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Date: 15/06/2004
Source: Ministry of Correctional Services
Title: N Balfour: Correctional Services Dept Budget Vote 2004/2005


BUDGET VOTE ADDRESS IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BY MR BMN (NGCONDE) BALFOUR, MP, MINISTER OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, 15 June 2004

Madam Speaker, Cabinet Colleagues
Honourable Members

In addressing this august House this morning, I have a confession to make. I am a convert of corrections.

Like so many of our people who have experienced the devastating impact of crime and violence in their daily lives, I was not averse to the view that incarceration and imprisonment is the only way to rid society of such scourges. I was sympathetic to the argument that if you do crime, you do time behind high walls, insulating society against everything that prisons represent. Lock them away and do not open the cell doors until they have repaid their debt to society, or even throw the key away, is a common response.

Perhaps through this approach, we have some sense of security, albeit false. Perhaps our desire for retribution is satisfied. Perhaps if we place them behind high walls, we can wipe them out of our memories. As I have indicated, I had sympathy for those who reasoned like this. That is, until I entered the East London Correctional Centre last week.

What awaited me behind those high walls was something that I cannot and will not cast from memory. It reaffirmed the commitment that I made when I was appointed to this position by President Thabo Mbeki to make a difference in the lives of both perpetrators and victims of crime and violence. I am convinced that correction and rehabilitation is the only way in which we are going to insulate society against the cycle of crime. No high walls will do this. It is only a conversion on the part of all of us to embracing and promoting the correcting of offending behaviour that will bring about a positive change in the cycle of crime that we have to endure.

I entered what could have been a nursery, except it was a prison cell. I addressed a group of about 150 boys neatly clad in red tracksuits at what could have been the opening ceremony of a school sports tournament, except it was the courtyard of a prison. I held in my arms a set of twins born in prison in August last year. They have never had the right of being free or the right of interacting with their families except with their mother who is an offender. Those ten-month old babies appear to have no chance in life. They already start their lives with a disadvantage. They are behind high walls, away from being able to prick our consciences as human beings. With them are 12 other babies, most of who have never had any contact with a male person before, including their fathers?

Those boys in their tracksuits could potentially represent South Africa at the 2010 Soccer World Cup. It is from their ranks that our future leaders, businesspeople and sports stars should come. Instead, they are imprisoned for crimes committed.

I accept that we cannot simply open the doors to them. The mothers of those babies and those young boys must pay their debt to society.

But surely, Honourable Members, we can open our minds. With Youth Day being celebrated tomorrow in the 10th year of democracy and freedom, let us open our minds to avenues that we can pursue to ensure that no young person is excluded from the opportunity to serve society in a socially responsible manner. I am not asking Honourable Members and law-abiding South Africans to compromise on crime. Instead, I am pleading for a mind-shift in our approach to dealing with offenders. At Correctional Services, we are committed to playing our part in the transformation of the broad criminal justice system that includes the correction and development of especially our youth.

As Government, we have made major strides in the past 10 years in the transformation of policing and the prosecutorial and judicial system. In his State of the Nation Address, President Mbeki committed government to intensifying this transformation. The objective of taking into custody the top 200 criminals is part of this process. At Correctional Services, we will ensure that we play our part in this regard. Those criminals must know that we are ready to accommodate them not only in our facilities when apprehended but also in our programmes aimed at assisting them in changing their offending behaviour and ultimately reintegrating them into society. But they must also be warned - if they refuse to change their lives, we will keep them removed from society, even permanently, if necessary.

At the same time, we must acknowledge that the transformation of the correctional system in this country did not initially receive the attention that it warranted. There are numerous reasons for this, amongst them being that we focused on safe custody to the exclusion of almost everything else.

However, Government has put in place through the approval in October last year of a Draft White Paper on Corrections, a framework that will steer transformation of the correctional system and delivery on rehabilitation in the coming decade of democracy. The basis laid in the Draft White Paper takes us in a new direction in relation to correctional management, and will enable the Department to contribute fully to the achievement of social crime prevention and effective integrated criminal justice in our democracy.

To my predecessor, Honourable Ben Skosana, and Correctional Officials under the guidance of Commissioner Mti, I want to acknowledge that you have provided a firm foundation on which to push ahead with the transformation of the Department and the correctional system. It is now imperative that we advance this process in line with our strategic plans for the years 2004/2005 to 2006/2007. As part of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster, we are committed to the successful implementation of an integrated and coordinated programme of action that will deliver on the security priorities as outlined in the State of the Nation Address.

