Correctional Services Budget Vote Speech 2013/14 by Mr Sibusiso Ndebele, Minister of Correctional Services, MP, National Assembly, Cape Town

29 May 2013

Honourable Speaker
Honourable Members and Colleagues
Deputy Minister of Correctional Services: Adv. Ngoako Ramatlhodi
Chairperson Mr. Vincent Smith, and Members of the Correctional Services Portfolio Committee
National Commissioner of Correctional Services Mr. Thomas Moyane, and senior Management of DCS
Judge Vuka Tshabalala: Inspecting Judge for Correctional Services
Chairperson Judge Siraj Desai, and Members of the National Council on Correctional Services
Our officials and ooffenders
All other members of the Correctional Services family
Comrades and friends
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the African Union, across the world there's consensus that we must seriously re-think the role of corrections. As Chair of the African Correctional Services Association (ACSA), South Africa will use its position to improve the management of correctional centres across the continent.

This Department, now known as the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), has been in existence for 102 years. Correctional Services marks the end of a life of crime, and the beginning of restoration. We must deliver justice for victims and ensure that offenders make restitution both to society for their crimes, and leave correctional centres with better skills and prospects. The field of corrections is gaining prominence. On 16 May, 45 students from the University of Zululand, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Correctional Studies.

The transformation programme of our democratic government necessitated that prisons shift from institutions of humiliation to institutions of new beginnings. The White Paper on Corrections represents the final fundamental break with a past archaic penal system, and ushers in a start to our second decade of freedom where prisons become correctional centres of rehabilitation, and offenders are given new hope, and encouragement, to adopt a lifestyle that will result in a second chance towards becoming ideal citizens.

Our National Development Plan states: "In 2030, people living in South Africa feel safe and have no fear of crime. They are safe at home, at school, at work and they enjoy an active community life free of crime. Women can walk freely in the streets and children can play safely outside....."

Rebuilding society

According to the Freedom Charter, "Imprisonment shall be only for serious crimes against the people, and shall aim at re-education, not vengeance."

Section 35(2)(e) of the Bill of Rights says, "Everyone who is detained, including every sentenced prisoner, has the right to conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity, including at least exercise and the provision, at state expense, of adequate accommodation, nutrition, reading material and medical treatment;"

Offender population

According to the latest National Offender Population Profile (September 2012), the major crime categories are economic, aggressive, sexual and narcotics. As at 27 May, South Africa's inmate population was 152,514; 45,043 (29,5%) were remand detainees; and 107,471 were sentenced offenders. Offenders sentenced to life imprisonment increased from about 400 in 1994 to more than 11,000 in 2013. Foreign nationals comprise 8,973 inmates (4,087 sentenced and 4,886 un-sentenced).

In addition, 65,931 offenders are outside correctional centres living in their respective communities; 48,716 are parolees, 15,491 are probationers (serving non-custodial sentences) and 1,724 are awaiting-trial.

Electronic monitoring

On 19 and 20 November 2012, we hosted a colloquium under the theme, "Towards Finding Solutions for South Africa's High Rate of Incarceration and Breaking the Cycle of Crime". All stakeholders, including judges, magistrates and academics, attended. An action plan has since been developed to address recommendations from the colloquium.
The colloquium also consulted on the White Paper on the Management of Remand Detainees which, has been finalized for tabling with the JCPS Cluster DGs and, is due to be published soon.

On average, 15 to 20% of the 45,043 awaiting trial detainees are in custody because they cannot afford bail. This has resulted in the poorest of the poor being removed from their families, with associated socio-economic implications. The Electronic Monitoring Pilot Project (EMPP) has proven to be economical, effective, efficient and relevant to the broader goals of DCS and the JCPS cluster. Electronic monitoring is now available to the courts, particularly for remand detainees, non-custodial sentencing and parolees. It costs the taxpayer R9,876.35 per month presently for each inmate, whilst electronic monitoring costs R3,379. Electronic monitoring enables offenders to be monitored within metres, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Should an offender commit any violation, alerts are immediately generated and transmitted. Interference with the equipment, including tampering or failing to charge the receiver, is electronically relayed to the control room.

