daarvoor.
Voorsitter, ek het ongeveer 10 jaar gelede, toe Ngconde Balfour nog die Minister was, reeds voorgestel dat prisoniers aktief besig gehou moet word. Ek het toe ges hulle moet hul eie groentetuine begin onderhou en hul eie kos produseer, want hulle is 'n las vir die belastingbetaler van Suid- Afrika, en deur hul eie kos te produseer, kan hulle daardie las verlig. Ek het gehoor daar is party plekke waar dit gedoen word, maar ek wil vir u s, dit behoort by al die gevangenisse gedoen te word om te verseker dat di mense werk en hul eie kos produseer.
Ek het verlede jaar vir die agb Minister ges die skandvlek van Korrektiewe Dienste is Schabir Shaik, en ek gaan dit nie daar laat nie. Ek wil vandag vir u s: 'n Mens hoef nie baie intelligent te wees om te weet daar was bedrog en korrupsie om te bepaal of Schabir Shaik terminaal siek is of nie. Ek wil vir die agb Minister s: Schabir Shaik spook by u, maar hy is 'n lewendige spook. Hy was nie so terminaal siek soos wat almal gedink het nie. En u moet behoorlike ondersoek instel en daardie spook nek omdraai, want as u dit nie doen nie, s ek vir u: Dit bly 'n skandvlek vir Korrektiewe Dienste.
U het reg opgetree om te s u wag vir die uitspraak van die Konstitusionele Hof. Daardie uitspraak het gekom. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Mr P J GROENEWALD: Hon Chairperson, when one talks to people who are in jail, they all proclaim their innocence. All of them are little angels. But we know that they are criminals, who have to serve out a sentence.
It is true that tribute is always paid to members of the police, because it is said that they risk their lives to combat crime. But, Chairperson, I want to say here this morning that we are also paying tribute to those staff members who have to look after these criminals after the police had arrested them. It is not an easy task. It is often happening behind the scenes, but know this: It is appreciated.
Chairperson, I had already made a proposal about 10 years ago, when Ngcondo Balfour was still the Minister, that prisoners should be actively kept busy. At that time I had said that they should start growing their own vegetable gardens and producing their own food, because they are a burden to the taxpayer of South Africa, and by producing their own food they can ease that burden. I have heard that there are some places where this is happening, but I want to say to you that this should be done at all the prisons to make sure that these people are working and producing their own food.
I told the hon Minister last year that the incident with regard to Schabir Shaik is a disgrace to Correctional Services, and I will not leave it at that. I want to say to you today: One does not have to be very intelligent to realise that fraud and corruption have played a role in determining whether or not Schabir Shaik was terminally ill. I want to say to the hon Minister: The ghost of Schabir Shaik is haunting you, but he is a living ghost. He was not as terminally ill as everybody had thought he was. And you should investigate thoroughly and lay that ghost to rest, because if you do not do that, I tell you, it will remain a disgrace to Correctional Services.
You have acted correctly by saying that you were awaiting the decision of the Constitutional Court. That decision has been made.]
Now, hon Minister, the buck stops with you. You will have to make the decision.
Ek wil vandag vir die agb Minister s: As u na gevangenes kyk, gaan kyk objektief. U moet billik en regverdig optree om te verseker dat die rels wat toegepas word, nie polities ingekleur word oor die politieke verbintenis wat iemand het of die feit dat iemand aan die verkeerde kant van die politiek was of nie. Wees billik, wees regverdig, en pas die rel toe. Dan sal daar respek wees vir u beslissings as Minister van Korrektiewe Dienste. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[I want to say to the hon Minister today: If you consider prisoners, do so objectively. You should act in a fair and just manner to ensure that the rules that are being applied are not politically tainted because of one's political connections or whether or not one has been on the wrong side of politics. Be fair, be just and apply the rule. Then there will be respect for your decisions as the Minister of Correctional Services. I thank you.]
Chairperson, the mission of the Department of Correctional Services is to contribute to maintaining a just, peaceful and safe society through enforcing decisions and sentences of the court in the manner prescribed in legislation, detaining all inmates in safe custody while ensuring their human dignity, and promoting the rehabilitation, social responsibility and human development of all offenders. In doing this, the department is able to contribute to the President's call of ensuring that all people in South Africa feel safe. The name "Correctional Services" means a place where behaviour is changed from law-breaking to law-abiding. It is in this spirit that the department is faced with this enormous task of changing the offending behaviour of those who have fallen foul of the law to that of law-abiding, but at the same time ensuring that society is protected.