The seriousness of the challenges of restructuring the penal system that are outlined in the Draft White Paper requires a firm commitment to ongoing transformation of the correctional service over a 15-20 year period. As the ANC, we are steadfast in that commitment that includes a criminal justice system based on a common understanding of crime combating, crime prevention and rehabilitation. It is in this context that the Department will operate and as the responsible Minister who derives my mandate from the Election Manifesto of the ANC endorsed by more than 70 percent of our people, I make this commitment to a radical transformation of the correctional system. I invite you, Honourable Members, to join me in this commitment to the people of South Africa.

The imperatives from which we derive our mandate at Correctional Services - being the Constitution, the White Paper, the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998, its Regulations, Policies and Procedures - create the space for concentrated delivery. We have opted to develop best practice in the implementation of the White Paper through establishing Centres of Excellence in each region. In these Centres (initially, we envisage 24 selected institutions as Centres of Excellence) we will be able to put into practice the needs-based corrections, development and care programmes that are implicit in the White Paper. We are currently processing a costing of the White Paper Implementation Plan, which I will be taking to Cabinet during the next quarter and this will be followed with a Policy Conference to align existing policies with it.

The White Paper calls for a profound commitment by South Africans to create the conditions in which the correctional system is solely challenged with the care and correction of those who require focused attention of professional correctional officials and those who require to be corrected outside of the mainstream of society. Crime prevention and rehabilitation require a social compact between government and civil society, and as such, I believe that we need to mobilise our communities around issues of social cohesion, social justice, moral and ethical values, and socio-economic development.

Correction is indeed not merely a mandate of the Department responsible for running the correctional centres and community corrections offices. Correction is a societal responsibility of all institutions and individuals, starting with the family, schools, community organisations, and sports bodies as well as religious and cultural institutions. As Government, we believe that correction, both as self-correction and correction of others, is inherent in good citizenship.

Correctional Services is tasked to place rehabilitation at the centre of all of its activities, but the challenge of social reintegration of offenders into their families and communities, is not achievable without such partnerships. Of course, the burning question is who forges these partnerships? Do we leave it up to individuals or NGOs? Or do we leave it up to structures created by the State or Parliament?

It is a shared responsibility, with community outreach programmes driven by Correctional Services within the JCPS Cluster being one avenue that must be explored in the implementation phase of the Centres of Excellence. There is a tremendous amount of anger within our communities directed at inmates. At various times, this anger is also directed at Government with accusations that offenders have more rights than victims of crime; that offenders are provided with free board and lodging including three meals a day that millions of other law-abiding South Africans do not have access to. There is the argument that offenders forfeit their human rights and protection under the Constitution once they have been found guilty of crimes and there is often also the perception that offenders remain contemptuous of the rule of law.

It remains the responsibility of Correctional Services to convince the public through our actions that offenders sentenced by the courts, come to prison as punishment, not FOR punishment and further, that correction and rehabilitation do not translate into treating offenders with kid gloves. On the contrary, correction and rehabilitation are aimed at protecting the safety and security of the public. It serves no purpose to release angry young people into society who have had no benefit of correction and rehabilitation. All we do is to provide them with an excuse to unleash even further hardships on our communities through repeat offending.

It is former President Nelson Mandela, in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, who describes Robben Island as 'the University'.

"Robben Island was known as 'the University' because of what we learned from each other," he writes. "We became our own faculty, with our own professors, our own curriculum, our own courses. Our university grew up partly out of necessity," Madiba adds.

This was a university of political struggle where our leaders prepared themselves to govern. Their jailers had no answer to dealing with people who were not prepared to remain idle during their incarceration.

If we, in 2004, prefer to take the same route as our leaders' jailers did under apartheid by allowing offenders to remain idle, we create an environment in which a University of another kind would flourish. Only this time it is Universities of Crime that are unleashed on our communities upon their release. Their faculty is the faculty of crime, their professors are the manipulative offenders who use coercion, corruption, abuse, intimidation and blackmail to recruit receptive students of crime, and their curriculum and courses are aimed at further corrupting young offenders. Surely, that is not what we seek. Surely, we can distinguish between those who can be described as incorrigible and those who are in need of correction and rehabilitation. While I will not use the iron fist in giving effect to the core business of Correctional Services, I will also not hesitate to protect society against those offenders who refuse to be rehabilitated.

In this regard, a review of our policy of intervention programmes is needed. I am not convinced that programmes of rehabilitation should be voluntary, especially for young offenders and juveniles. I am looking at this policy with the view of making such interventions compulsory. Of course, this would have to be subject to various considerations, including budgetary implications and I regard this as part of our overall transformation plan. In the short to medium term, it could become part of the implementation framework in the Centres of Excellence that we have identified.

