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Date : 24/06/2003
Source: Department of Correctional Services
Title: Skosana: Correctional Services Dept Budget Vote 2003/2004, NCOP


SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, MR BEN M SKOSANA, MP, DURING THE POLICY DEBATE ON THE BUDGET OF THE DEPARTMENT IN THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES, Cape Town, 24 June 2003

Madame Chairperson
Honourable Members
Ladies and Gentlemen

Our transition to a constitutional democracy, which signalled the break with the arduous years of oppression, violation of basic rights of citizens, policies of racial discrimination and general misrule directed at black people, demanded that we engage in a radical reform of our prison system. This penal reform process saw the promulgation of the Correctional Services Act, Act 111 of 1998. Efforts were made to ensure that the correctional system operates in the spirit of our Constitution, as well as of international conventions and treaties.

South Africa's approach to prison management and community correctional supervision is based on the principles of restorative justice, unit management, direct supervision, secure, safe and humane custody of offenders, and is, as far as practicable, in line with international standards.

In consolidating our strategic direction, our vision remains to be among the best in the world in delivering correctional services with integrity, excellence and commitment. This vision will be attained through a new range of services, namely: corrections, development, care, security, facilities and after-care, to be provided to offenders in carrying out our mandate. These services will form the basis of our budget as soon as National Treasury approval has been obtained to recognise them as programmes.

However, the strategic plan tabled in Parliament already provides for these programmes. This we shall attain by placing rehabilitation at the centre of our activities in a safe and secure environment, and strengthening our partnerships with the people of South Africa and our global partners, particularly the people of our continent, Africa, in the true spirit of 'African Renaissance' under the programme of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

To this effect, Cabinet has approved the first meeting of Ministers responsible for prisons and corrections in the SADC region. The meeting will take place in Gauteng next week on the 2nd and 3rd of July 2003. This meeting will serve as a springboard for further talks that would involve the rest of the African continent.

Discussions in these meetings would set the agenda for the implementation of the African Union resolutions and address the peculiar circumstances of the African people in the implementation of international conventions and treaties.

As South Africans we believe that correction, both as self-correction and correction of others, is inherent in good citizenship. All citizens should contribute to maintaining and protecting a just, peaceful and safe society in our country by upholding the law and justice, and promoting the social responsibility and human development of all citizens.

Correction is therefore not the sole responsibility of the Department of Correctional Services but a shared responsibility of all individuals and social institutions such as the family, educational, religious, sporting and cultural institutions, as well as other governmental entities. Of particular importance here would be the role of provincial governments and administrations responsible for education and social welfare. I wish to express our appreciation for the support that the Department has received, from Members of the Executive Council (MECs) in the various provinces, in particular the MECs for Safety and Liaison.

We are appealing for more support and involvement from the Provincial Legislatures and Executive Councils.

The Department recently took the initiative to mobilise the social cluster to action the transfer children out of prisons, and I appeal to the MECs of Social Welfare to take this as a personal responsibility and to monitor the presence of children in prisons on an ongoing basis and to address the blockages that lead to this unacceptable situation. This is an issue that we must all ensure remains constantly on our priority list.

We welcome the partnership forged by the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature and Ukhozi FM in assisting us with projects in that province. The work of the social cluster of government in strengthening social cohesion and promoting social justice will make a major contribution to the Department's rehabilitation and correction efforts both through guiding ethical values to those already convicted, and ensuring the revival of the South African ethos and ethic of Ubuntu/Botho in our communities.

In cases where social institutions and society have failed, the criminal justice system and the Department of Correctional Services take up their responsibilities. At this level of correction, rehabilitation and the prevention of recidivism are best achieved through a person correcting their offending behaviour and developing themselves.

We are deeply disturbed by the high influx of young people into our correctional or prison system.

Statistics indicate that we have approximately 26 000 young people between the ages of 14 and 21 in our system, with about 49 000 between the ages of 21 and 25. The patterns in the nature of serious offences committed or allegedly committed by about 4 500 children under the age of 18 who are awaiting trial or sentenced are alarming. There are 2000 economic-related offenders under 18; 1800 aggressive crime offenders; 500 sexually related offenders under the age of 18, and 200 for drug-related and other types of offences.

In addition to the numbers that I have already mentioned, we have 208 innocent children under the age of 5 who live with their mothers in prison. Faced with these trends, and in the context of dysfunctional families, combined with the disjuncture between our constitutional values and the society that we have inherited, the community and social institutions must take on a more significant role in the development of a correcting and caring environment for children and youth. We need to pool our resources together to give particular and special attention to the youth of our country.