The White Paper on Corrections indicates that public safety is the key dimension of the purpose of the correctional system. It is also illustrated in the Freedom Charter, adopted at the Congress of the People at Kliptown on 26 June 1955, and adopted by the ANC in 1956, that there shall be peace and friendship. I am talking about the real Congress of the People of the ANC. [Interjections.]
Hon Chairperson, let me direct my focus to two important areas of corrections, which are the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders. As I have mentioned earlier, the purpose of corrections is to change the behaviour of offenders, who will ultimately be returned to society after a certain period of time.
The rehabilitation of offenders is an important task of the Department of Correctional Services, but I must mention that the department cannot do this alone. It needs the involvement of nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, civil society organisations and the community in general. The White Paper on Corrections reminds us that "corrections are a societal responsibility". It is a societal responsibility because offenders will be returned to the community after serving a period of time ...
... njengokuba ubab' uNdlovu kade esho ... [... as Mr Ndlovu was saying ...]
... in correctional facilities.
All efforts must be made to ensure that, while in correctional facilities, offenders are provided with opportunities for changing their lives around. This can be done if programmes provided to offenders are tailor-made to address their unique challenges and problems. It is therefore important for the department to ensure that correctional sentence plans are reliable and effective, and play a role in directing offenders towards programmes that will address their unique challenges.
The ANC will continue to encourage the formation of, and to work within, progressive civil society, organisations of communities, students, youth, women, people with disability, traditional leaders, business and other nongovernmental and community-based organisations. It will also continue to reach out to religious institutions to ensure common approaches to challenges of transformation. The ANC will conduct such mass work, taking into account the dynamic changes taking place in the social structure and varied lifestyles of the South African society.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services has recently questioned whether the implementation of correctional service plans were for the sake of compliance or whether they play a pivotal role in the rehabilitation of offenders. This he questioned mainly, because of the large number of those with sentence plans, only a small fraction are involved in programmes in our correctional facilities. I would therefore like to make a call to the department to make sure that there is an alignment between the number of offenders with correctional sentence plans and those involved in correction programmes. These two should speak to each other.
I would like to make a humble plea to the Department of Correctional Services that the continued skewed budget of the department should be something of the past in the near future. We would like to see the budget aligned to the rehabilitation of offenders. We have observed in the budget that development and social reintegration are the two programmes with the lowest allocations, and both of them combined make up only 7% of the allocation of this budget. Social reintegration has been allocated R577 million for the 2011-12 financial year, which is 3,5% of the total budget of the Department of Correctional Services. Preparing offenders for reintegration does not start when the offender is about to be released. In fact, it starts when the offender is admitted to a correctional facility. As I mentioned in my Budget Vote speech last year, in 2010, parole and the social reintegration of offenders remain an integral part of the correctional system, not only in South Africa but all over the world.
A number of challenges confront offenders when they are released into society, starting from acceptance by the community, being labelled and stigmatised, to a lack of employment opportunities for ex-offenders. It is therefore important for us to call for a progressive alignment of the budget to address some of these challenges.
Ninety-two percent of the budget under social reintegration goes to compensation of employees. However, this is meant to increase the monitoring of probationers and parolees. Not enough attention is paid to community-based programmes for these parolees. We would like to call upon the department to increase the involvement of NGOs and civil society organisations in rendering service and programmes for ex-offenders in the community.
As far as health care is concerned, the correctional system should not just restrain convicted persons, but should contribute to the goal of rehabilitation. In this regard, the RDP vision sought to promote transformation of the correctional system as part of the state machinery. This includes both human and physical resources within this department, particularly in terms of mindsets, attitudes, ethos, contribution and loyalty to the developmental state.
The RDP articulated that correctional staff had to be trained to reflect democratic values and to transform the then military command structure of the prison service. The RDP further argued for inmates on ARV treatment, which suggests an increased allocation to the care programme. This would promote access to the health care rights enshrined in the Constitution, as the budget allocated for 2011-12 is currently 11,2%. The key question is whether the allocated amount for care is adequate enough for the inmates living with HIV and Aids.
Hon Chair, let me take this opportunity to welcome efforts by the department in their strategic plan to increase the number of parole cases in which victims of crime make representations during the parole board hearing. In my speech last year I indicated that victims of crime should not be regarded as just state witnesses or a source of information. I emphasised that more needed to be done to ensure that victims' rights to make representation during parole hearing were exercised. It is on this basis that I say to the department: The road is still long, but we will get there.
In the minute I have left, I want to say happy birthday to our President. Thank you, Chair! [Applause.]
Chairperson, I want to welcome and congratulate Adv Ngoako Ramatlhodi in absentia in his new portfolio as Deputy Minister of Correctional Services.
