Thank you very much, Chairperson. Hon McIntosh, I'm surprised that you are even mentioning the awarding of a new tender for this kind of work. I'm sure you heard me before calling on the department to take responsibility for its catering services. So, what is currently going on in the department is that we are doing an assessment to determine how many centres are ready to have their own catering services. If they are not ready, how much time are we giving to those centres? Is it going to be months or a year? That will assist us in preparing our inmates to do their own cooking. After all, these are things which were done in the past.
I must also say that we are actually in a similar position as the Department of Defence and Military Veterans. Portfolio committee members have made an observation that most of our kitchens are in a state of dilapidation. Therefore, we require the Department of Public Works to come in and do some renovations. So, to a certain extent, having these people on site doing the catering for us has been very useful. Thank you.
Steps taken to implement recommendations of NA Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report 2010 and to ensure implementation of JICS
26. Ms W Ngwenya (ANC) asked the Minister of Correctional Services: [Question standing over from Wednesday, 23 March 2011 in accordance with National Assembly Rule 115(1)(a)]
(1) a) What progress has she made with regard to implementing the recommendations of the National Assembly's Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report 2010 (details furnished) of 17 November 2010 and (b) what steps has she taken to ensure that the recommendations of the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (JICS) are implemented;
(2) whether she intends allocating a fixed percentage of her department's budget to JICS in the event of JICS not being able to secure their own independent budget; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NO995E