In a special Youth Day event for young offenders held in KwaZulu-Natal on 17 June 2003, His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu led the way in guiding the youth of today when he said:

"Criminal activities such as car hi-jacking, armed robberies, rape, housebreaking and laziness all underlie the extent to which this beautiful and powerful nation has lost its respected cultural and traditional values from which real socio-economic development should take place. A return to social and traditional values of mutual respect, respect for human rights and dignity, in my opinion, is quite possible. Young people in particular are the ones who should take a bold and courageous step, and say never in their lives will this day be commemorated without them defining and giving the direction with regard to how the nation should rid itself of the problems that hinder socio-economic development and threaten lives of citizens....As we commemorate this Youth Day, we should also appeal to each citizen of our province to remain an agent of peace, harmony and stability. We expect young people to be in the forefront in this crusade .... Whilst you apply for jobs, try to do something for a living. If you do not do this, the temptation would be great for you to turn to crime that currently remains one of the most worrying problems this country faces. The government is doing its best, but unless citizens also do something on their own, the government would certainly find it impossible to provide every citizen with a job."

And the King ended with this appeal: "Young people would need to declare an all out war on social evils, such as HIV/AIDS, crime, bribery, corruption and other forms of criminal activity." I have quoted this at length as an inspiration and appeal to other traditional leaders in our beloved country to join hands with Government in the campaign for social crime prevention, moral regeneration and rehabilitation.

On average, the budget for rehabilitation increases by 8,3 per cent per annum from R264,8 million in 1999/00 to R427,5 million in 2005/06. It must however be stated that with the focus and emphasis on rehabilitation this budget would not be adequate.

As part of our rehabilitation initiatives, in 2002 a total of 22 360 offenders were trained in a variety of skills. The further establishment of training centres in the various provinces is aimed at equipping offenders with basic technical skills in a variety of fields such as brick-making, brick-laying, woodwork, welding, garment making, etc. We also provide training in business skills in order to equip individuals to operate their own small businesses upon release. I would like to thank the Department of Labour for their assistance and financial support in this regard.

We also plan to enhance the utilisation of prisoner labour for self-sufficiency of the prison system, especially in food production, and to the generation of some income for the State.

The Department estimates that it will generate revenue of about R80,2 million during this financial year and that this revenue will grow at a rate of 4.5 per cent per annum. All income generated is deposited into the National Revenue Fund.

In pushing back the frontiers of poverty, Correctional Services engaged in a number of poverty alleviation projects to the value of approximately R496 000 in the past financial year. However, the biggest value we achieved is engaging offenders in projects that had a direct benefit to the community through agricultural and building projects. We wish to thank community leaders, mayors, makgosi/amakhosi/marena and members of this House who supported our efforts in the various communities. The championing of the need for rehabilitation, social crime prevention and moral regeneration that has been articulated by these leaders is a reflection of the niche that the Department is beginning to establish on the ground. The sustainability of such projects depends on the continued collaboration between communities, community-based institutions and us.

The Department also has a range of programmes offered through partnership with a range of NGOs aimed at equipping young offenders with life skills to make a difference to themselves, their communities and their world.

The Department has continued to develop a better understanding of its role in the implementation of Restorative Justice, and participated in a joint Conference: 'From Theory to Implementation' led by the Department of Justice. The Department has also benefited from various activities including joint training sessions conducted by officials from Canada who are regarded as leaders in the implementation of this approach.

The Department of Correctional Services is constitutionally obliged to provide for the health care and physical needs of prisoners in compliance with national and international norms and standards on the treatment of offenders. Health and physical care expenditure is also expected to increase due to an increased provision for prisoners' primary health and related health care to counter the spread of HIV/AIDS and opportunistic infections in prisons, such as tuberculosis.

As part of our HIV/AIDS strategy we intend to conduct a prevalence and attitude survey which will be completed in twelve months from now in order to have the necessary information available to aid decision-making and facilitate the implementation of our HIV/AIDS strategy amongst personnel and offenders.

Prison medical and dental services have up to now been rendered at no cost by the provincial departments of health. However, due to financial constraints this is apparently no longer feasible for the provinces. There is therefore a need for the department to employ either sessional or full-time prison medical practitioners to render medical care to prisoners. This will have an impact on our budget.

The latest available figures indicate that our prison population stands at about 190 000, whereas our capacity is about 111 000, and this means that we are overpopulated by 79 000 people, or 71% at this point in time. Overpopulation of prisons impacts negatively on staff morale, on the health of offenders, on effective safe custody and on the ability of the Department to allocate resources effectively for the rehabilitation of offenders. Moreover, it results in abnormally high maintenance costs of prison facilities.

A JCPS OVERCROWDING TASK TEAM, led by Correctional Services, monitors the performance of the criminal justice system in order to identify blockages that result in increased prisoner numbers.