Let me take this opportunity to talk about some issues that are dear to my heart, namely security and correctional facilities and remand detainees.
The Security Programme, which is one of the seven programmes in the Department of Correctional Services, provides safety and secured conditions for all persons incarcerated, consistent with the human dignity in support of security to personnel and the public. This programme has been allocated an amount of R5,6 billion, which is the highest allocation of all programmes in this budget and takes 37% of the total allocation for 2011- 12.
It is a concern that while we pump more money into security we still experience such daring escapes from our facilities as we have witnessed in Harrismith, where 41 awaiting-trial offenders escaped last year, and the recent escape of seven awaiting-trial offenders from Mthatha Correctional Centre last month. It is particularly disturbing to witness such daring escapes in each incident. These persons certainly cast doubt on the level of security our correctional facilities.
The incidence of assault and unnatural deaths in our facilities is another area which remains a serious concern. It is a concern because some of these deaths could have been prevented and some of the assaults are perpetrated by correctional officials.
In this regard, the ANC-led government is committed to the development of a human rights culture in formal institutions to ensure the rehabilitation of offenders.
This budget must ensure resources for the humane accommodation of inmates. Reducing overcrowding could provide conducive conditions for the rehabilitation programme. It remains a systematic problem involving not just the Department of Correctional Services' budget, but co-operation by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Police, Public Works and Social Development is of paramount importance.
Correcting offending behaviour is the responsibility of society as a whole. Chairperson, it cannot be business as usual whilst people die like flies in our facilities on a daily basis. The department needs to strengthen their zero tolerance towards escapes, assault and all kinds of deaths in our facilities.
In their 2009-10 annual report, the Office of the Inspecting Judge reported 55 cases of unnatural deaths in our facilities and 992 natural deaths. These alarming figures of people dying in our facilities are a cause for concern. The department states that its mission, amongst others, is to detain all inmates in safe custody whilst ensuring their human dignity. Hopefully, as we go forward, the department will manage to fulfil its mission.
It is almost impossible not to associate escapes with collusion of corrupt officials in the department. An increase in the budget allocation to security cannot deter corrupt officials from their corrupt activities, which result in putting our communities in danger of those who escape.
In his state of the nation address last year, the President stated that all people in South Africa must feel and be safe. It is therefore important that the department should do everything possible to root out all those corrupt officials. I would be failing in my responsibilities if I don't emphasise that vetting of officials in the Department of Correctional Services should be given a priority. The chairperson has also alluded to that.
The National Commissioner of Correctional Services has been talking about planning for the establishment of an academy for correctional officials. We support that call. It will make our correctional officers professionals so that the department becomes an employer of choice, not a measure of life resources for those who cannot find employment somewhere else. It must be emphasised that there is no place for those with corrupt tendencies in the Department of Correctional Services.
While still on security, I need to emphasise that security is central in almost all activities of the correctional centres. However, there is a need to create a balance between security and other activities within correctional facilities, especially rehabilitation programmes. Whilst we call on the budget to be aligned with the White Paper on Corrections, we also call for an alignment between daily programmes provided for offenders and the White Paper. In most instances offenders cannot attend programmes because of the security of offenders. They cannot go to hospitals because of security. Prison workshops stay empty because of security. It cannot be business as usual when offenders are deprived of the opportunity of labour acquisition, of skills and of rehabilitation because of security.
The issue of remand detainees has finally been placed as the responsibility of the Department of Correctional Services by Cabinet. We have seen the strengthening of the system on remand detainees in the Correctional Matters Amendment Bill which was recently before the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. Amongst issues included are the provision of uniforms for remand detainees for security reasons; regulation of the surrender of remand detainees to the police for further investigation; and fixing the time that a person should remain in remand detention.
This would be in line with the beautiful Constitution of this country, which states in section 35(3)(d) that every accused person has a right to have their trial begin and concluded without unreasonable delay. Hopefully, we will see the burden of the numbers of awaiting-trial youth in our correctional facilities being reduced with the implementation of these provisions.
All these measures are welcome, especially since the area of remand detainees has been a neglected area, coupled with confusion as to whose responsibility it is to take care of remand detainees within the criminal justice system in South Africa. Hopefully, the department will finalise both the White Paper on Remand Detainees and the establishment of a remand detention grant. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, first of all, let me take this opportunity to thank the chair of this committee for his commitment and his leadership, as well as ensuring that we conduct our business in a very, very good spirit in order to achieve our ultimate goal.
