Committee Report on Correctional Services Regulations: adoption; Request to postpone meeting
Meeting Summary
The Committee adopted its report on the Correctional Services Regulations.Members said that it was important to ensure that the Committee's recommendations were implemented, and that the Committee moved out of its comfort zone. Members recommended the use of technological tracking devices to allow more people to be realised on bail; this would solve the problem of overcrowding. Members also questioned the cost of maintain one prisoner for a day. Had other costs been taken into account? A Democratic Alliance Member said that one of the prisons had no power and was using a generator. An Inkatha Freedom Party Member wanted the Committee to write a letter to the Commissioner to ask why it took 24 hours for this kind of information to reach the Committee. How was it possible that a certain Member knew about what was happening before others knew?
On receiving a letter from the Chairperson of Chairs and from the Office of the Speaker requesting a postponement of the 20 September meeting to make way for an extended plenary session of the National Assembly, Members argued that the parliamentary authorities did not take into consideration the workload of the committees. Members set the programmes, took trouble to organise with relevant stakeholders, and then they were asked to postpone meetings because of new arrangements. Members agreed to draft a strong letter of protest, and hold a 'one-minute meeting' on 20 September and a 'one-hour meeting' on 21 September.
Meeting report
Committee Report on Correctional Services Regulations
The Committee expressed its happiness with amended regulations 29 A and B.
Mr J Selfe (DA) said that, despite writing all these recommendations and reports, the same thing was done years ago, particularly in 2005.
Mr S Abram (ANC) said that it was important to ensure that the Committee's recommendations were implemented.
Ms M Phaliso (ANC) agreed with Mr Abram that was time for the Committee to start thinking out of the box, and moved out of its comfort zone.
Mr V Ndlovu (IFP) suggested that can be done better if opened up for debate in the National Assembly with all the parties being there. If the Chairperson raised this with alone, he might face difficulties.
Mr Selfe recommended the use of technological tracking devices to allow more people to be realised on bail; this would solve the problem of overcrowding, a recommendation which the Committee agreed on. He also highlighted that another issue to try mitigate overcrowding was reducing the number of people serving sentences in
Mr S Abram (ANC) questioned the figure of R223, which was the cost of maintain one prisoner a day. He doubted that this figure had taken into account the other costs, like taking a prisoner to the hospital and courts. He requested that this people who produced the figure explain how they arrived at it, and what factors had been taken into account.
Mr Selfe raised that one of the prisons had no power and was using the generator. He asked the Committee to do something about it because, even in
Ms Phaliso also added that this must be taken up because soon the Committee would be receiving reports that there were escapes as a result.
Mr Ndlovu wanted the Committee to write a letter to the Commissioner to ask why it took 24 hours for this kind of information to reach the Committee. How was it possible that Mr Selfe knew about what was happening, before he know about this himself.
The Committee adopted the report.
Chair of Chairpersons and Speaker's request for postponement of 20 September 2011 meeting
The Chairperson read the letter from the offices of the Speaker and the Chair of Chairpersons requesting the Committee to postpone the Committee’s meeting on Tuesday, 20 September 2011 because of a long plenary session which needed to begin at 10h00. It was the last plenary for the term, and it was very important to pass certain votes that needed to be transmitted to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for finalisation before the year ended.
The Chairperson argued that this put the Committee in a very awkward position, because the meeting on Tuesday was with stakeholders who, together with the Department, had already been informed.
Mr Selfe asked if the Committee knew the plenary session's agenda.
The Chairperson replied that he had not been informed in detail, but he knew that there would be lot of legislation to finalise before referral to the NCOP.
Mr Selfe was always frustrated by the way the parliamentary agenda was arranged; it was always rushed, and then everybody’s agenda was forced to accommodate these last minutes changes.
The Chairperson added that if the Committee was not going to meet on Tuesday, he did not see a reason to meet on Wednesday.
Mr Ndlovu argued that the Committee could meet but still raise its concerns, and protest. The Committee could not allow people to dictate to it, because if it allowed people to push Members this way and that way, Members might end up not knowing what to do.
Mr Abram also raised his dissatisfaction by arguing that many times one got the impression that the ‘powers that be' in Parliament do not take into consideration the extent of the workload of the committees. Members set the programmes, took trouble to organise with relevant stakeholders, and then somebody came in and told them about the new arrangements, even though the stakeholders had been informed already. This, he argued, was not the way things were supposed to be done, and it must be put on record.
The Chairperson also added that it would be the second time that the Committee had to take a U-turn on its stakeholders. He also highlighted that a phone call only would not do justice to the continuing disappointment of the stakeholders; a letter was necessary instead. Moreover, he had received a call from the Secretary-General, Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU), who said that he was around and ready to meet the Chairperson, but the Chairperson had to apologise. He added that it would have been better if he had known which other committees were affected so that the Committee could try lobbying them. However, no matter what decision was taken, the least Members could do was protest, and say that poor planning was rendering them unprofessional in the eyes of their stakeholders.
Members agreed to draft a strong letter of protest, and hold a 'two-minute meeting' on Tuesday and a 'one-hour meeting' on Wednesday.
Mr Ndlovu applauded Ms Cindy Balie, the Committee Secretary, for her professionalism, and the way she made sure that Members were updated about the Committee's work.
Committee minutes: adoption
The Committee adopted, with corrections, its minutes of 31 August 2011.
The meeting was adjourned.
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