Second Chance Act

In conjunction with the National Council on Correctional Services (NCCS), chaired by Judge Siraj Desai and comprising Deputy Chairs, Judge Ledwaba and Lacock, as well as other professionals including magistrates, attorneys, clinical psychologists, social workers, medical doctors, professors and officials, we are reviewing various issues including overcrowding, CCTV cameras in correctional centres, parole board and case management committee training, training for psychologists and social workers as well as the Second Chance Act.

In 2007, the Democrats and Republicans, in the United States, sponsored a legislative proposal to expand re-entry services for people leaving correctional centres. The Act counters policies which have made it difficult for ex-offenders to re-enter the normative non-criminal community, and could explain why there are so many recidivists. Our responsibility is to keep those who, by law, are supposed to be inside. But, unlike a train driver, our task is not limited to ensuring that they are properly inside but rather that they are properly rehabilitated.

That task does not end with them leaving our correctional centres. It is still our responsibility to ensure they do not re-offend. The Second Chance Act may assist in this task.

Drug abuse

According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, January-February 2013 News Digest, a United States report suggests that the imprisonment rate for African-Americans is six times higher than the national average. This means that young Black men, who have not completed high school, are more likely to be imprisoned than find a job. South Africa is no different. The vast bulk of inmates are young Black men. More than a third of those incarcerated are youth, and a large number of inmates who, while not under 25, are still in the prime of their life. Children, as young as 17 years of age, have committed serious crimes. Our average inmate is a young substance abuser who, has dropped out of school before high school, is functionally illiterate and, more often than not, homeless.

During September 2012, we undertook a study tour to Brazil, Cuba and New York. South Africa is ranked 5th in terms of foreigners jailed in Brazil. The majority are convicted for drug-related crimes. In Sao Paulo, and Rio, 125 South Africans were incarcerated. Of these 57 men and 68 women, the youngest, and eldest, were females; the youngest was 20 years of age and the oldest 74. We welcome eNews Channel Africa (eNCA) anchor Joanne Joseph's role in telling the drug mule story of former Miss SA finalist Vanessa Goosen. The book, "Drug Muled, 16 Years in a Thai Prison: The Vanessa Goosen Story," details Vanessa's life of imprisonment in Thailand.

Drugs cut across race and class; it affects rich and poor. Your daughter, or son, could be next. We are calling upon everyone (parents, educators, religious leaders) to start learning, observing and recognising drugs and their signs. Observing your child when she is on trial, sentenced or serving time is too late. Together, we fought against apartheid and defeated it. Together, we are fighting against all forms of intolerance. A new scourge is upon us, the scourge of drugs.

Let us unite, and fight it, in our families, communities, schools, churches, mosques, temples, everywhere.

As Correctional Services, our contribution, to preventing drug abuse, includes schoolchildren being taken on tours to correctional centres, with motivational talks from rehabilitated inmates. In Gauteng, to date, 1,107 school tours were undertaken by 56,634 learners and 3,321 educators. Inmates depict the realities of their life, demonstrating that crime does not pay. The motivational talks by offenders have also gone beyond correctional centres to schools, community events as well as media interviews.

Better to light a candle than to curse darkness
At least 95% of those incarcerated will return to society after serving their sentence. Offenders must return as better, changed and law-abiding citizens. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. We are turning our correctional centres into centres of learning. Offenders must read, study and work. We must impact the hearts, heads and hands of offenders so that, upon release, they are in possession of, at least, a certificate in one hand and a skill in the other. Key to rehabilitation is empowering offenders to function effectively upon their release but, equally important, is to ensure that offenders are involved in productive activity while they serve their sentences. As at February, 97% of offenders, serving sentences longer than 24 months, had correctional sentence plans.