The Department of Correctional Services is the dead end in the criminal justice system. You come in and stop at the Department of Correctional Services; you either die or you go back into the community. Therefore, the mission of the Department of Correctional Services is "to contribute, to maintain and to protect a just, peaceful and safe society." It's a bold statement.
I would like to agree with other speakers that rehabilitation is a huge challenge. We cannot become excited about the few people who have been rehabilitated. Rehabilitation needs more than the Department of Correctional Services alone; it needs all the departments to contribute, as well as the community at large, to make it successful.
Hon Minister, I must say that I, and the DA, disagree with you with regard to the changing of names of correctional service centres. There's no proof that the change of names will increase rehabilitation or make prisoners or inmates better people. In my and the DA's view that is a waste of taxpayers' money, and it's going to be a useless exercise.
To make a real impact in crime fighting and crime prevention, proper management and leadership in the Department of Correctional Services are as important as in the rest of the criminal justice system department; it's crucial.
About two weeks ago we saw that General Cele and the police came to the portfolio committee without targets. You can imagine coming to this House with a plan, but not knowing how to measure yourself. The problem is that he came back again and said that those targets are from the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS, cluster. Hon Minister, my understanding is that the Department of Correctional Services' targets are based on your baselines which you achieved previously. Is it correct that your targets are perhaps also targets from the JCPS? I would like to hear that.
Is there synergy between the departments in achieving the targets? Police want to reduce crime, so they arrest. On the other hand the Department of Correctional Services wants to decrease inmates; this means that there is conflict. Where is the synergy between the two? Does the department have the capacity and the skills to deal with this influx and the movement of inmates?
Hon Minister, for you and the Department of Correctional Services to be successful and to fulfil those promises you need to ensure that you appoint the right people for the job. The most important resource in any department in government is its human beings; people.
Discipline is also critical in the Department of Correctional Services. Last year's annual report indicates that regional commissioners didn't even respond to instructions from the head office. If that is going to be allowed, you can close shop. Discipline is essential and it comes from the top.
You might ask me who the right people to be appointed are. So, let me tell you who they are. They are those people who have job-related knowledge and experience, whether operational or in support services. They are people who came through the ranks, who are apolitical and committed to service delivery to the people. The right people cannot be appointed on a quota system based on race. The only criteria should be merit. None of us can complain after 16 years of democracy that merit is unfair. We all have equal opportunity.
When I joined the police, there was a standing order which stated that the highest rank nonwhites could be promoted to was lieutenant and the whites remained senior. We thought that was gone; now we find that it still exists - it is in effect in this democracy of ours. We could understand when it was apartheid. Let us all feel, regardless of race, that we belong and we are here to make a contribution to make South Africa a better place for all.
The question is: How many of the top management know exactly how to manage a correctional centre? How many of the top management at the police know how to manage a police station and how to relate to the issues of importance? Let me tell you that this department received qualified audit reports for seven consecutive years and it will continue if you don't promote and appoint the right people in the right places.
The Rapport of 24 October last year indicated that whites and coloureds have reached their level; that is totally wrong. The definition of madness is here in the Rapport and I would like your response on that. The definition of madness is, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. Martin Luther King once said: "You cannot help birds flying over your head, but you can prevent them making a nest in your hair." Therefore, I would like to say, hon Minister, that poor performance is intolerable. It cannot be accepted. People can be fired, not only for corruption, but also for nonperformance. For that reason we need a political direction; political will and the right political intervention.
There's a difference between political intervention and political interference. A good example of political intervention is when the DA took over the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town after the ANC. That is political intervention. Political interference is Sondolo and Bosasa in this department. Let me tell you, hon Minister, that there's a saying that if you keep a snake you can expect that that snake will bite you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, we are naturally in support of the budget that has been presented.
The Department of Correctional Services needs to meet four minimum requirements to make correctional sentences compatible with the constitutional democracy as we understand it. Firstly, prisoners' rights, as listed in the Constitution and in the Correctional Services Act, dare not be violated. This requires a human rights-based approach to prison management. Secondly, accountability in respect to prisons rests within the executive. Accountability at the horizontal level refers to the institution and practices created by the state to hold governments accountable. Vertically, accountability is directed to the electorate, the media, civil society and international treaty bodies.
Thirdly, the functioning of prisons must be done in a transparent manner. This means that those affected by decisions of officials in the prison system and other stakeholders with an interest or mandate in respect of prisons must have access not only to basic facts and figures, but also to gain insight into the mechanisms and processes of decision-making. A consequence of this is that officials in the prison system and related sectors have a duty to perform with integrity, visibly, predictably and understandably.