Since 17 May, I have been to three of the six regions of Correctional Services, visiting a number of facilities. I addressed more than 1 250 members of Correctional Services and met the senior staff in all the Management Areas that I visited. I have also engaged a number of offenders from C Max in Pretoria to juvenile sections at St Albans. The Deputy Minister and I have also had extensive briefings with the Commissioner and his team. South Africans must know that there are too many young people - children under 18 years and young adults - in our prisons. There are 4 158 children under 18 years in detention, of whom 2 232 are un-sentenced, six of whom are under 14; and 1 926 of whom are sentenced with nine of them being under 14.

We have 26 781 un-sentenced 18-25-year-old youths in our facilities as of 30 April 2004, only 475 of whom are women. We have a further 46 291 sentenced youths of whom only 764 are women. That means 73 072 men and women in the prime of their youth are in our facilities.

Some may indeed be there due to the lack of alternative facilities for children awaiting trial, a process that the JCPS Cluster is addressing with the Department of Social Development. Some may be there because of the still inadequately streamlined criminal justice system and lack of legal representation. Others are there because they have been charged with and sentenced for heinous crimes, made more appalling by the fact that such violent crimes are committed by young people. In many cases, they have been failed by their families and society in general.

Madam Speaker,

As I have stated earlier, tomorrow is our 10th Youth Day. It is an important day for the nation, not just for the Department, to make the commitment to ensure that in ten years time, we do not have such a preponderance of young people in our prisons. These people should be at the stage of their lives where they are spreading their wings and learning to fly, testing their abilities on the sports fields, on the stages of our country, in our work places. Instead, their circumstances, their family situations and the socio-economic situation have combined to make them test their wings in crime.

It is our challenge as Government, in giving effect to a People's Contract with the nation, to focus our attention on job creation, on arts, culture, sport and recreation development, on literacy and education, on instilling in our youth a love of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Within the Department, I commit myself, the Deputy Minister, Commissioner Mti and the staff to ensure that our resources are prioritised towards correction and development of the youth, and in particular first offence youth. It is the youth to whom we have the highest moral obligation to correct their offending behaviour, but it is also the youth who with the provision of appropriate correction and development programmes and the appropriate social and economic circumstances, have the best chance of full rehabilitation and social reintegration. As the African idiom says, Bagotywa bebatsha".

The impact of rehabilitation programmes is well-illustrated by the 42 young offenders from the Western Cape who were honoured at the Gold Award Ceremony of the President's Award for Youth Empowerment in Grahamstown last week.

It is also in the interests of our nation that we encourage the use of appropriate alternative sentencing options within the criminal justice system. Moreover, the Department must enhance service delivery to parolees and probationers in order to prevent recidivism, which has an impact on expenditure. The challenge that faces the Department in relation to community corrections is to enhance the rehabilitation, correction and development aspects of correctional supervision in order for it to be seen as a viable alternative sentencing option.

As we proceed with the transformation of the correctional system, we need the criminal justice system to be responsive to the greater capacity for rehabilitation and correction that will emerge in the Department. This must inform the approach that we develop to sentencing and to releasing offenders on parole, both of which must be focused on furthering the correction of the offending behaviour of the sentenced offender.

Only when we measure the readiness of offenders to retain or return to their place in the community on the basis of the work they have personally done to correct and change their behaviour and learn social responsibility, will we as a nation have adopted the appropriate approach to criminal justice. The dualistic paradigm of crime and punishment alone cannot achieve a nation free of crime and at peace with itself. The belief that human beings deserve opportunities to repay society for wrongs they have committed and a second chance to claim their place as good citizens must inform our approach to criminal justice. In this sense, the penal reform envisaged in the White Paper is an integral component of the criminal justice review that Cabinet initiated in 2003/2004, and must be premised on cooperation and coordination within the JCPS departments. There already exists a high degree of cooperation within the JCPS Cluster and it is my belief that the challenge of overcrowding in our facilities is best addressed with a multi-pronged strategy to be determined within this Cluster.

The budget allocation to our department for the 2004/2005 financial year amounts to R 8,407 billion and will provide for an overall establishment of 35 197 personnel and for supervision of an average prison population of 187 000 prisoners and 72 000 probationers and parolees. The growth in the Vote reflects the appointment of an additional 1 955 officials between April 2004 and March 2006, as well as the increased allocation to fund additional offender accommodation space and for a higher projected offender population.

