Minister of Correctional Services on the state of the Department

Correctional Services

05 November 2013
Chairperson: Mr V Smith (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Minister of Correctional Services dealt with the appointment of an acting National Commissioner and Chief Financial Officer, the 2014 elections, inmates' access to education, the situation at the Mangaung Private Correctional Centre, parole and medical parole, and the activities of the Ministerial Task Team mandated to resolve issues between the Department of Correctional Services and the labour unions.

The Minister placed particular emphasis on access to education and health care, intervention in terms of the Correctional Services Act at Mangaung, and the importance of victim-offender dialogues. There was a commitment to strengthen community participation in parole decisions. He provided a list of issues already resolved by the Ministerial Task team. He stressed that correctional centres were no longer to be viewed as instutions of social vengeance. Offenders had to be granted opportunities to improve their character and education.

Discussion was amicable, but wide ranging and probing. There was general acknowledgement that the Department was making progress, in spite of severe challenges. There was agreement between the Minister, the Department and the Portfolio Committee, that the private correctional centres had been a mistake from which lessons could be learnt.  Outsourcing of security had proved to be problematic.

There were questions about stability in the senior ranks of the Department.  Members questioned whether it was appropriate for the DCS to investigate the Mangaung centre. It was felt that there had to be an independent investigation. The Department replied that the investigation would be broadened.

The structural position of the Department in the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster, again caused concern. Members agreed that there was a need in the community for victim-offender dialogue. It was asked if political parties could campaign in centres for the election. The reply was in the negative. There were questions about day parole. The Chairperson asked if it was feasible for the Department to attempt to provide teaching and health care with its own resources. There were searching questions about human resources and career management in the Department. It was put to the Minister and the Department that they had been silent about arbitration awards in favour of the unions. There were questions about the seven day establishment and the official-to-offender ratio, which was said to be based on a prison population situation that no longer existed. The second phase of the Occupational Specific Dispensation came under scrutiny, especially with regard to the position of artisans. There was a question about alleged victimisation of officials who had spoken to the Portfolio Committee. The matter of coloured officials who took the Department to court about alleged discrimination in promotion, was raised. The Minister was urged to act against sensitive issues of racism. The minister stressed the inculcation of a new service ethos among officials.
 

Meeting report

Address by Minister of Correctional Services
Mr Sibusiso Ndebele, Minister of Correctional Services, dealt with the appointment of the acting National Commissioner. The National Commissioner had retired, as stipulated in the Correctional Services Act. The Chief Operating Officer had been appointed in an acting capacity.  Interviews to fill the vacant positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Deputy Commissioner: Strategic Management, would take place in the following weeks.

With regard to the 2014 elections, the Minister said there was a clear policy on voter registration and education for inmates. There would be credible elections for inmates and officials alike.

The DCS was busy ensuring that inmates were in possession of the necessary documentation to register for educational programmes. The Department was committed to giving access to a broad range of educational programmes and activities, as stipulated by the Correctional Services Act. Inmates had achieved a 79% pass rate in the National Senior Certificate examinations in 2012. The Department cooperated with the Department of Health for health care delivery.

The Minister referred to the situation at the Mangaung Private Correctional Centre, which had been under public scrutiny. The Department would strive to ensure compliance in terms of the law and the concession contract between the DCS and the Bloemfontein Corrections Consortium. The DCS had invoked section 112 of the Correctional Services Act with regard to the management of the Consortium by G4S.  The Gauteng Regional Commissioner was currently overseeing the Mangaung facility. The DCS had immediately ordered an investigation on 25 October, following reports of offenders being forcibly injected with anti-psychotic medication, and electric shocks being administered.

With regard to parole, the Minister said there was a new dimension to the release policy of the department. The role of the community in decision making was to be enhanced. Victims of crimes could express their views before parole decisions were made. There was a new medical parole system, which permitted an offender or a representative to apply for medical parole. Victim-offender dialogues aimed to strengthen rehabilitation and reintegration programmes.

The Minister commented on the activities of the Ministerial Task Team, mandated to deal with labour-management issues. The Task Team was committed to clearing up issues between the Department and the Police and Prison Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) and the Public Servants Association. A list of resolved issues was provided.

