African leaders in various circles need to come together more than ever before to push back the evils that bedevil the continent, says Correctional Services Minister Ben Skosana.

He was speaking at the opening of a two-day meeting of ministers responsible for Correctional and Prison Services in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, which started in Johannesburg today. “Our attendance of this meeting is yet another indication of our commitment as Africans to find solutions to our problems,” he said.

He said the meeting would serve as a springboard for the creation of a forum that would deliberate on issues dealing directly with corrections and prisons management. He also said there was a need to create conducive conditions for those officials to cooperate and interact regularly for the continuous improvement of correctional and prison services.

The meeting follows a seminar SADC correctional services commissioners held yesterday, and it aims to deal with challenges of trans-national crimes, organised crime, cyber crime and drug trafficking across the continent.

It also aims to create a platform and structures for cooperation in supporting the initiatives that had been started to promote unity among African people. Minister Skosana said it would be appropriate for such structures to be recognised by the SADC and other continental structures.

“My view is that ‘Corrections’ and Prison Management is a profession in its own right and it rests upon all of us to recognise and promote this fact,” he said.

He said the meeting would also find possible ways of transferring offenders across the borders to facilitate rehabilitation and re-integration with their families in their country of origin.

He said the resolutions of this meeting, in addition to addressing the challenges faced by prisons, would give substance to the decisions of the African Union and SADC as well as give impetus to the implementation of Africa’s economic recovery plan, Nepad. – BuaNews.