Expenditure on compensation of employees is expected to consume an average of 63,9 per cent of the Vote over the medium term, while payment for capital assets, which includes building of new prisons by the department and all the payments to the private prison contractors, should consume an average of 14,7 per cent, mainly because of the increased allocation to payments for capitalization.

From 2000/2001 to 2006/2007 expenditure on supplies would have grown by an average of 10,6 per cent to accommodate the higher projected offender population compared to the annual average budget increase over the same period of 9,9 per cent. Other current expenditure reflecting an increase in operational costs associated with growing offender numbers amount to R1, 7 billion in 2004/2005, and are expected to rise by an annual average of 7,9 per cent to R1, 9 billion in 2006/2007.

Additional allocations, including inflation adjustment, amount to R102, 6 million in 2004/2005, R116, 2 million in 2005/2006 and R125, 5 million in 2006/2007 for constituting and implementing Remission and Parole Boards and financing the higher projected offender population. It is envisaged that recruitment of staff for Parole Boards will start in July while training will get underway in August.

Included in the budget allocation is compensation of employees expenditure which amounts to R 5,36 billion for personnel salaries, allowances and bonuses. Over the medium term this category of expenditure continues to dominate, due to the personnel-intensive nature of incarceration and rehabilitation as well as associated overtime expenditure for staffing correctional facilities. An additional allocation of R100 million in 2005/2006 will provide staff for new correctional centres and for the related day-to-day operating costs of their activities.

The budget also provides for an amount of R 111,589 million for the purchase of departmental equipment and R1, 143 billion for capital works projects of which R194, 731 million provides for the fixed portion of the Public Private Partnerships prisons. This allocation includes new capital projects, maintenance and professional fees.

The total MTEF allocation for capital works projects, with allocations of R914, 162 million, R982, 950 million, R1, 007 billion respectively for the 2004/2005 to 2006/2007 financial years, provides for the building of four new prisons and which will be commissioned in the 2005/2006 financial year.

Costing the implementation of the White Paper, in consultation with the Treasury, will enable us to submit for approval any budget estimate challenges and cost drivers that will result from its implementation.

In reviewing our budget allocation, we are faced with a number of challenges relating to remuneration and service conditions. I recognise and acknowledge that our members work under stressful conditions given the nature of their work. Those at the coalface of security, correction and care within our facilities are potentially exposed to risk not only with regard to the management of offenders but also related to possible corruptive influences. During the new quarter, I will be submitting a presentation to Cabinet dealing with remuneration and service conditions. Through this, we will address critical shortages of professional staff needed to give effect to correction and rehabilitation. We are failing to attract and retain much-needed professionals simply because we offer non-competitive and unattractive remuneration packages. I will also address overtime remuneration that has become unsustainable. If we claim that we are committed to building a People's Contract to create work and fight poverty, then Correctional Services will have to re-assess its overtime establishment and find a mechanism that will contribute to job creation within our current budget. I want to give notice here today that a Task Team involving DCS, DPSA and National Treasury has finalised its research and submitted recommendations on how the weekly establishment of the Department could be structured to ensure efficient delivery of services.

Obviously, this will be discussed with all stakeholders active within Correctional Services. I have given a public undertaking that I am open to all viewpoints but this will always be informed by my mandate to use limited resources in the most cost-effective manner without putting at stake the personal interests of our members. I fully appreciate the concerns of members relating to parity in salaries, medical-aid contributions and benefits and other issues such as career advancement. These are, after all, matters pertinent to contributing towards pride in the workplace and job satisfaction. But I will not be held to ransom by those taking an anarchist approach to dealing with these matters. Those making themselves guilty of indiscipline, illegal actions and the disruption of essential services, will have to bear the consequences of their actions. There is absolutely no valid reason why structures agreed upon to deal with communication and negotiations should be ignored in favour of confrontation. If there are those who believe that their interests are better served through confrontation, then Correctional Services is too small a place to accommodate those elements and myself as the responsible Minister. I have been given a five-year mandate by the President and the ANC to deliver on the needs of Correctional Services. I have no intention of volunteering an earlier departure. That leaves those seeking confrontation with no option but to seek alternatives where their obstructionist views will be tolerated.

Madam Speaker,

The slogan "Every Member is a Rehabilitator" requires the Department to have a corporate culture and identity, that lives up to our Vision. Our Mission also places rehabilitation at the centre of all our activities in partnership with external stakeholders. This will be central during my term of office and I extend an invitation to all South Africans to join hands with us as we strive to remain true to our Mission.

