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Date : 13/02/2004
Source: Ministry of Correctional Services
Title: B Skosana: Parliamentary Media Briefing, February 2004


PRESENTATION BY THE MINISTER OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, MR BEN M SKOSANA MP AT THE PARLIAMENTARY MEDIA BRIEFING SESSION, 13 February 2004

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media

The developments in the Department of Correctional Services must be understood within the context of the past political, economic and social environment in our country, and how Government responds to these developments must be informed by this history as well as the national agenda of institutional transformation and the provision of security, justice and peace.

The majority of our people in prison are from historically disadvantaged and poor communities and they are therefore among those that in his State of the Nation address, President Mbeki described as constituting "the structural manifestation of poverty, underdevelopment and marginalisation in our country".

As the Government's policy of transformation and transparency deepens in our prisons, the cultures and sub-cultures embedded for decades have begun to surface. Some are positive and others send a chill down the spine of a normal human being.

Although various cultures and sub-cultures manifest themselves in prisons, it should also be remembered that offenders are the "Spawn of the Badlands". What you find in prison existed first in society.

Having said that, I believe it is incumbent upon us to observe that the complexity of the correctional system will continue to make it difficult for us to achieve satisfactory levels of prison reform. Prison reform is difficult but not impossible.

It should be noted that officials of this Department confront difficulties caused by this complexity on a daily basis and some have unfortunately not been able to survive the psychological and physical onslaught of this complexity and have unfortunately succumbed to induced corruption from inside and outside prison.

Our members need to be prepared through Government programmes to face this onslaught. They need to benefit from programmes in counselling, social work, education and other areas, which will enhance their personal development. They have to have the ability to change the behaviour of prisoners as well as to protect the weaker ones who are prone to the ravages of crime and corruption. They have to be nurtured before they mutate into hardened criminals or being caught up in the revolving door syndrome.

I wish to indicate that the Department has made tremendous achievements in the past ten years and we have made an effort to provide them in detail in a separate document, which has been circulated. However, I shall endeavour to mention but a few:

FIGHTING CORRUPTION

Since we intensified our anti-corruption measures within the Department, over 500 various cases have come to the fore dating from as far back as 1996. The measures include the approval of a National Risk Management Plan and Anti-Corruption Strategy as well as the establishment of a formal Anti-Corruption Unit to manage the strategy.

THE JALI COMMISSION

It will be recalled that I requested the President to appoint a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into allegations of corruption, mismanagement and crime in certain prisons. The initial reports of the Commission, which were made public, revealed that 25 officials of the Department were dismissed in KwaZulu-Natal for offences ranging from drug smuggling to falsifying qualifications, while 18 officials were dismissed in Grootvlei. The Provincial Commissioner of the Eastern Cape was dismissed for fraud.

A further five interim reports of the Commission have been submitted relating to Pollsmoor, Pretoria, Leeuwkop and Johannesburg prisons. Recommendations ranging from suspensions, criminal investigations to dismissals have been made and the Department will take follow up action soon.

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

A total of 12, 400 inmates have been trained in our 14 skills training centres throughout the country, in various fields such as computers, brick-laying, woodwork, welding and so on. About 13 Government Departments have purchased 6, 640 of the items produced in our workshops generating revenue to the tune of about R6.8 million just between 2002 and the end of 2003.

These training facilities are also being availed to members of neighbouring communities who may also empower themselves by acquiring the necessary skills, apart from promoting cooperation and greater interaction between the Department and the community. The Vukukhanye Youth Development Project in the Western Cape is a prime example of what I am talking about, where recently 78 trainees from Paarl and Franschoek graduated with technical skills in clothing, cabinet-making, upholstery and other skills after receiving training in our workshops.

ADULT BASIC EDUCATION AND TRAINING (ABET)

A total of about 73, 000 inmates have benefited from our ABET programmes which provide a fundamental education platform for lifelong learning and development. Because some of the prisoners are of school-going age, they are being given an opportunity to study.

POVERTY ALLEVIATION

Since the launch and roll-out of the Department's Poverty Alleviation Programme, the majority of prisons have engaged in projects, but in 17 areas, they have managed to realise surplus produce in agriculture which is donated to Old Age Homes, School Children, the Disabled, the Orphanages and poor members of communities living in the vicinity of our prisons.

