Madam Deputy Speaker, the riot and hostage drama that played itself out at the new Kimberley Correctional Centre on Tuesday, 3 August 2010 - almost costing six young male and female correctional officials their lives - is a textbook illustration of a failed management model. For that the Department of Correctional Services should take full responsibility.
Allow me to point out the fundamental flaws which are a culmination of a mixture of bad planning and a weak and visionless management team at the centre. The original estimated budget, which was R281,5 million in September 2004, was escalated to a phenomenal R824,1 million by February 2010. On top of the escalation in costs to the taxpayer was a 12-month backlog.
As we speak, only 11 of the 12 housing units are fully occupied by offenders. This is so because after the construction of this correctional centre, the Department of Correctional Services had no idea where they would find inmates to fill the facility.
The department then went on a wild hunt to find offenders to fill the centre. A large part of the population came from provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Limpopo, Gauteng and Free State. This is in direct contradiction with the provisions of the White Paper. Very few inmates are from the Northern Cape and North West provinces. This seems to be a big contributor to the high levels of frustration among inmates, and this was observed by portfolio committee members from both Public Works and Correctional Services during our oversight visit to the centre last week.
In the new centre you will, on the one hand, find inmates who have committed murder, rape and serious assault serving sentences ranging from 20 years to three life sentences and, on the other hand, inmates serving very short sentences such as two to five years. Yet all of them are located in the same centre and mixed together in the same units. I can understand what the Minister is saying about the wrongful reclassification of maximum security inmates.
No one can tell you whether the centre is a medium-classified centre or a maximum centre. Some inmates who were hurriedly reclassified to medium- offender status have no clue as to what their security classification is. Most of the inmates reported that they are locked up for 23 hours a day. On certain days they are not afforded the right to one hour of exercise. The lack of rehabilitation and education programmes is compounded by the fact that very few inmates are involved in prison labour. This increases the space for them to get involved in gangsterism and illegal activities.
An effective complaints mechanism that records inmates' complaints and provide proper feedback to them will go a long way in lessening the frustration of inmates at this centre. The above also explains why, in the last six months, expensive and state-of-the-art kitchen and laundry equipment was deliberately damaged by inmates - obliterating the valid warranties relating to them. This gives you an indication of systemic problems at this prison.
Eighty percent of the officials appointed at the centre have less than two years' experience in offender management. Yet the centre houses seasoned inmates with very long sentences. This is worrying. This is a recipe for disaster, as most of these young men and women can so easily be manipulated by these experienced convicted criminals.
One can thus clearly see that bad planning plus poor management and inexperienced staff, as well as hardened and convicted criminals, are a recipe for disaster. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]