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Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says solving the delays in the implementation of new salary packages for correctional officials and medical doctors before the end of June is the priority of government.

Minister Mapisa-Nqakula was addressing over 100 Eastern Cape managers and officials of correctional services at the East London Correctional Centre on Saturday 13 June 2009. The meeting is the first leg of Minister Mapisa-Nqakula's regional listening and familiarising programme. Among key challenges raised by managers are high levels of overcrowding that averages 53%, some sub-optimally functioning Parole Boards, scarce skills and some dilapidated infrastructure.

She said diverse interpretations of the agreements reached in 2007 on the Occupation Specific Dispensation for various categories of public servants were a major cause of the delays. These matters were dealt with at a special workshop of Ministers and representatives of labour organisations held in Gauteng last week.

She said there were also several other issues that compounded efforts to find solutions in Correctional Services that must be dealt with separately. These include:

* Incorrectly placing Correctional Services in the General Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council instead of the Security Bargaining Council where matters of security could best be understood.
* Lumping of the introduction of seven-day working week that should have been implemented sometime ago.

"For sure some problems could have been solved long time ago if we were appropriately located at the Security Bargaining Council with the police. Salary scales of Correctional Services have not acknowledged the security element of our function. People need to appreciate dangers involved in managing daily anger of offenders.

It must be our starting point, the safety of men and women responsible for keeping dangerous offenders inside facilities who are exposed to dangers. With or without money in Correctional Services, a solution must be found," said Minister Mapisa-Nqakula. With a staff complement of over 40 000 most of whom are the coal face of service delivery, the implementation of the OSD for Correctional Officials is expected to cost about R1,4 billion.

She said her priority is also to move the Department back to the Security Bargaining Council. She said, Correctional Services' main responsibility as an essential service institution is to protect the public from dangerous offenders. She said the Department sought a court interdict against picketing and protests on the door steps of its facilities to ensure that its core business is not compromised. "Even if we have problems among ourselves we cannot allow the compromise of security," Minister Mapisa-Nqakula said.

The Minister was accompanied by Deputy Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize, National Commissioner Xoliswa Sibeko and Eastern Cape Regional Commissioner Nontsikelelo Jolingana. She was also briefed by some chairpersons of the Eastern Cape's parole boards. She is scheduled to visit all regions, following a series of introductory meetings with among others the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services and the Parole Review Board.