The Department has managed to reach 83% self-sufficiency in the production of pork, 67% in vegetable production, 53% in the production of eggs and 45% in the production of chickens. Efforts are being to raise the levels of self-sufficiency in the production of other foodstuffs.

In the light of the recent disaster, which struck the people of Hout Bay in the Western Cape, I have decided that my Department will donate 200 mattresses and 150 blankets to alleviate the plight of some of these people.

Arrangements are being made for this donation to be handed over to the Department of Social Development.

OVERCROWDING

The latest available figures indicate that our current prison population stands at 185, 632. This figure comprises 55, 232 unsentenced prisoners and 130, 400 sentenced prisoners.

Our current prison capacity stands at 110, 874 meaning that we are overpopulated by 74, 758 or 65%.

We have put into place certain measures to try and reduce overcrowding by expanding our facilities while trying to reduce the prison population:

- During the past ten years, ten new prisons were constructed and two were rebuilt to tackle the problem of overcrowding. Two of the ten prisons are Public Private Partnership prisons and they have a combined capacity of 5, 952.

- Over 7, 000 prisoners whose parole dates were forwarded by ten months were released last year to ease congestion in our prisons. This was in addition to the more than 8, 000 who were earlier released because they could not afford to pay bail of R1, 000 or less.

- Members of the JCPS Cluster are working together to reduce the awaiting trial population by speeding up court processes through Saturday courts and the free participation of the Law Society of South Africa in dealing with court cases to promote plea-bargaining. This resulted in a drastic reduction of the prison population last year. For example, the number of awaiting trial prisoners dropped from 58, 528 in April 2003 to 50, 454 in August the same year when this exercise was in full swing, representing a drop of 7, 074 prisoners or 12%.

- Work has begun on the construction of four new prisons in Leeuwkop, Nigel, Klerksdorp and Kimberley under the "New Generation" concept and the first prison is expected to be delivered in April 2006. Each of these prisons will accommodate about 3, 000 prisoners.

INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION

- We paid visits to several countries such as Algeria, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States and many others to raise the country's profile as well as to create an atmosphere for a healthy exchange of ideas on corrections.

- We have established relations with such organisations as the American Correctional Association (ACA) in which the Minister is Vice-Chairperson of the International Relations Committee, the International Prison Chaplaincy Association (IPCA), the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) and others.

- The Department hosted a meeting of Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) responsible for corrections in Johannesburg, to exchange views on how to create a corrections and justice forum to enhance cooperation in these matters within the region.

- The Department is considering the development of policy guidelines to enable Government to enter into Prisoner Transfer agreements with other countries. This policy advocates for the return of prisoners sentenced in foreign countries to enable them to complete their sentences closer to their families and the societies they will be released to. This affects both South Africans in foreign prisons as well as foreigners in South African prisons.

A meeting is soon to be held between the Department and members of the diplomatic corps based in South Africa whose nationals are incarcerated in our prisons and those whose prisons house South Africans. The policy is yet to go through normal Government processes for final approval by Cabinet.

In conclusion, I would like to extend a word of appreciation to the President for reinforcing our team by appointing Mr Pieter Saaiman as Deputy Minister of Correctional Services. I also want to thank all those members of the Department who have selflessly committed themselves to excellent and devoted service. Together we were able to ride the storm of adversity and as a result of your dedication the Department was able to move from negativity and regression to positivity and progression resulting in improved delivery by the Department.

You have witnessed the fate of those who decided to take the wayward path of indulging in corruption and graft. Some of those who are found to have been accomplices in the current unacceptably high rate of escapes will also become the trophies of our strengthened anti-corruption strategy.

We must admit that these people place an additional strain and stress on those who are prepared to work, apart from heavily taxing the Department's resources.

The commitment of everyone in Correctional Services is essential if we are to achieve the aspiration of our vision, which is "to deliver a professional Correctional Service... by means of progressive management, trained personnel, sound work ethics, performance management and good governance".

I thank you.

Issued by: Ministry of Correctional Services
13 February 2004

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