It is true that many who work in the Department do not see themselves as service providers. The transformation of the Department must entail addressing improved service delivery by our officials, who must fully understand that their function is to provide services to the offenders, their families and friends. They must understand that the Batho Pele principles are as applicable to them as to the rest of the public service. We need conscious front line workers in the Department who understand their function to provide information to the families, the community and to inmates. In this regard, we are considering the implementation of service delivery excellence awards nationally, through which members would be judged by their peers and honoured accordingly.

Cabinet has also endorsed the need for a specific Departmental corporate identity that enables all members to identify themselves with the collective that DSC is. It also provides members with a guide as to their respective positions within the collective. Uniform and insignia are a reflection of the mutual respect that is expected from our members and of the hierarchical nature of any correctional system. With that common identity, must be discipline and respect. Indiscipline by one member reflects on the entire organisation. I, supported by the Deputy Minister and the Commissioner, am committed to instilling in the DCS a strong sense of personal and organisational discipline. We need to be earning the respect of the communities that we serve and live in. We need to be turning around the public perception that we are an organisation fraught with indiscipline, corruption and lack of work ethic. I expect members to acknowledge that our own behaviour will dictate how the public perceives us as well as what we can expect from those offenders placed in our care. More importantly, DCS must have a performance-driven culture, in which service delivery by members are measured in critical areas such as a reduction in the levels of escapes; the improvement of literacy amongst offenders; the upgrading of the safety of offenders; better health and nutrition of inmates; and improved human rights practices.

I have already met with Judge Jali, the Inspecting Judge, POPCRU and SAPHOR. I want to publicly confirm my and the Department's commitment to continue supporting the work of the Jali Commission as they enter the final leg of their mammoth task. Let it be said that DCS has already benefited both from the Interim Reports of the Jali Commission and the investigations of the Special Investigative Unit (SIU). We will pursue all avenues in bringing identified culprits to book and those, who through their silence become fellow conspirators, must know that guilt resides as much with them as with the wrong-doers.

I am well aware of the limited timeframe that I have to ensure the cleansing of DCS of corruption and bad management. We are processing the 11 Interim Reports of the Jali Commission and the eight reports of the SIU. Over and above that, we are establishing an internal investigative and code enforcement capacity. Ongoing work on corruption prevention is required by management to undermine the inherent tendency towards corruption. As it currently stands, our Disciplinary Code and Procedure has not had the desired effect of curbing corruption. Loopholes are being exploited, resulting in long, drawn-out hearings and a rise in litigation. I will insist that criminal proceedings must be instituted where prima facie evidence of corruption exists. I am currently studying a proposed revised Disciplinary Code and Procedure that would hopefully contribute towards dealing with the menace of corruption.

Madam Speaker,

In concluding, I would like to acknowledge the Chairperson of the National Council on Correctional Services, Judge Desai; the Inspecting Judge, Judge Fagan; Mr Modisenyane, the Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee on Correctional Services; and Nkosi Mokuena, the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Constitutional and Security Affairs; and to invite them to join with me in ensuring that the Department lives up to its Vision and Mission.

The Department is committed to a cleansed, trained and dedicated management; the consolidation of relations between managers and their staff in order to form the team necessary to deliver on rehabilitation; an enhanced ability to immediately investigate, prosecute and deliver appropriate sanction to any allegation of corruption; and the delivery of our core services.

In relation to Offender Care, the planned HIV/AIDS Prevalence and Attitude Survey is a key priority for 2004/2005. Our Development Programme will concentrate resources on literacy, education; skills development and recreation and sport as part of rehabilitation. The priority areas in relation to security are to ensure that the escape trend moves downwards, and that the safety of offenders is improved, in particular through an anti-rape strategy within our facilities.

The challenge of transforming an institution as big and complex as Correctional Services, is immense but one that I relish. There will be no holy cows and untouchables. There will be no excusing ineptitude, failure to comply with policies and instructions, neglect of duties, corruptive practices and collusion with offenders. Correctional Services is in need of a major shake-up and it has begun. Every member is most welcome to join in our crusade for fresh impetus in our Correctional Services collective. There will be no easy victories, but every corrupt official exposed, every escape stymied, every offender rehabilitated and reintegrated into society and every member satisfied with his or her work conditions will be a step in the direction where we can with candour and humility state that we serve with pride.

I thank you.

Enquiries: Graham Abrahams
Tel: (021) 462 2314/5/6
Fax: 021 465 4375
Cell: 082 453 2244
Issued by: Ministry of Correctional Services
15 June 2004

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