The Deputy Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Mr. Thabang Makwetla, has called upon officials and inmates at St. Albans Correctional Centre, in the Eastern Cape, to minimize tension, and improve relations, as part of overall efforts to ensure safe custody and enhance rehabilitation.

Addressing officials and offenders at St. Albans today (11 April 2017), as part of his third visit since the violent clash of 26 December 2016 which left three inmates dead, Deputy Minister Makwetla said: “As the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services, together with the senior management of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), St. Albans Correctional Centre is a top priority for us. With St. Albans being amongst the so-called Big Five correctional centres in the country, what happens here unavoidably has the effect of introducing ripple effects across South Africa’s other 242 correctional facilities. The challenges encountered here are just not a St. Albans thing. We cannot allow incidents like what happened here on 26 December 2016 to prevail”.

The Deputy Minister said you cannot undermine those who have been entrusted with the responsibility of rehabilitating those who wronged society. “In DCS, we have an additional challenge because the offender community represents the so-called ‘bad guys’ in our society. However, these ‘bad guys’ are among the most lateral thinkers in our communities. These are people who have the capacity to influence others in the unlawful deeds they committed.

“They will want this community to grow, and at times are also growing this community behind bars. As DCS, we need to be the first line of defense to deal with the stink that comes from those behind bars particularly, gangsterism in our facilities.

“For offenders to undermine government by killing correctional officials, something is fundamentally wrong. The conflict between officials and offenders is totally unacceptable, and is a misplaced cause. There is no reason for a perpetual feud between officials and inmates. As correctional officials, we have a responsibility to ensure incarceration under safe, and humane, conditions. We must make a concerted effort to bring an end to this tension and conflictual relationships. The possibility of a win-win situation is there, but this challenges our mindsets and the manner in which we do things,” said the Deputy Minister.

To the inmates, Deputy Minister Makwetla said the level of violent conflict is unhealthy. “It is not our business to be at war with offenders. This is not the business we are in. We cannot be doing things that are unlawful and unconstitutional. We want to listen to your constructive inputs in relation the ongoing feud here at St. Albans, and find solutions.”

The Deputy Minister, accompanied by DCS National Commissioner Zach Modise, assured officials and inmates that Eastern Cape Regional Commissioner, Mr. Nkosinati Breakfast, is going to deal with these issues, including the implementation of a remedial action plan. As part of monitoring and evaluation, Deputy Minister Makwetla is scheduled to return to St. Albans.



Issued by GCIS on behalf of the Department of Justice and Correctional Services