There would be a public demonstration of the electronic monitoring Control Room at Head Office on 11 November.

Discussion
The Chairperson remarked that since 2002, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) had never had a National Commissioner that had served for the duration of a Parliamentary term. Chief Financial Officers also came and went. The Department ran the risk of losing its institutional memory and stability. With regard to the current DCS Annual Report, the Auditor General had expressed concern about procurement policy, asset management, unreliable information in statements, and matters not being conducted in terms of the set framework. There were problems of finance management and asset reporting.  Such issues pointed to the loss of stability at the top level. The Department had faulted on basic issues.

The Minister replied that he was not in favour of “divorcing” a Director General of a department. There had to be more vigilance.  In the case of the DCS, he had faced serious class action. People wanted to take him to court. The Correctional Services Act prescribed that when a National Commissioner reached 60 years of age, he had to retire. He had to inform the Minister of Police six months ahead of time, so that a successor could be found. The Minister had not been aware that when a National Commissioner had reached 60 years, he or she had to retire unless the matter went to Cabinet. He had been told that if he did not move on the issue, the National Commissioner’s signature would be invalid.

The Chairperson asked when the conclusion of the investigation at Mangaung Private Correctional Centre was expected. A 25-year contract had been entered into. There were 14 years to go. The annual cost of Mangaung and the other facility was R800 million. At the end of the contract, Correctional Services would get only two centres.

Ms Nontsikelelo Jolingana, Acting National Commissioner, DCS, replied that after the DCS had taken over at Mangaung, many things had come to the fore. There would be a two-pronged investigation. There had been a preliminary investigation into health care and security. The building part of the contract would belong to the DCS. The DCS was willing to admit that the contract had not been well thought through. Outsourcing of custodial duties was not good. The matter had been taken back to Cabinet, and it had been decided that there would be no more Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).

Mr J Selfe (DA) referred to the stipulation in the Act that the DCS had to have a controller at the PPP facilities. There was a DCS oversight function. Things at Manaung had been developing for a long time. The question was what the controller was doing. There had to be an independent investigation.

Ms Jolingana replied that the controller had to inform the Department about what was going on at facilities. Things had not been done. There were allegations against the controller.

Mr Selfe said he had listened to the Minister’s budget vote speech. There had been reference to issues like overcrowding and offender labour. The Minister had to try to keep people out of prison. Intersectoral things had to happen – with the South African Police Services, and with the Departments of Justice and Social Development. He asked what the Minister was doing to operationalise his vision in respect to the other departments.

The Minister responded that there was a celebrated instrument in the Second Chance Act, which aimed to build an offender up for a second chance. It was necessary to involve inmates in their own rehabilitation. They had to be assisted to build character through building skills of head, heart and hand. They had to learn to make something, to maintain their own bodies. Opportunities for that were not as wide as could be wished for. People had to be led to make their own prognosis of what they could be. Victim-offender dialogues could deal with character.  Offenders had to learn to correct themselves. They had to get away from the notion that society conspired against them. Regret could lead to a desire for reconciliation. An offender could then re-enter society, and take responsibility.  Skilling was important in the process.

The Chairperson asked about the role played by other arms of the criminal justice system. He asked how there could be cooperation when the judiciary insisted on incarceration, or the police took long with investigations.

Ms Jolingana said that the Victim Charter was championed by the Department of Justice. The DCS would join hands with Justice and Social Development. The DCS alone did not have enough capacity. It could not trace or counsel victims. Social Development resources could be used, through its community development section. In the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster, the Department of Justice would review alternatives to incarceration. Justice could be approached about bail under R1 000. Granting bail was not to be seen as dangerous.  A lot depended on magistrates. Communities and NGOs were being involved. An NGO had done valuable work at the Worcester facility.

Ms M Phaliso (ANC) remarked that the report was progressive. The desire to re-educate inmates emphasised Freedom Charter principles. Prisons were not seen as instruments of vengeance. Society had to be educated. She referred to page 4 on education. There had been progress with educational programmes, as could be seen on television. DCS progress had to be acknowledged.  She welcomed the GeneXpert machines installed to detect TB.

