Date: 07/06/2004
Source: Ministry of Correctional Services
Title: N Balfour: Visit to Eastern Cape region
ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, MR BMN BALFOUR, MP, DURING A VISIT TO THE EASTERN CAPE REGION, 7 June 2004
Programme Director
Commissioner Linda Mti
Acting Regional Commissioner Gxilishe
Area Commissioners and Regional Heads
Heads of Centres and Heads of Community Corrections
Management and Members of Management Areas
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
Today is my 41st day since being appointed as Minister of Correctional Services by President Thabo Mbeki. Of that time, I divided my attention for 18 days between Correctional Services and assisting in securing the 2010 World Cup Bid for our country. That was on the instruction of the President.
My mandate was very specific - concentrate on the bid and thereafter shift your entire focus to Correctional Services. It was difficult, as my sense of responsibility was already with Correctional Services. Meanwhile, I could focus on key issues of Correctional Services such as our Vision, our Mission and challenges presented by the White Paper.
Commissioner Mti and his senior staff had meetings with me and Deputy Minister, Cheryl Gillwald, briefing us on most aspects of the functioning and operations of Correctional Services. Through these discussions, both general and specific challenges facing Correctional Services were identified. Of course, these challenges relate to the Eastern Cape in much the same way as they do to other regions in the country. My visit to the Eastern Cape is to acquaint myself with the challenges that you face in the region and also in management areas. I have no clear-cut answers for you today to those challenges but I expect you to articulate them during the course of my visit and to jointly seek solutions.
I want to put my cards upfront on the table. I do not intend hiding my hand from you, leaving you to ponder on my next move. That would not assist you nor would it allow me the space to facilitate in the resolution of the challenges that you face.
We need to address the issue of leadership in the Eastern Cape. I am not suggesting that better, or weaker leadership, for that matter, is the panacea for all the challenges facing us. What I am suggesting is that with focused leadership and urgent sense of mission, we could deal ourselves a better hand of cards with which to play the proverbial game. Except in our case, it is not about a game, but rather about our core business in Correctional Services.
As the Regional Management and Heads of Correctional Centres, you are wholly responsible for providing leadership in the Eastern Cape. You cannot look to the national office for salvation. You cannot say that there are problems within your family because your parents or your spouse's parents, who are hundreds of miles away, are stirring your siblings to rebel against your parenthood. That would be escaping your responsibilities as the joint heads of your household. I could not tell President Mbeki that I could not manage Correctional Services because I had to concentrate on the bid. That would have been abandoning my responsibilities entrusted to me. I could not have afforded to loose sight of the bigger picture - that of providing political and executive leadership to Correctional Services. As important as the bid was for our country, in the matter of the bigger picture, it was trivial in comparison to the mandate given to me in Correctional Services. Others could pay greater attention to the bid. In the same way, others must provide leadership in the national office of Correctional Services while you concentrate all your efforts on the Eastern Cape region.
In this regard, I want to address a few matters that I believe are pertinent to the Eastern Cape and to you as leaders, in particular. Allow me to start with our Vision and Mission within Correctional Services.
We boldly claim to serve with pride. Add to that humility. In our Vision, we state that we aim "to be one of the best in the world in delivering correctional services with integrity and commitment to excellence."
Noble words. Some might sarcastically say, empty rhetoric. But our Vision is clear. Of course, the question that I put to you as leaders is, do you believe in it? Do you want the Eastern Cape region to be the best in the world? Are you striving towards delivering correctional services with integrity and commitment? Now before you shout, give us the resources and we will do so, I want you to ponder on the Peoples' Contract that our government has entered into with the people of South Africa. We all recognise and accept that we have limited resources but are we utilising those resources that we do have control over to the best of our abilities? Are we focused on our Vision or are we being sidetracked by trivialities?
As leaders, you are expected to lead. The Vision for Correctional Services must not remain with you. It is your dream but if it remains with you, it will stay that - a dream. It can and will only come true if you share your dream with people around you who believe in your dream. Your staff, those under your supervision, must understand and buy into your Vision. They must know where you are going. They must feel challenged - not controlled. I want to repeat that - your staff must feel challenged and not controlled.
Praise good performance and chastise weaknesses. Make those under your supervision feel good about themselves but that can only be done if you feel good about yourself.
In our Mission Statement we state that we want to place "rehabilitation at the centre of all Departmental activities in partnerships with external stakeholders..."