From 1 April, it is compulsory for every inmate without a qualification equivalent to Grade 9, to complete Adult Education and Training (ABET) level 1 to 4. This year, 10,393 offenders are registered for ABET 1 to 4. Offenders are also being trained as Literacy Facilitators, to teach functionally, and totally, illiterate offenders to read, write, spell and study.

In the 2012 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, inmates achieved a 79,25% pass rate compared to 68,06°/o in 2011.
This year (2013), 1,413 offenders are registered for the Report 550 (former Matric) mid-year examinations and 2,012 offenders for the NSC examinations in October/November. In 2012/13, 1,049 offenders were studying towards post-matric/higher education and training qualifications, 3,525 towards further education and training (FET) college programmes (including electrical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and marketing) and 4,188 towards skills development programmes (including basic business skills training and entrepreneurship). In May 2012, 416 youth offenders graduated with their International Computer Driver Licence (ICDL) certificates.

An Agreement has been signed with Department of Higher Education and Training, for 2012/13 to 2015/16, for accredited vocational and basic occupational skills programmes through the National Skills Fund. Last year, R66,424 million was spent on training 5,837 offenders including scarce skills such as welding, plumbing, bricklaying, plastering, electrical, carpentry and agricultural skills programmes.

On Monday (27 May), we launched the Western Cape Arts and Craft Gallery at the Goodwood Correctional Centre for offenders to express their creativity. The Gallery of Hope will enable offenders to sell their art to the public, support their families and have money when released. Furthermore, this gallery will be used as an after-care centre for released offenders to make reintegration much easier and better.

Reading for Redemption

Within two months of launching the Reading for Redemption campaign on 17th September 2012, more than a million rand worth of books were donated. Various models of Reading for Redemption programmes exist globally. In South Africa, partnerships have been established with universities including the University of Zululand, University of KwaZulu-Natal, UNISA, Walter Sisulu University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. We are implementing the Reading for Redemption programme in a phased approach. We are currently concentrating on awareness raising, as well as encouraging offenders, and officials, to read. We, therefore, want to encourage individuals, and organizations, to donate as many constructive books as possible.
A task team is finalizing guidelines for implementation of the different phases, and further announcements will be made in due course.

Reading and Writing Clubs are being established in correctional centres. On 27 May, we launched Volume One of a poetry series by offenders entitled "Unchained". On 7th March, a copy of the novel, "KWAKUNGEKE KUBE NJE", was handed to its author, Celimpilo Cele, who is an inmate at Qalakabusha Correctional facility. The novel won the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Literature Writing Competition, and was published by Oxford University Press. Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho from Makhado, who was imprisoned for 11 years and is on parole, pursued a creative writing course with UNISA and, on his release, published his short story collection. Today, Mukwevho is a poet, and community journalist, who topped the inaugural Polokwane Literary Festival last year. He is negotiating a deal for his first novel.

Offender labour

As per the National Framework on Offender Labour, we are increasing the number of offenders who participate in offender labour, and skills development, programmes. On 12 February, we signed a MoA with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to use offender labour to build schools and supply furniture. The obligations of DCS include:

• Manufacture and delivery of school furniture;
• Rehabilitation of school furniture;
• Construction of school infrastructure;
• Maintenance, and refurbishment, of schools; and
• Establishment of school gardens.

Ten DCS workshops will manufacture the school furniture. The first delivery is expected by DBE on 30 August. On 14 May, Noziwe Public School, in Khuma in the North West, was the latest school to receive 52 refurbished desks and 37 computers donated by business. Offenders, across the country, are giving back to communities, and demonstrating remorse for crimes committed.

Offenders, and officials, have built, and renovated, several houses, and schools, in disadvantaged communities including tiling, re-roofing, installing built-in cupboards, painting and plastering, cutting the grass and trees, clearing bushes and cleaning yards.

Our production workshops, which operate as business units, include 10 wood workshops, 10 steel workshops, 19 textile workshops, a shoe factory, six bakeries and three sanitary towel workshops.