Fourthly, policy development, law reform, strategic plans and operational decision-making must be based on knowledge. When research has identified the characteristics of programmes that are ineffective, these should then naturally be avoided. In building a prison system compatible with a constitutional democracy, services rendered to prisoners must be based on knowledge and evidence. Rendering services based on a common sense and gut feel perception of what is working or any other notion devoid of empirical proof is tantamount to effectively denying prisoners their right to development.
It is important that achievements of the correctional system be measured in a manner that reflects on public safety. On a monthly basis, an estimated 5 000 sentenced offenders are released from our correctional centres. Almost 70% of them serve sentences of less than two years, effectively having been excluded from having a sentence plan and the services that the plan should give rise to. The effect is that the correctional system is returning to society thousands of offenders who had not accessed services that should have prepared them to lead a constructive and crime-free life in the future. After serving a sentence of imprisonment, they seem to be worse off.
This requires a critical examination of the following question: How does the Department of Correctional Services contribute to public safety? That is what my comrade, Comrade Ngwenya, said earlier. How does it give effect to the call by our President that all people in South Africa should feel and be safe when access to services to prepare them for a better life had eluded almost 70% of released offenders, leading to the appalling levels of recidivism? Then we cannot help but conclude that the Department of Correctional Services has been unable to make a substantial, sustainable and positive contribution to public safety.
Correctional services cannot be regarded as warehouses where human beings are stored. They must be institutions of excellence, where the lives of these human beings must change so that upon release they can become useful citizens.
Over the past year, prison overcrowding has been highlighted. Whilst it is generally accepted that we cannot build ourselves out of overcrowding, there are plans afoot to construct several large prisons across the country, whilst 5 159 additional bed spaces are currently under design and at construction stage at a number of existing prisons in various parts of the country, at an astronomical projected cost of R9,175 billion over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period, which also includes additional facilities at various prisons.
From the overcrowding debate, at least two issues emerge. Firstly, the size of any prison population is determined by policy. Over the past decade, many countries have demonstrated that a change in policy can contribute to a reduction in prison overcrowding, and many of the colleagues here have referred to that.
Over the past five years, unsentenced detainees, and not the sentenced offender population, have contributed substantially to the size of the prison population in South Africa. In fact, since 2004, the number of sentenced prisoner admissions has dropped by 45%, contributing to the declining need for accommodation for sentenced prisoners.
The sentenced population has been growing steadily, and more than half of this group have already been in custody for longer than three months. It has also been established that half of this group will find their cases withdrawn or struck off the roll, rendering their detention unmeaningful or without purpose. Yet, it added between 25 000 to 30 000 people to the prison population.
Secondly, the majority of sentence submissions are those of offenders serving sentences of two years and less. Sentence plans have eluded them, and the purpose of their imprisonment raises questions. We face two options to address the problem. The first one is to provide education, corrections and development services to these offenders to give meaning to their imprisonment and therefore contribute to public safety. The second one is to prevent their imprisonment by providing for effective noncustodial sentences as both the Criminal Procedure Act and the Correctional Services Act provide for a plethora of noncustodial sentencing options - also referred to by many speakers - particularly correctional supervision.
It is generally accepted that as a result of poor management on the part of the Department of Correctional Services, the judiciary seems to have lost faith and confidence in correctional supervision as a sentencing option. The Supreme Court of Appeal expressed itself as follows in case 36(3) of 2005:
When correctional supervision was introduced, courts embraced it enthusiastically as a real sentencing option, something that will have a substantial effect on the prison population in this country. As time went on, courts became more sceptical. But I am now completely disillusioned.
These were the words of Judge Harms.
The department has, over several years, promised the re-engineering of community corrections, but without tangible results forthcoming. This causes a serious challenge to the entire Justice, Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS, cluster which, in collaboration with civil society formations and other interested groups, maps the way forward.
Following the visit to the United States and the United Kingdom in 1997 the then Minister of Correctional Services concluded and said that wherever the private sector got involved, they have delivered a better service at less cost to the taxpayers. This is questionable.
Government's rationale in support of private prisons is that they cost less than it will cost the Department of Correctional Services per prisoner per day. If this was true, why do our state prisons cost so much and still fail to achieve?
Over the years the Department of Correctional Services' budget and expenditure patterns seem to have been framed on the basis of the daily costs incurred by the department for accommodating a prisoner by taking the annual budget and dividing it by the number of inmates. This approach is fatally flawed and does not reflect the accurate cost. It must undergo intense scrutiny, bearing in mind that over 60% of the annual budget goes towards compensation of employees. About 60% of them annually earn in excess of R230 000 per annum.