Ms Phaliso referred to an incident reported at Thoyandou Private Correctional Centre, where an inmate had been pulled around by his private parts. He had been treated worse than an animal. There was still no response on the matter. At Mangaung, the person who ran the facility had been very rude to the Portfolio Committee. He had declared that the facility was his space, and that it had nothing to do with Parliament. The PC in turn had told him that he had a bloubaadjie mentality (the mentality of a repeat offender). Government was funding the centre he claimed as his own. DCS facilities were dilapidated, but money was going to the private centres. It was a mistake that had to be corrected.

Ms Phaliso referred to victim-offender dialogue (VOD). When the Portfolio Committee had visited Umtata, there had been a call-in programme on the radio about VOD, and people were responding positively. More such programmes were needed. The community was seeing change.

The Minister responded that victims were not only those assaulted or robbed, but also close relatives of the offender. If a son was a known drug dealer, the whole family was viewed as an offender.  Family visits were necessary, as their number had been decreased by one. There was a new kind of offender coming into centres, many of them young, with drugs involved. It was not only poor people. The Minister of Basic Education had taken inmates to address school children at Naledi.  It had served as a kind of shock treatment.  Drug related crimes were rife in South Africa, Brazil and Argentina.  There was a non-racial mix of people in prison because of drugs. Awareness about drugs had to be raised. South Africans did not realise the seriousness of the situation.

The Minister said that the victim-offender dialogue was a replica of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at a personal level. Crime was personal. Victims were angry and asked why it had happened to them. There was the need for closure. It was not enough to know that justice had been meted out in the form of a sentence. Only an apology could heal the hurt. The community wanted programmes. There was a good programme at Worcester.  Even if victims told offenders that they hated them, closure could begin.

Ms Phaliso said that many centres had been built along apartheid lines, and were not fit for rehabilitation. An example was the centre at Springbok, where rehabilitation was impossible. People went from prison into tik (methamphetamine) addiction. Work had to be done on some centres.

Ms Phaliso welcomed the progress made by the Ministerial Task Team. It had to be acknowledged that 13 points had been dealt with. She welcomed the progress on electronic monitoring.

Ms W Ngwenya (ANC) thanked the Minister for the explanation about the appointment of the National Commissioner.  According to the Auditor General’s report there were funded posts in the DCS that had not been filled. People were in acting capacities for long periods.  She asked the Minister how he viewed that problem.

The Minister responded that there would be interviews in November for the post vacated by Ms Jenny Schreiner (Chief Deputy Commissioner: Strategic Management).

Ms Jolingana added that the Minister had dealt with vacancies at the Deputy Commissioner level, but there were also vacancies at other levels. The filling of posts was being fast tracked. Panels were attending to the filling of senior management posts by December.

Ms Ngwenya remarked that it was in accordance with the Freedom Charter, that inmates had the right to vote. Prisons were not institutions of vengeance. She asked if political parties could campaign at centres. She thanked the Minister for what was being done towards education.

The Minister replied that inmates had been voting since 1994. DCS members could not disallow them from reading election materials, but political parties could not campaign among them.  More than 50% of inmates had voted in the previous election. There was to be a rollout of identity documents (IDs) to help registration for voting. The ID rollout was also in the interests of education.  People paid for by the State could still not read after five years in prison. Education was attractive to inmates. An interest in reading was developing.  Election literature would be made available to inmates.

Ms Ngwenya referred to the private correctional centres. The issue of the 25-year contract had been left hanging. The next Portfolio Committee had to deal with the issue. Private security companies could not be allowed to lead. Even the Minister had to make an appointment for visits. It had been a mistake to let them assume control. There had to be a full report on Mangaung, not only on health and security.

The Minister responded that the PPP facilities had been an experiment. It was an attempt at privatisation, in partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States. But those countries had come to the same conclusion as South Africa. There had been a retreat over time. There had been six facilities, and two were left. The necessary Act had been invoked. An inmate sentenced by a court got nutrition and rehabilitation programmes.  It could not be outsourced. A meeting on 12 November could give clarity about who was responsible. There had to be intervention in private centre programmes.

The Chairperson suggested that the PPP question be deferred until a thorough discussion could be held. The Portfolio Committee was not in favour of private correctional projects.

Ms Ngwenya referred to parole. Some parolees were doing well. She asked about progress with halfway houses, and whether they had spread from Gauteng to the other provinces.