Obviously, there are no quick-fix solutions to this. But we are seeking sustainable successes - not a quick deal of the hand with a joker in the pack. That would bring the cards tumbling down. Everyone being dealt a hand in the achievement of our Mission must be convinced of it. As the leadership, the responsibility to convince them rests with you. There must be an awareness of our Mission; there must be the acceptance of co-responsibility. Our staff must be reminded at every opportunity of our Mission. This will contribute towards us addressing pressing matters such as maladministration, corruptive influences and even the interests and concerns of our own members such as service conditions, employment benefits and remuneration.
I am mindful of the levels of frustration that exist amongst you. I am aware of the low morale in your ranks. The great uShaka also faced similar challenges while building his regiments of warriors. In his book on the amaZulu King, Phinda Mzwakhe Madi writes, and I quote, "Of course, Shaka was always thinking about his mission. And because he was there in every battle, and saw every twist and every turn, he knew what he was talking about."
We need to know what the frustrations and concerns of our members are in order for us to be certain that they would not loose track of our Mission. You need to be part of every battle of those under your care. I want to be familiar with every concern of you and all our members. The Deputy Minister and the Commissioner want to share in every concern but also in every achievement. We expect no more from you as the leadership of the Eastern Cape than that expected of us as the national executive and administrative leadership.
Our doors are open to you as the leadership of the Eastern Cape in the same way that your doors should be open to all members of Correctional Services in the region. But we need to do this with dignity and respect. We need to be disciplined in our approaches. This is no banana republic where we need to resort to loutish behaviour in order to gain attention. This is an established democracy with a decade of democratic practices where every citizen has his or her rights enshrined in our Constitution. There is no place for ill discipline in the ranks of Correctional Services. There is no excuse for ignoring agreed-upon procedures and practices and resorting to the type of unwarranted and unjustifiable behaviour experienced at a Management Area in the Western Cape last week.
Those responsible for such behaviour must bear the consequences of their actions. That is not the quality of leadership that we seek in Correctional Services. Whilst we should never be afraid to take up challenges, when we do so in a confrontational way, expect a confrontational response. I am prepared to sit down and listen to people but I will also face confrontation head-on. The challenge is not to confront as an act of bravado but to take bold steps that will lead to solutions acceptable to everyone.
Members must never lose sight of the fact that we are all in the employ of the people of South Africa. We have chosen to serve. We were not coerced into it. We have accepted positions of leadership. We were not obliged to take it.
Our employers, the people of South Africa, expect us to carry out our mandate; our core business of correcting behaviour of offenders in a secure, safe and humane environment; of pursuing rehabilitation and minimizing repeat offences.
Our members expect us not to compromise their safety, that of their families and our communities. They expect of us to provide a working environment that is conducive to building a better life for all, including themselves. They deserve and demand fair remuneration for fair work. They seek a leadership that is sympathetic to their needs and aware of the concomitant shortcomings. The greater majority of our members are hard working, trustworthy and good men and women who come from all communities. They are nothing but ordinary South Africans seeking the best possible life for themselves and their families. And then, of course, there is the small group amongst our membership who taint the rest with their waywardness. It is them that we need to target. It is them who must change their ways and it is them who we need to win back into the mainstream of honesty, integrity, hard work and sacrifice. If they show no signs and willingness of wanting to change, they must be removed from Correctional Services.
And then there are the offenders placed in our care. We accept that they have a debt to pay to society but the avenue to succeeding in reintegrating them into society as law-abiding citizens remains rehabilitation in line with our identified key services delivery areas of corrections, development, security, care, facilities and after-care.
These are the challenges facing you as leadership. It deals with your employers, the people of South Africa; it deals with those you are expected to lead and it deals with those put in your care. Are you up to the task? If you are not up to it, admit it to yourself. Concede that you have not succeeded as leadership and be bold enough then to make way for others.
There is no shame in admitting to shortcomings. But there is tremendous shame in attempting to cover up shortcomings through coercion, duplicity, avoidance, neglect, authoritarianism and succumbing to negative criticism, intimidation and even blackmail.
I welcome you to join me in walking on the Correctional Services route during my term of office but I also need to warn you that the path could become treacherous if we do not remain faithful to our mandate and our core business. It is likely to be a bumpy ride for some but we must collectively negotiate the potholes, the sharp curves and the winding hills.
I am committed to walking that path. I am committed to the leadership and members who want to walk along with me. The Commissioner is likewise committed and I will support him in his endeavours to give effect to our Vision and our Mission. We are single-minded in our focus to ensure that Correctional Services works towards being one of the best in the world.
