Thank you very much.
The Judicial Inspecting Judge, in his interaction with me, has passionately raised the matter of overcrowding in the context of a criminal justice system under lots of strain and the impact this has had on the department. The department will soon be submitting a proposal on an Awaiting-Trial Detention Branch to the justice, crime prevention and security cluster.
I recently signed what is commonly referred to as the Bail Protocol, together with the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Minister of Police. The primary objective of this agreement - as partners in the criminal justice system - is to ensure that those inmates who are in our facilities for petty crimes and failure to afford bail are diverted through alternative programmes. This is a big step in ensuring that the justice system is not seen as mainly favouring the rich, while confining the poor to a life in our correctional facilities for the mere reason that they could not afford bail of less than R1 000. This question speaks directly to the challenges of the justice, crime prevention and security cluster.
We must not lose sight of basic service delivery principles as prescribed by the Batho Pele ethos of government. We cannot talk about Batho Pele without dealing with discipline, professionalism and countering corruption. I will be holding the department to account on the issue of discipline in the workplace. It is for this reason that we cannot compromise on the need for a professional cadre of the Department of Correctional Services that truly serves the people.
I am aware of the frustration many of our people are subjected to, in particular at Johannesburg Medium B, for example. But let me congratulate our Krugersdorp Centre, which has developed such a high sense of ubuntu in dealing with people. The centre has developed a system to manage visits. This is a fine art, and theirs is branded as the best practice model of the Department of Correctional Services. We will ensure that this best practice is rolled out to other centres across the country.
The department has committed to opening several new and renovated facilities in this financial year. In his speech to this House last year, my predecessor promised to deliver on the Kimberley Correctional Centre. Unfortunately, this delivery was hampered by certain hurdles. The department has assured me that the Kimberley Correctional Centre will be finalised and opened for utilisation before the end of this year - in fact, they said September. I have been interacting with my counterpart, the hon Minister of Public Works, Minister Doidge, to ensure that this indeed happens.
On this note, hon members, you will also recall that there is a process of building additional public-private partnership, or PPP, facilities, over and above the two existing ones in Mangaung and Makhado. The procurement processes for these facilities were initiated in 2008. I must state, however, that I will also be looking at the whole philosophy of PPPs for correctional facilities going into the future. There is a need to engage critically with the trade-offs that come with PPPs and the responsibility of the state in terms of the spirit of the White Paper.
The task of Correctional Services is by no means a simple one, nor a challenge for the fainthearted. This will be evident in how the Department of Correctional Services treats, not only those who are the most vulnerable, but also those who have wronged.
As we gather here on the 33rd anniversary of 16 June, we must, as the Department of Correctional Services, state that more needs to be done and can be done to address the high numbers of youth found at our facilities. Youth are indeed very vulnerable and many find themselves sucked into a life of crime easily as they contend with a range of issues and challenges facing them in our communities. These challenges range from substance abuse to serious crimes.
A matter of special concern for inmates, especially the youth, is the constant threat of being sucked into gang life, especially in the Western Cape - it deserves particular mention. In many respects gangs have become a parallel bureaucracy, fuelled by an insidious relationship between corrupt officials and offenders, with the lifeline provided by a willing community network in the process of smuggling contraband and creating its own forms of justice. The gangs in our facilities are a bureaucracy with its own monopoly of power, and they are an extension and reflection of the gangs in our communities. It is these gangs that often turn young offenders into hardened criminals by the time they leave our facilities.
As a department we are in a better position to understand the rallying call "Together we can do more". Indeed, we fully understand when the President says: "As part of building a responsive, interactive and effective government, we must strengthen our partnerships with society." Part of our interaction with society is to build those partnerships and have long-term relations with various civil society, community-based and faith-based organisations, as well as the business sector. Some of these have relations that span over years. Some of them have invested millions of rands in partnership programmes with the department. I must mention in this regard the Phaphama alternative to violence programme and the National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders, Nicro. There are many others worth mentioning, but the list would then be too long for our purpose today.
We also remain committed to regional partnerships on the continent of Africa and beyond, in keeping with the President's observation that working with Africa and the rest of the world, we would pursue African advancement and enhanced international co-operation.
I must mention, hon members, that it is my intention to initiate bilaterals with our members within the SADC region, so that we can see if the plus- minus 7 000 inmates who are foreigners in our country cannot go back and serve their sentences in their countries of origin. This is a matter that has been raised within SADC, that there should be a protocol that determines the way forward on the matter. But the protocol will take long to design. So our plan is to quickly initiate discussions, in particular with Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and get as many as possible of these people to go and serve their sentences. Of course, we must be assured that these people will remain in incarceration.
The budget that I am putting before this House for adoption is expected to grow at an average nominal rate of 13,6%, from R12,3 billion in 2008-09 to R18,1 billion in 2011-12. The implementation of the seven-day establishment allocation for the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework is R300 million in each year - inflation-related adjustments on compensation of R1,2 billion over the MTEF. The capital contribution to PPP correctional facilities of R2,9 billion in 2011-12 for the five new correctional facilities will provide 15 000 additional bed spaces by 2011.
Of course, the history of the department is unpleasant, as we all know. Rewriting that history will require input from all of us in this House and beyond Parliament's walls.