I would like to emphasise what the hon chairperson said earlier. The new state-of-the-art facility in Kimberley of 3 000 bed spaces costs R961 million. Including everything, it costs R320 000 per bed space and, as at 26 March 2011, it had 2 496 inmates. As the chairperson has said, its operational cost for the year is R85,7 million, which works out to R77 per person per day if there are 3 000 inmates.
Against this, the cost of the 2 928 - bed Mangaung public-private partnership, PPP, facility for the same period was R259,24 million - that is, operational cost escalating annually at the fixed annual contribution of R101 million over a 15-year period, amounting to R1,52 billion. Last year the Kimberley correctional service facility cost us R600 million more.
Furthermore, the annual amount in terms of operational cost for the Kutama Sinthumule facility was R317 million, escalating annually at a fixed rate of R93 million, amounting to total construction contributions of R1,39 billion over a 15-year period.
It is important that the Department of Correctional Services considers these issues seriously and takes a holistic view of how our criminal justice system in its entirety operates before addressing the intolerable levels of overcrowding at some centres by avoiding long-term contractual obligations. We cannot create a debt for the coming generation.
Hon member, just a moment.
Chairperson, I was told that I've got four more minutes. I was given injury time because of my gray hair.
Hon member, yes, but you see, there were more minutes added and I'm watching the minutes given to me here. There were more minutes added which were taken from other speakers who did not finish their minutes. Continue, hon member.
Chairperson, there are many components to prison self- sufficiency and various stakeholders have alluded to this. The judicial inspectorate's annual report of 2009-10 highlighted it as follows:
Achieving self-sufficiency necessitates the setting up of correctional centre industries, farms, factories and the like. Business principles are concerned with continued improved production through innovation, reduction in cost and waste and creating value.
During the 2010-11 financial year the Department of Correctional Services paid the private catering group R282,7 million to provide meals for 54 274 inmates in eight management areas. Twenty-eight centres are contracted for the supply of meals to the same group and an additional total of R366 million was paid in the same year for the procurement of perishables for other centres.
There are 12 broiler and egg layer units and six batteries operated by the Department of Correctional Services across the country. In addition, there are 39 steel, woodwork and textile workshops across the country. Many of them are not fully operational or functional.
The number of inmates involved in these activities leaves much to be desired. The judicial inspectorate reported that during an audit it was found that between 10% to 15% of sentenced inmates were engaged in regular work or in a rehabilitation programme with prison workshops and agricultural activity being unacceptably underutilised.
In a scenario where inmates are willing and able to engage in regular and productive activity, the department ought to show improvement in utilising the human resources available before considering the outsourcing in its entirety of the supply of food to inmates.
Chairperson, I just want to respond to some of my colleagues who have spoken here today. The hon member Selfe referred to the problem with regard to further broiler houses to be built which has not been sanctioned etc, etc and etc. But in doing so he also referred to the Minister's trips overseas. The Minister is a Minister of state and she has to represent her country overseas. But the hon member Selfe also spoke ...
... van al die slaggate. Ek wil hom net waarsku dat Korrektiewe Dienste 'n helse groot slaggat is. Ek hoop nie hy val daarin nie! [Gelag.] [... of all the potholes. I just want to warn him that Correctional Services is an enormous pothole. I hope he does not fall into it! [Laughter.]]
Chairperson, regarding the use of inmate labour, I give 100% support to Baba Ndlovu. We've got to extend that. We've got to do more about it.
My good old friend, the Advocate Max ...
... wragtig, met die manier waarop hy vandag gepraat het, het ek gedink hy is nog die LUR van Gemeenskapsveiligheid in Kaapland! [Gelag.] Dankie, Voorsitter. [Tyd verstreke.] [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[... really, given the manner in which he spoke today I thought he was still the MEC for Community Safety in the Western Cape! [Laughter.] Thank you, Chairperson. [Time expired.] [Applause.]]
Hon members, as per our own arrangements, before I call upon the hon Minister to respond, let me acknowledge the guests of the Minister of Correctional Services who came here to observe the empowerment programmes and the facilities in the Western Cape.
They are led by the National Commissioner of Bermuda with a delegation from Kenya, Botswana, Cameroon and Ghana. Before we applaud, also present are those who come from the President's Award for Youth Empowerment Programme in South Africa. Mr Mandela and many other Members of Parliament, like Dr Ginwala, are patrons of that award programme. They are here with us. [Applause.]