Agricultural productivity takes place on our 21 correctional centre farms, and 96 smaller vegetable production sites, all spread over some 40,000 hectares of land. Vegetable production takes place on 21 farms, and 108 smaller centres; fruit production on 13 farms; milk production on 17 farms; red meat on 24 farming units; chicken on four farms; layers on eight farms; red meat abattoirs on 17 farms; white meat abattoirs on three farms; and 15 farms focus on piggery.

The abattoir at Leeuwkop Correctional Facility, once again, emerged a winner at the 2012 Nama Phepa Awards. It was declared the best in the province for three successive years in the category of Low Red Meat Abattoir, winning the gold award. At the Boksburg Correctional Centre Bakery, 22 offenders produce 2,000 loaves of bread daily which feeds 5,000 offenders.

From April 2012 to March 2013, inmates at correctional centre farms and abattoirs produced more than 6,5 million litres of milk (6,585,711 litres), 551,000 kilograms of red meat (551,596kg), 1,8 million kilograms of pork (1,863,906 kg), 1 million kilograms of chicken (1,077,908kg), 1,4 million dozen of eggs (1,473,995 dozen), 9 million kilograms of vegetables (9,030,042 kg) and 607,000 kilograms of fruit (607,768 kg).

The establishment of a trading entity is being prioritised, which will impact positively on offender labour. We have adopted various orphanages and old age homes, and will continue to donate excess products to disadvantaged communities.

Social reintegration

We want to return rehabilitated offenders to society as healthy, and responsible, community members. The yellow ribbon we wear is a symbol urging communities to support reintegration and rehabilitation.

Government has stepped up its efforts to fight tuberculosis (TB) in correctional centres. On 24th March (World TB Day), we, together with Minister Motsoaledi, accompanied Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to Pollsmoor where six GeneXpert machines were handed to us to test inmates.

As at April, 98,4% of the 65,931 offenders under community corrections, complied with all their parole conditions and did not re-offend. Parolees, who obtained skills in correctional centres, are being provided with work tools, and start up kits, to start their own businesses. These include welding machines, sewing machines, car wash machines and vacuum cleaners to create entrepreneurs and employment for parolees.

Through the Working on Fire project, female parolees are being trained and graduate to structural fire fighting. The training is not only confined to fire fighting, but includes administration and carpentry.

The Department has also engaged the National House of Traditional Leaders (NHTL) in rehabilitation, and reintegration, of offenders. This project is aimed at going back to the basics of rehabilitation and reintegration, and a MoU is expected to be signed next month.

Other initiatives include parolees employed by the City of Jo'burg in the Gateway Project, the Clean Sweep Jo'burg Project, painting the Glenanda Clinic as well as a garden project at Helen Joseph Hospital which supplies the hospital with fresh vegetables. Similar projects are being undertaken in other provinces.

Victim-offender dialogues

Since the launch of the Victim-Offender Dialogue (VOD) programme on 28th November 2012, more than 85 VOD sessions were hosted, and 1,342 DCS officials trained, across the country on the VOD implementation guidelines. One such session was when we welcomed victims of the 1996 Worcester bombing, who arrived in Tshwane by train from Worcester on 30 January 2013, to meet the youngest bomber, Stefaans Coetzee, at the Pretoria Central Correctional Centre. VODs are based on a theory of justice that considers crime, and wrongdoing, to be an offence against an individual or community, rather than the state. Restorative justice, that fosters dialogue between victim and offender, shows the highest rates of victim satisfaction and offender accountability.

Ultimately, every correctional centre will have a Victim Offender Dialogue Representative Forum. The Head of Centre is the Convenor of the Forum. It is expected that, among others, social workers, psychologists, educators, religious leaders and communities will be actively involved in the VODs. This programme must form part of the sentence plan of offenders. High value must also be placed on ensuring that victims of crime are empowered. We, therefore, request our business community, and other stakeholders, to join hands with us in empowering, especially women and children, victims. The Victim-Offender Dialogues provide an opportunity for offenders to meet with victims and account for their crimes, thereby re-building our nation. Through the VODs, Parole Boards and other structures, we are working towards democratization and creating more opportunities for people to join the fight against crime.