You have an open invitation to join us and the Deputy Minister, the only condition being that you be as committed.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Correctional Services
7 June 2004
Source: Department of Correctional Services
(http://www.dcs.gov.za)
Source: Ministry of Correctional Services
Title: N Balfour: Visit to Eastern Cape region
ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, MR BMN BALFOUR, MP, DURING A VISIT TO THE EASTERN CAPE REGION, 7 June 2004
Programme Director
Commissioner Linda Mti
Acting Regional Commissioner Gxilishe
Area Commissioners and Regional Heads
Heads of Centres and Heads of Community Corrections
Management and Members of Management Areas
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
Today is my 41st day since being appointed as Minister of Correctional Services by President Thabo Mbeki. Of that time, I divided my attention for 18 days between Correctional Services and assisting in securing the 2010 World Cup Bid for our country. That was on the instruction of the President.
My mandate was very specific - concentrate on the bid and thereafter shift your entire focus to Correctional Services. It was difficult, as my sense of responsibility was already with Correctional Services. Meanwhile, I could focus on key issues of Correctional Services such as our Vision, our Mission and challenges presented by the White Paper.
Commissioner Mti and his senior staff had meetings with me and Deputy Minister, Cheryl Gillwald, briefing us on most aspects of the functioning and operations of Correctional Services. Through these discussions, both general and specific challenges facing Correctional Services were identified. Of course, these challenges relate to the Eastern Cape in much the same way as they do to other regions in the country. My visit to the Eastern Cape is to acquaint myself with the challenges that you face in the region and also in management areas. I have no clear-cut answers for you today to those challenges but I expect you to articulate them during the course of my visit and to jointly seek solutions.
I want to put my cards upfront on the table. I do not intend hiding my hand from you, leaving you to ponder on my next move. That would not assist you nor would it allow me the space to facilitate in the resolution of the challenges that you face.
We need to address the issue of leadership in the Eastern Cape. I am not suggesting that better, or weaker leadership, for that matter, is the panacea for all the challenges facing us. What I am suggesting is that with focused leadership and urgent sense of mission, we could deal ourselves a better hand of cards with which to play the proverbial game. Except in our case, it is not about a game, but rather about our core business in Correctional Services.
As the Regional Management and Heads of Correctional Centres, you are wholly responsible for providing leadership in the Eastern Cape. You cannot look to the national office for salvation. You cannot say that there are problems within your family because your parents or your spouse's parents, who are hundreds of miles away, are stirring your siblings to rebel against your parenthood. That would be escaping your responsibilities as the joint heads of your household. I could not tell President Mbeki that I could not manage Correctional Services because I had to concentrate on the bid. That would have been abandoning my responsibilities entrusted to me. I could not have afforded to loose sight of the bigger picture - that of providing political and executive leadership to Correctional Services. As important as the bid was for our country, in the matter of the bigger picture, it was trivial in comparison to the mandate given to me in Correctional Services. Others could pay greater attention to the bid. In the same way, others must provide leadership in the national office of Correctional Services while you concentrate all your efforts on the Eastern Cape region.
In this regard, I want to address a few matters that I believe are pertinent to the Eastern Cape and to you as leaders, in particular. Allow me to start with our Vision and Mission within Correctional Services.
We boldly claim to serve with pride. Add to that humility. In our Vision, we state that we aim "to be one of the best in the world in delivering correctional services with integrity and commitment to excellence."
Noble words. Some might sarcastically say, empty rhetoric. But our Vision is clear. Of course, the question that I put to you as leaders is, do you believe in it? Do you want the Eastern Cape region to be the best in the world? Are you striving towards delivering correctional services with integrity and commitment? Now before you shout, give us the resources and we will do so, I want you to ponder on the Peoples' Contract that our government has entered into with the people of South Africa. We all recognise and accept that we have limited resources but are we utilising those resources that we do have control over to the best of our abilities? Are we focused on our Vision or are we being sidetracked by trivialities?
As leaders, you are expected to lead. The Vision for Correctional Services must not remain with you. It is your dream but if it remains with you, it will stay that - a dream. It can and will only come true if you share your dream with people around you who believe in your dream. Your staff, those under your supervision, must understand and buy into your Vision. They must know where you are going. They must feel challenged - not controlled. I want to repeat that - your staff must feel challenged and not controlled.
Praise good performance and chastise weaknesses. Make those under your supervision feel good about themselves but that can only be done if you feel good about yourself.
In our Mission Statement we state that we want to place "rehabilitation at the centre of all Departmental activities in partnerships with external stakeholders..."
Obviously, there are no quick-fix solutions to this. But we are seeking sustainable successes - not a quick deal of the hand with a joker in the pack. That would bring the cards tumbling down. Everyone being dealt a hand in the achievement of our Mission must be convinced of it. As the leadership, the responsibility to convince them rests with you. There must be an awareness of our Mission; there must be the acceptance of co-responsibility. Our staff must be reminded at every opportunity of our Mission. This will contribute towards us addressing pressing matters such as maladministration, corruptive influences and even the interests and concerns of our own members such as service conditions, employment benefits and remuneration.
I am mindful of the levels of frustration that exist amongst you. I am aware of the low morale in your ranks. The great uShaka also faced similar challenges while building his regiments of warriors. In his book on the amaZulu King, Phinda Mzwakhe Madi writes, and I quote, "Of course, Shaka was always thinking about his mission. And because he was there in every battle, and saw every twist and every turn, he knew what he was talking about."
We need to know what the frustrations and concerns of our members are in order for us to be certain that they would not loose track of our Mission. You need to be part of every battle of those under your care. I want to be familiar with every concern of you and all our members. The Deputy Minister and the Commissioner want to share in every concern but also in every achievement. We expect no more from you as the leadership of the Eastern Cape than that expected of us as the national executive and administrative leadership.
Our doors are open to you as the leadership of the Eastern Cape in the same way that your doors should be open to all members of Correctional Services in the region. But we need to do this with dignity and respect. We need to be disciplined in our approaches. This is no banana republic where we need to resort to loutish behaviour in order to gain attention. This is an established democracy with a decade of democratic practices where every citizen has his or her rights enshrined in our Constitution. There is no place for ill discipline in the ranks of Correctional Services. There is no excuse for ignoring agreed-upon procedures and practices and resorting to the type of unwarranted and unjustifiable behaviour experienced at a Management Area in the Western Cape last week.
Those responsible for such behaviour must bear the consequences of their actions. That is not the quality of leadership that we seek in Correctional Services. Whilst we should never be afraid to take up challenges, when we do so in a confrontational way, expect a confrontational response. I am prepared to sit down and listen to people but I will also face confrontation head-on. The challenge is not to confront as an act of bravado but to take bold steps that will lead to solutions acceptable to everyone.
Members must never lose sight of the fact that we are all in the employ of the people of South Africa. We have chosen to serve. We were not coerced into it. We have accepted positions of leadership. We were not obliged to take it.
Our employers, the people of South Africa, expect us to carry out our mandate; our core business of correcting behaviour of offenders in a secure, safe and humane environment; of pursuing rehabilitation and minimizing repeat offences.
Our members expect us not to compromise their safety, that of their families and our communities. They expect of us to provide a working environment that is conducive to building a better life for all, including themselves. They deserve and demand fair remuneration for fair work. They seek a leadership that is sympathetic to their needs and aware of the concomitant shortcomings. The greater majority of our members are hard working, trustworthy and good men and women who come from all communities. They are nothing but ordinary South Africans seeking the best possible life for themselves and their families. And then, of course, there is the small group amongst our membership who taint the rest with their waywardness. It is them that we need to target. It is them who must change their ways and it is them who we need to win back into the mainstream of honesty, integrity, hard work and sacrifice. If they show no signs and willingness of wanting to change, they must be removed from Correctional Services.
And then there are the offenders placed in our care. We accept that they have a debt to pay to society but the avenue to succeeding in reintegrating them into society as law-abiding citizens remains rehabilitation in line with our identified key services delivery areas of corrections, development, security, care, facilities and after-care.
These are the challenges facing you as leadership. It deals with your employers, the people of South Africa; it deals with those you are expected to lead and it deals with those put in your care. Are you up to the task? If you are not up to it, admit it to yourself. Concede that you have not succeeded as leadership and be bold enough then to make way for others.
There is no shame in admitting to shortcomings. But there is tremendous shame in attempting to cover up shortcomings through coercion, duplicity, avoidance, neglect, authoritarianism and succumbing to negative criticism, intimidation and even blackmail.
I welcome you to join me in walking on the Correctional Services route during my term of office but I also need to warn you that the path could become treacherous if we do not remain faithful to our mandate and our core business. It is likely to be a bumpy ride for some but we must collectively negotiate the potholes, the sharp curves and the winding hills.
I am committed to walking that path. I am committed to the leadership and members who want to walk along with me. The Commissioner is likewise committed and I will support him in his endeavours to give effect to our Vision and our Mission. We are single-minded in our focus to ensure that Correctional Services works towards being one of the best in the world.
You have an open invitation to join us and the Deputy Minister, the only condition being that you be as committed.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Correctional Services
7 June 2004
Source: Department of Correctional Services
(http://www.dcs.gov.za)
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