Thank you very much, Chairperson, and thank you, hon members, for your input. I want to start by agreeing with the chairperson of the portfolio committee that a shift towards the objectives of the White Paper will have to be reflected in both our strategy and budget. To this end, the national commissioner is convening a work session next week for two days where management will be reviewing the strategic plan. I think it is important to mention that. Secondly, I welcome the remarks made by the hon member Selfe - or hon Max, actually -about the high cost of the renaming of the centres. What I find interesting, though, is that there has been talk of the high costs of running public-private partnerships for prisons, PPPs, and I have not heard the DA commenting on the high costs of running these PPP centres.
About the renaming process, we have said earlier that all of the work that would have to be done, which is labour intensive such as signage, would actually be done by inmates. Now, this is not a commercial entity that we are talking about. We are talking about correctional facilities, so there is no need for a massive marketing of the renaming process. What is important is that, as you all know, all centres have the same letterhead, so there isn't a need to reprint letterheads in order to reflect the new names of the centres.
I also need to say that we have taken a deliberate decision that we are, in fact, going to rename these centres, not necessarily after human beings - even though the history of this country tells us that names of human beings were actually used to name our centres - but to name centres where our people were locked up. Johannesburg was named after Johannes or Johan. I don't know who Johan is and where he came from. [Laughter.] The same applies to Pretoria. Pretoria Central is named after some Pretorius who I do not know. Pollsmoor, I am told, is "Poll se moor". It was Poll's farm. I don't know what the "moor" is, but it was "Poll se moor", and it is called Pollsmoor today. So, I don't understand this anxiety and frenzy about the renaming.
We want to rename our centres and use names that our people can identify with, with which you and I can identify with. In fact, even we are to name them after political leaders, there would be nothing wrong with that. [Laughter.]
I want to discuss the issue of the amount of money that we spend on human resources. You are right, hon Selfe, but remember that correctional service is a people-intensive function. If you talk about rehabilitation, those rehabilitation programmes have to be rendered by human beings, warm bodies. If you talk about custodial services, those have to be done by warm bodies. Yes, of course, there will be a skewed and unfortunate balance towards the high cost of compensation of employees in our budget, because it is a human resource-intensive function. We cannot run away from that.
Not only that, but these are facilities that must be guarded 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That is why we introduced the seven-day establishment so that we do not continue to have a five-day establishment that is going to require people to be paid overtime when they have to work during weekends. So, yes, we agree that there is a need to have more financial resources to add to this area, so that we can invest in our development programmes. If you look at development and care, there is very little money that is allocated in that area. We need more money, because that is where our rehabilitation programmes are located.
The hon Max raised the matter of the need to have people who have risen through the ranks. I don't know what that means. I certainly don't know what that means. It is too practical. Let me tell you something. Some of the people that we are bringing in are people who have had the experience of sitting in correctional facilities, not as wardens, not as officers, but as prisoners, whom we call inmates today. I believe that they have an enormous wealth of information and experience to know what is good and what is not good for an inmate.
So, when you are talking about rising through the ranks, it means that we are going to be stuck with people who have ... in fact, I was talking to the managers yesterday about one thing that I look forward to and that I want to discuss with Treasury, and that is to be allowed to go back to that system of giving severance packages to some of the people who are exhausted and have no energy anymore to do their work in correctional facilities. [Applause.] This must be done so that we can inject new blood and for me, injecting new blood is not black, white or coloured. It is about bringing in people who still have the energy, who can still run around and will be committed to do the things that we are talking about.
I heard you talking about everything and mentioning colour. That is not my interest. If you look at my team, at the provincial managers, and at who we are bringing in, you will know that, for now, it is not our priority to look at the colour of skin. What we are looking at are the capabilities and skills that people are bringing to Correctional Services. [Applause.] Obviously, rising through the ranks does not mean that you should be kept in charge.
I also want to talk about the issue of custodial sentences. You were right, hon Selfe, by saying that the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster should look into the whole area of sentencing. There is a need, an urgent need, for some of the inmates who are in our correctional facilities to be diverted so that they don't serve custodial sentences. In order for us to be able to do that, Correctional Services would have to strengthen its community corrections system so that the judiciary has confidence that, when it diverts people from serving custodial sentences towards community corrections, at least there will be systems of monitoring. That is why we talk about electronic tagging and halfway houses, because we believe that these are the things that we can do immediately and derive results. These are quick ways for the Department of Correctional Services.
Regarding the comment on public-private partnerships, PPPs, may I remind you that I raised this matter in 2009 during my first Budget Vote as Minister. At that time, I had probably been in office for a month. As I stand here, I certainly, at a personal level, have my reservations about outsourcing custodial services to the private sector. We can find ways of balancing the act and having partnerships, but there is no way you can outsource your security and your custodial services to the private sector.
