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.]]