Hon Deputy Chair, I wish to begin my response by thanking all members who participated in this debate, particularly for the fact that there has been no single dissenting voice. We have all agreed that we support the budget, and for that I'm most grateful on behalf of my Minister and the department.
Secondly, I wish to indicate that we accept criticism and self-criticism as part of legitimate participation in the processes of governance in our country. It is only when we look at ourselves that we can say, we could have done better here, we can improve there, there is still something lagging there and so on. So, I take all the contributions as part of the legitimate work of Parliament, the NCOP.
My attention has just been drawn to the fact that when I read my main statement, instead of reading 1 014 I decided to inflate it in my ignorance to 10 014. I apologise for that. I want to put it on record and correct that.
Coming to the issue which hon Nyambi was talking about, that of the gentlemen Mofokeng and Mokoena, I want to join many in the department and say that we are deeply appreciative of the role that you, comrades, in the NCOP played. Had it not been for your intervention, we might still be dealing with this issue. You have been aggressive and focused and we are deeply appreciative of that. And of course, I thank the two former inmates themselves because they survived and gave us a chance to redeem ourselves as a country.
A concern was raised regarding the allocation of resources to urban areas as compared to rural areas. One is very sympathetic to that issue. I'm a rural boy. Ek is `n seun van die platteland, daar in die noordelike Limpopo. [I am a boy from the rural area, from northern Limpopo.] So, I'm very sympathetic to that.
However, a point needs to be made that the resources in Correctional Services follow the needs. So, your urban areas are the most populated and that's where real crime is happening. That's why you have got the biggest courts. Most courts in South Africa are in urban areas. As Correctional Services we receive our clients from the courts. That's why we have to build more facilities in urban areas as opposed to rural areas.
We have hope for other interventions in this regard. For instance, it is possible to put up special facilities, like the public-private partnership, PPP, one in Limpopo and Kroonstad. It's possible to do that. You can actually shift some of the high-security facilities away from urban areas to partly address the concern that was raised. I am sure we shall be interrogating that as we deal with this matter.
I may as well say on that issue that we are ready to move very rapidly towards the implementation of our PPPs. There have been debates between us and the private sector regarding the nature of controls and access. Part of the delay was not because there was inefficiency but it was an issue of policy principles that had to be addressed. For instance, do we relinquish our sovereignty to the private sector? That is a key question. Any country that does that can't be serious about its sovereignty.
We have had to engage, as part of the process of preparing the base, with a view to ensuring that the new PPPs that come on line are going to be somewhat different. That's a further second goal in that regard. Also, we accept the fact that in the past the parole board has faced some challenges. These challenges related to, among other things, a lack of consistency in the implementation and interpretation of policies. A new board chairperson and deputy chairperson were appointed and they will start work with effect from 1 May 2011. We are hoping that with the appointment of the new board and our readiness to improve, like I said, as the department we will achieve greater efficiency in that regard.
Still on the issue of parole, the National Council for Correctional Services will now be responsible for the training of new members of the parole board. Going forward we are hoping that there will be an improvement and an undertaking to that end.
The issue of overcrowding remains a major concern and headache for the department. However, we have moved beyond being concerned and have elaborated strategies and put measures in place to begin to address overcrowding in our centres.
Together with our partners in the criminal justice system, we are looking at bail protocols so that, where it is possible and people have committed minor offences, you don't unreasonably deny them bail. A large portion of our inmates are in fact awaiting-trial prisoners. They constitute quite a large part of that population. We believe that with the involvement of the community and greater efficiency of ourselves as the department in tracking down those who don't have to await trial in prisons, our partners might gain confidence and come on board readily. We should not expect the prosecuting authority and the police to come on board when they are sure that the criminals will disappear and not face justice. We are addressing this issue with that sensitivity in mind.
With regard to sentenced inmates, as part of reducing the population in our centres we are also looking at community service where that is justified, and diversion, using in particular the laws that we have passed regarding juveniles and young people in South Africa. By the way, the largest number of inmates in our South African prisons, above 70% or so, are young people. If we were to have a successful diversion programme, which at the same time guarantees the safety of the communities, then we would be beginning to address the issue of overcrowding.
We are also looking at diverting ...