A key mechanism in addressing the optimal utilisation of the detention facilities of Government and avoiding overcrowding is the effective functioning of the Integrated Justice System at provincial, area and local levels.

It is expected that the projects for the construction of four new facilities with a capacity of 3 000 each will begin later this year and it is envisaged that they will be operational by the 2005/2006 financial year. These, the first of the "New Generation" affordable cost effective prisons, will be built in Leeuwkop, Nigel, Kimberley and Klerksdorp.

The repair, renovation and maintenance programme (RAMP) has focused on twelve prisons in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West Province resulting in accommodation for 863 more offenders, and contracts have been awarded for 33 more prisons, 14 of which have been completed, and the remainder to be completed during the current financial year. A further 146 prisons have been identified for the awarding of contracts. In future, it is our intention to involve prisoners in undertaking most of the repairs as part of their training programmes.

If we have to be successful in dealing with renovations and repair work on buildings, we need to move away from just being bogged down by unnecessary red tape of the so-called RAMP. The effectiveness of this programme would need to be evaluated to enable us to maintain the expected standards in the humane detention of offenders. We cannot afford to wait for a contractor from outside to fix a leaking tap or water pipe or a broken toilet when we have the requisite skills to do so.

The promotion of community correctional supervision within the JCPS Cluster is a vital part of our strategy against overcrowding. Success in this entails the encouragement of communities to create an environment in which community corrections is a viable option for sentencing.

The Department aims to ensure that there is an integrated support system, a system of referral and networking that supports the offender in their residential area, and facilitates their reintegration into the community from which they have come. Hence the importance of the establishment of Community Corrections forums, which are functioning only in Limpopo Province at this stage, cannot be over-emphasised.

The responsibility for debating the value of alternative sentencing lies not only with the Department of Correctional Services, but also with us as Members of Parliament. The conditions for South Africa to lose our status as the fourth most aggressive jailer in the world after the United States, Russia and Belarus, have still to be created.

Through the slogan "Every member is a Rehabilitator", the Department has asserted that the manner in which each and every staff member performs his or her task, either contributes to creating an environment promoting rehabilitation, or militates against rehabilitation and correction of offending behaviour.

The ideal correctional official should find a high degree of compatibility and synergy with the code of conduct and the core mandate of the Department.

The challenges which are brought about by the new paradigm and emphasis on Correction and Rehabilitation mean that the Department needs, more than ever before, to professionalise corrections and to poise itself for extensive staff training, recruitment of new personnel and the retention of existing staff.

It is appropriate for me to re-state our commitment as a department to good governance and ensuring compliance with government and departmental policies. The work of the Jali Commission, the investigations of the Special Investigative Unit, the anti-corruption campaign I undertook, the work of the Inspecting Judge, the National Council for Correctional Services and other organs of state, are beginning to bear fruit in the establishment of a clean and transparent administration. NGOs and even ordinary citizens, family and friends of offenders share their concerns and perceptions with us, and enable the Department's management to redress non-compliance with policy.

In conclusion, I must emphasise that while we have not been able to deliver everything that we hoped to achieve in the past financial year, there have been successes achieved on our programmes.

The updated strategic plan, the new organisational structure, the White Paper process underway, and the commitment of the dedicated personnel in the Department bode well for the development of a more effective and focused administration of the Department, facilitating more effective delivery on the key services to the offenders.

For us to deliver on all these services and programmes, the budget allocation to our department for this financial year amounts to R7,6 billion and provides for an establishment of 36 320 personnel and operational costs for a daily average offender population of 183 000 prisoners and 70 000 probationers and parolees. This represents a total increase of 9.25% on the total adjusted allocation of R 7.02 billion of the previous financial year.

Madame Chairperson, I wish to thank our Commissioner, Mr Linda Mti, the mnagement and staff for the excellent work that they are delivering with diligence and commitment under the strenuous conditions of our prison system.

I also wish to thank Kgoshi Mokoena, the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development, and his committee for their support in the work that we do as a Department.

It is also appropriate for me to request you to carry our appreciation back to all the non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations, community-based organisations, tertiary and other educational institutions and parastatals in your provinces that are always available to assist us in the delivery of our services.

We shall continue to rely on the support of all our stakeholders in meeting the challenges that lie ahead, such as the completion of the White Paper on Correctional Services, the establishment of parole boards, the training and re-training of personnel, carrying out the HIV/AIDS prevalence survey, the construction of new generation prisons, and the development of a scientifically based approach to correcting offending behaviour.

The challenges are vast, but we are up to the challenge. God bless this House, God bless Correctional Services, God bless South Africa.

I thank you.

Source: Department of Correctional Services (http://www.dcs.gov.za)

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