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.]