New generation correctional centres

We have 243 correctional centres which were built over the past 100 years or so, when corrections and rehabilitation were unheard of. With the policy shift from historical custodial warehousing to rehabilitation, a review, and redesign, of some facilities is required to enable unit management as well as enhance public involvement, offender development and social reintegration. As we review old-generation facilities, we are mindful of the increasing costs for maintenance of old facilities, overcrowding and limited fiscal capacity. Over the medium-term, there is no budget for building new facilities. An innovative model of facilities acquisition is required to respond to public interest on location, operational needs of rehabilitation, public security and integration with the criminal justice system. Various proposals have been received offering creative, and innovative, solutions. A task team, of senior officials, is currently considering various options including: suitability of current location of facilities and design models offering solutions for rehabilitation; flexibility in custody management based on security requirements, gender, physical and mental incapacity of inmates; and addressing special needs based on development and care approaches. The task team is expected to complete its work soon, and a call for expressions of interest will be advertised.

Year of the Correctional Official

To promote good governance, ethical administration and effective human resource management, we declared 2013 as "The Year of the Correctional Official." When society breaks down, Correctional Services picks up the pieces and deals with the entirety of the human experience. However, Correctional Officials must first, through their own conduct, earn respect to give this profession the respect it deserves. The balance between internal security and order, as well as rehabilitation, is paramount. We want to re-iterate that unlawful attacks by officials on inmates, as well as riots instigated by inmates in correctional centres, and attacks on officials, will not be tolerated. A National Gang Management Task Team has been established to implement a multi-dimensional gang management strategy. However, gangs in correctional centres are not unique to South Africa.

On 27 January, Venezuelan prison minister, Iris Varela, announced the closure of the Uribana prison, near the city of Barquisimeto, where more than 60 inmates died in a riot.

We have renewed our efforts at ensuring a healthy organised labour-management relationship. On 11 February, we convened a Ministerial Consultative Forum with recognised trade union partners such as PSA and POPCRU. At this forum, parties resolved to establish a Ministerial Task Team comprising representatives from organised labour and management. The task team has since been meeting regularly to tackle a number of employee-related issues, including employment equity. Due to the nature of the issues, the team has requested a postponement, from March to June, to submit a comprehensive report. We call upon all stakeholders to utilize this forum.

We will continue to ensure that the departmental structure fundamentally transforms the manner in which DCS delivers services. The organizational culture must ensure effective, and sustainable, rehabilitation. The Department will roll out a new Human Resource Strategy, focusing on, among others, the development of a staffing plan; the enhancement of relationships with employees, and recognized trade unions, to reduce labour disputes; rolling out an integrated Employee Health, and Wellness, Programme; and channelling more resources towards staff development.

Turn-around strategy

We have instructed management to implement a turn-around strategy, to ensure improved financial controls. We must all fight fraud and corruption with vigour. During 2012/13, 19 officials were dismissed, two were demoted, 15 were issued with final written warnings and 14 were suspended without pay. We are currently conducting a major investigation into allegations of blatant anarchy at certain correctional centres, including collusion by officials. Due to sensitivity, further information cannot be provided at this stage. We are also working with the Office of the Inspecting Judge, Judge Vuka Tshabalala, on these matters. We will ensure that officials, and offenders, found guilty of any offence face the consequences of their actions.

Budget for 2013/14

The period post-1994 has seen the review of policies, the introduction of new legislation, the development of the White Paper on Corrections and many other improvements.

During the current term of government, bold strides have been taken in providing better services to inmates including taking care of their physical needs and their need for correction and rehabilitation.

The overall budget for 2013/14 for the Department of Correctional Services is R18,748 billion. Last year it was R17,7 billion.

Finally, we thank this House, and members of Portfolio Committee in particular, for your on-going support and oversight. Once more, I would like to thank the Deputy Minister, National Commissioner, senior management and all officials for their work in support of our policy objectives.

Thank you.

Issued by the Department of Correctional Services, May 29 2013

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter