Date: 13/08/2004
Source: Ministry of Correctional Services
Title: N Balfour: Visit to Kroonstad Management Area


ADDRESS BY THE MINISTER OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, MR BMN BALFOUR, MP, DURING A VISIT TO THE KROONSTAD MANAGEMENT AREA, 13 August 2004

Pastor Willem Van Staden
Commissioner Linda Mti
Regional Commissioner Zacharia Modise
Deputy Regional Commissioner Kenny Bouwer
Area Commissioners and Heads of Prisons
Management and Staff

Let me first state that this meeting with you this morning was not originally planned as part of my visits to all our regions. Initially, I was only going to be attending the handing over of computers to the Kroonstad Women's Correctional Centre by the Minister of Communications, Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri.

However, it presented the opportunity to meet you but I want to assure you that I will be returning to the region in due course for an extended visit that will include speaking to members and inmates.

I am pleased that we have Area Commissioners from Kroonstad, Groenpunt, Kimberley, Goedemoed, Upington, Grootvlei and Colesburg here with us this morning. Some of you travelled quite a distance to be here and I am most grateful for that. During the month of September, we will be embarking on our outreach programme combined with government's National Imbizo Focus Week. That will present the opportunity for me to come back to your region and I believe that dates for such visits have already been pencilled in.

During my visits to other regions, I listened attentively to presentations made by Area Commissioners. Your presentations today, likewise, give me a fair insight into the activities of the region and some understanding of the challenges that you are confronted with.

I am very mindful of the challenges that you have to deal with on a daily basis. I am acutely aware of the stresses and strains that you have to endure in providing leadership and guidance to your staff members. I am also very conscious of the frustrations that you face in caring for those placed in your care.

But these are the challenges of leadership. If you are in a position of authority, you must be prepared and willing to accept the responsibilities that go with it.

I cannot say to the President that I am not able to carry out my mandate given to me as Minister and try to lay the blame for it before the door of the Commissioner. Nor can you as Regional Commissioner and Deputy Regional Commissioner say that you are failing in your responsibilities because the Area Commissioners are not cooperating. Nor can the Area Commissioners, for that matter, complain about their difficulty to deliver because the Prison Heads ignore instructions. That would be an admission of failing to lead. It would be an indictment of the quality of leadership that we provide.

Even our Prison Heads have a major responsibility to lead in their places of work. They are at the coalface of the operations of Correctional Services. They have to deal with daily operational matters that would contribute towards their respective correctional centres being identified as a well-managed establishment or not. Closely linked to leadership is pride in what we do and what we achieve.

Of course, you can be dismissive of what I am saying. You might even cling to the view that you know better by virtue of your years of service. That might very well be the case but inherent in such an attitude is an admission that you cannot manage change; that you are not willing to face new challenges and that you are not open to fresh ideas and initiatives.

My challenge to you is to do some introspection. Examine yourself and ask whether you are doing your best despite the circumstances that you face. Reflect on whether you are earning the respect of those placed under your authority and then determine for yourself whether you can be grouped with those in Correctional Services who display commitment to their profession or with those who regard Correctional Services as nothing else but a source of income.

During this time of reflection, it would be useful to determine for yourself whether you wholeheartedly embrace the contents of our White Paper on Corrections. Do you regard it as yet another time-wasting effort or do you believe in the principles that the White Paper attempts to promote and develop?

I am sorry to say that the White Paper will only be a living, dynamic document if those who must drive its implementation believe in its value. It is much like a child in school who tells himself that he hates maths. He would blame the teacher when he fails. He will claim that he does not understand the subject. He would even say that he does not have the ability to do maths. In truth, it has nothing to do with ability but everything to do with attitude. It has everything to do with perceptions and even a fear for the unknown.

The White Paper opens a whole new approach to dealing with those in our care. It blows aside old practices and prejudices and it challenges you to cast your horizons beyond those that you are familiar and comfortable with.

In this regard, I want to deal especially with communication or the lack thereof in many of our management areas and regions. I get the impression that the less that is publicly known about our management areas and correctional centres, the better. It is the old adage of no news is good news. There appears to be an approach of covers-up, sweeping under the carpet, not wanting to submit reports and denials. Let me cite two simple examples. Last week there was an escape by inmates from one of our correctional centres. It took six days before a report landed on my desk. By that time the media had the story but the Minister was still awaiting an official report from the Head of Prison, the Area Commissioner and the region. When an arrest took place related to the escape, it was the media who broke the story to the Minister's office first.

Surely, ladies and gentlemen, that is an example of communication gone wrong. Surely, that creates en environment for rumour and disinformation to flourish.

Another worrying aspect is calls made to Prison Heads and even Area Commissioners that are never responded to. If the office of the Minister cannot illicit a response from Prison Heads and Area Commissioners, what chance does an ordinary member of the public have to make contact with us in our places of work?

These might seem trivial matters but it reflects negatively on the department and on those in the employ of DCS. It conveys a message that we do not care. It conveys a message of contempt for the public.

In listening to your reports, you identify many areas that cause frustration, disillusionment and even resentment in our ranks. I am extremely aware of the trying and difficult conditions under which you work. I have tremendous empathy for those who have to on a daily basis cope with conditions of overcrowding, lack of resources and even abuse and threats by inmates.

Wherever I go, I listen attentively to complaints of unfilled posts, lack of professional services, inadequate rehabilitation programmes, poor conditions of service, low salaries, poor medical-aid and the like. These are realities that you face. It impacts on your lives and those of your families. It probably de-motivates you and might even tempt you into acts of corruption.

I receive so many letters from members and even their children, urging me not to cut overtime. They beg me to continue the practice of overtime payments used to supplement incomes. They point out to me that overtime payments put food on the table.

As a father, I reach out to each of you. As the Minister, I will not neglect my responsibility of working relentlessly to improve your conditions of service. I will continue striving for salary parity. I will continue working with my colleagues to reduce workloads caused by overcrowding and I will continue regarding your safety and security in the workplace as a priority.

But I cannot do this alone or only with the Deputy Minister and the Commissioner. Each one of you must contribute towards us achieving our goals. You must be part of the team working for change. You must assist us in order to assist you.

I have on many occasions said that there is a place in Correctional Services for each on of us. We might hold different positions but each one of us has a special and important role to play in the Correctional Services family.

If one of us falls, it reflects on all of us. If one of us commits acts of corruption, we are all tainted by it. If one of us assists inmates to escape, we are all tarred with the same brush. If one of us remains silent about corruption by others, we are all classed as corrupt.

People see the wrong in us very easily and all the good that we do, are taken for granted and even ignored. There is so much good happening in many of our centres that we can be proud of. There are many good news stories that are only known to us. Yet, it is the negative by which we are characterised.

I want to repeat it again - there is a place for all of us except those who damage our good name, except for those who make themselves guilty of malpractices, except for those who deliberately and flagrantly neglect their duties and responsibilities. To those misfits, I say - Correctional Services can do without you and will do without you.

I will take your reports with me and spend time reading and studying each one of it. I will take your complaints and dissatisfactions to heart and consider how it could be addressed. But there is no magic wand to addressing all your concerns.

Regard this as a journey that we are embarking on together. Along the way, we will come across obstacles. We will go through potholes and along diversions. But our end destination is the same. A better Correctional Services for members and those in our care. A better life for ourselves, our families and ultimately our communities. Together, we can do so much more.

I thank you all.

Issued by: Ministry of Correctional Services
13 August 2004
Source: Department of Correctional Services (http://www.dcs.gov.za)