In any event, we have now inherited that system - a system where two correctional facilities have been run by the private sector for a period of 25 years - and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that we can do at this stage. So the reasons for calling, inviting and engaging bidders is to ask them whether we can have another look at the bid specifications which have come out. Do we really want to have the state sitting and watching what happens in private facilities, instead of saying, give us the security and custodial services?
By the way, you also mentioned gangs. Earlier, I mentioned here that we have just appointed a security officer. One of the reasons why we did that is because we want to develop a fully-fledged security structure that will be able to come up with an antigang strategy and collect information from gangs so that we can reduce the number of unnatural deaths in our facilities.
Gang culture has been around for the past century and is a common, worldwide phenomenon. However, what is important is for us to try, as much as possible, to minimise its impact in our centres. Our centres, however, are not run by gangs.
Now, in order for our centres not to be run by gangs, we have got to have sources that are going to provide us with information, and this is the capacity that we are trying to establish. However, not only that, it goes back to the matter which we raised earlier on - the need to vet our correctional officers.
What we have inherited is a situation in which the majority of correctional officers were never vetted. The question is, why? Because one cannot and may not bring a person who has not been vetted into a security environment. As a result, I do believe that today some of the correctional officers - not all - may be criminals themselves, and therefore will be part of the gangs. It is something that we inherited. I don't think it is something that I inherited as Minister from the former Ministers. It is something that we inherited from a system that was rooted in corruption. [Applause.]
On the matter of inmate transfer, yes, you are right, Mr Selfe. The Minister, of course, would have responded by saying that there is no intention. This is because there are currently discussions under way amongst our officials. In fact, Cabinet expects me to present a memo to it soon in which a view on this matter is put forward.
Our perspective, at the level of the Southern African Development Community, SADC, and the US Centres for Disease Control, are that there should be inmate transfer, of course, for some categories of inmates. Obviously, you don't expect that I would agree to transfer Mathe, who comes from Mozambique - if we ever agree to have this inmate transferred - back to Mozambique, unless I am obviously assured that everything will be done to keep him under the conditions within which we are keeping him.
So there is a discussion at SADC level on the protocol on inmate transfer. There is also a discussion amongst ourselves as the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security, JCPS, cluster members. There is obviously a diversity of views on the matter but, ultimately, Correctional Services stands to benefit if we allowed people ... I mean, we have high numbers from Zimbabwe and Mozambique ... if we allowed those people who have committed petty crimes to go back and serve in their countries of origin, it would benefit all of us, but, of course, on condition that there are proper centres or facilities for them to be accommodated in.
There is another matter which has been raised here. We need to clarify this lack of sentence plans for people who are serving a period of 24 months, which is two years. If I may remind colleagues, people who come into our correctional facilities to serve two years - 24 months - may, in terms of the law, serve a sixth of their sentence. That is a couple of months, okay? And the law does not provide for us to have sentence plans prepared for people who are going to stay for very short periods in our correctional facilities. But we are discussing this matter among ourselves as managers in the Department of Correctional Services.
In fact, whilst we are discussing the matter, it is our intention to separate what is called pre-release centres, where people who are sentenced to between 1 and 24 months are accommodated in pre-release dedicated centres where they will serve their sentences. In this way, you are separating them from your hardcore criminals and, therefore, because they are vulnerable, you are saving them from being recruited, for instance, by the gangs.
Hon Minister, you have two more minutes left.
Thank you very much, hon Chairperson.
At this point, I do want to say that, yes, we appreciate the costs and the matters raised around the costs of the PPPs. It is for that reason that we are reviewing everything that we have done. We are doing that.
Hon Tolo raised the issue of women and children. I would wish that, in establishing halfway houses, this is one category that we would have to accommodate.
Hon Ndlovu, stigmatisation of offenders is true. There is a big problem. At the session that we had with stakeholders last week, this was one of the areas that we attended to. In fact, the JCPS cluster itself is discussing this matter of how long a record of a person who has been incarcerated should be kept.
Not only that, but what do you do with skilled inmates? We have rehabilitated them; we have provided them with skills; they have certificates and they have been released, but they can't secure jobs because, during the vetting process, the system kicks them out. What do you do about that? These are some of the matters that we as a cluster are occupied with.
Lastly, but not least - I hope I have responded to all of the issues that have been raised - I am so happy, because today I am given support by my kids. My two young boys of the four that I have are here. Thank you very much for coming to give me support. I want to say to you, Chair, and hon members that these are the people who keep me going. Thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.