Ms Jolingana replied that there would be a report on halfway houses to the Portfolio Committee. There had been a pilot study and assessment, and partnerships struck with Naturena and other bodies.

Ms Ngwenya said that one thing missing from the challenges listed by the Ministerial Task team was the 'seven days' establishment. On Committee oversight visits, DCS members had complained about the shift system. Escapes occurred on weekends, when few members were on duty. DCS officials were also victims of inmate violence. Members complained about low salaries. There was a national call for upgrading. Officials were saying that they had been stuck at the same level for five or ten years. Officials also said that it was hard to look after inmates who could use guns, whereas they themselves had not been trained to do so.

Ms Jolingana replied that the seven day establishment had been captured in the second last bullet of the section dealing with the safety of members, and the shift system. Promotion policy had been omitted, but the matter of members remaining at low ranks was being discussed.

The Minister agreed that DCS members should not be excluded from the definition of victim.

Ms Jolingana said that everybody was speaking for the offender, but at Groenpunt officials had also been injured. Someone needed to speak for officials – they also had to benefit from victim-offender dialogue.  DCS members were sent for weapons training.  Firearm training was mandatory. The DCS had some shooting ranges of its own, but otherwise shared them with the police. There were refresher training courses. Gaps were looked at.

Mr V Magagula (ANC) remarked that the other private facility, besides Mangaung, also had to be looked at. He asked if it was right for the Department to investigate the matter. They had also been at fault.

The Minister replied that experience had been gained about outsourcing. Law and order was what defined the State. A government that could not get rid of nuisances did not have authority. Correctional services were central to law and order. The question was whether the law and order function could be outsourced. There were big problems with the private facilities which had to be worked out. He agreed that it was not just Mangaung that had to be considered, but also Thoyandou.

Mr Magagula asked if the DCS or the Department of Education would be responsible for education.

The Minister replied that DCS schools were model schools. There was discipline. Teachers taught in uniform. It was difficult to attract teachers for maths and science.  Subject teachers were professionals, but ordinary members also had an obligation to teach inmates.

The Chairperson said that the issue was whether it was right for the DCS to own the education and health regimes. The DCS could become a state within the State. Figuratively speaking, the DCS was both a hotel, a hospital and a school. The question was whether the DCS had to be responsible for everything.  Contact had to be maintained with mainstream education.

Ms Jolingana replied that the Department was responsible for health, in terms of section 10 of the Act. The Department of Health (DoH) had competencies which the DCS did not have. There was a Memorandum of Understanding with the DoH.  Section 41 of the Act compelled the DCS to provide and render education. The dilemma was that some inmates were far beyond the upper age limit for day school, as set by the Department of Education.

The Minister added that correctional centres were special environments, where people could not just walk in and out. Smuggling had to be guarded against.  It had happened that an official had given a firearm to an inmate, which could have beeen used to shoot a colleague. There had to be a controlled environment for teaching. The Act prescribed that there had to be as full a range of programmes as possible. There was cooperation with the Department of Basic Education.  Some teachers had decided the join the DCS. Training was done by educators seconded by the Education Department.

Mr Magagula asked about the contract with Sondolo for control rooms, which had been stopped.

Ms Jolingana replied that the control room referred to by the Minister was the one that dealt with electronic monitoring. There was a national control room, where the movements of those monitored was displayed.

Mr James Smalberger, Chief Deputy Commissioner: Incarceration and Corrections, added that the movements of 147 parolees could be observed in the national control room. It would be demonstrated on 11 November. The control rooms related to the Sondolo contract were a small number. There was a beginning and end date to the contract. The contract period had lapsed.

Mr Magagula referred to day parole, where the offender would seek work by day, and sleep in the facility at night. He asked what was done when offenders stayed far from the correctional centre. There could be travel costs.

Mr Smalberger replied that section 54 of the Act dealt with day parole, usually for those with long sentences. Day parole was still regarded as part of serving a sentence. It did not go beyond six months. It was a phase between the centre and reintegration. Day parolees were assisted to find jobs. The type of work was not as important as finding employment. Travel time was allowed for. If long timers were thought to be a security risk, electronic monitoring was added. It started the process of reintegration into society. A high profile example was the gang leader Staggie.  After the first month the day, a parolee would be given weekends off.

The Chairperson asked what happened when the parolee lived in a place like Klerksdorp, that had no correctional centre near to it. He asked if such a parolee would be treated differently.

Mr Smalberger replied that the parolee would be transferred to a centre closer to home. Staggie had served time in Worcester, for instance. Day parole was granted where possible, but there was only a small number of day parolees.

Mr Magagula asked if the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) would look into the matter of staff uniforms.

Mr Mokoena replied that uniforms were not part of the MTT agenda. A request for uniforms had gone out in middle October. ID cards for officials had been piloted. It would be completed by the end of the following year.

The Chairperson asked if the DCS was the appropriate vehicle for the Mangaung investigation.

Ms Jolingana replied that the DCS considered itself to be an appropriate body. There was collaboration with the Department of Health. The Department had intervened in terms of the Act. The DCS would be assisted in the investigation by the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS). The SAPS would also be drawn into the Mangaung investigation. There would be possibilities for a broader investigation later on. The judiciary would also be involved.

Mr L Max (DA) referred to human resource challenges in the Department. He congratulated the efforts of the MTT.  It was the year of the official.  People in the public service wanted clear career progress policies.  Proper leadership was needed.

Mr Teboho Mokoena, Chief Deputy Commissioner: Human Resources, DCS, responded that with the advent of the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD), tenure-based promotion had been done away with. There was currently bi-annual grade promotion. It was accepted that the turnaround for appointment to higher levels was too long. Human resource management in government was vested in the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), who had been approached to take part in the process. There was a close partnership with the DPSA. A document applicable to the DCS had been ratified by the DPSA.

Mr Max asked if MTT issues, said to have been resolved, had in fact been finalised. He asked for a range of issues that were fully resolved. He asked what the difference was between pay progressions of less than 3%, and pay progressions for social workers.

Mr Mokoena replied that grade progression had been implemented, but some had not been given the full 3%. With social workers, it had been implemented without comeback.

Mr Max asked about overtime for people other than nurses. There had been an outcry about overtime, which had not been dealt with. There had been non-implementation of agreements with labour, and arbitration awards against the Department, which the Department had failed to manage. No mention had been made of awards in favour of the unions.

Mr Mokoena replied that overtime was paid to nurses at the end of the month if they had worked more than 40 hours, if centre-based, or 45 hours if not. A request concerning overtime had been sent to the Deputy Minister. The DCS paid overtime wherever possible. Group one of backdated overtime had been finally paid.

Mr Max said that problems with the seven day establishment caused escapes, assaults and gang fights, because there was only a skeleton staff on duty.

Mr Max said that POPCRU and the Public Servants Association had both raised concerns some weeks before about the legitimacy of the MTT. The Minister was the mandate giver, who could delegate functions to the Department, but responsibility to implement lay with him. He asked if the Minister could commit to things being dealt with properly. If things had not yet been implemented, it had to be known when they would be.

Mr Mokoena responded that the MTT had met as recently as 28 October. Key decisions were being made, and the Department of Public Service and Administration was involved.

Mr Max referred to the second phase of the OSD. The Department had problems with artisans. Artisans had been aligned to the OSD of officials. There were few artisans who could both safeguard and train offenders, whilst receiving less than security officials. It affected service delivery.

Mr Mokoena replied that the arrangement under dispute with the unions was being implemented. The OSD for artisans was being implemeted, but they were carrying dual roles, which made implementation difficult.  However, the matter would not be overlooked by the MTT.

Mr Max asked the Minister if he supported the concern that officials who talked to Parliament were victimised by Regional Commissioners. The authority of the Portfolio Committee was undermined. When the PC had visited Kalakabusha, there were officials under investigation because they had talked to the PC. At Kimberley, the PC had approached the DCS to investigate allegations that the unions were protecting Mr Joseph, but there had been no feedback.

The Minister responded that intimidation was unacceptable. The country had seen enough reliance on force, and there had to be a move away from also thinking of the police as a “force”. Emphasis had to shift to rehabilitation. Inmates were encouraged to lay complaints with the assurance that they would be heard by heads of centres. The same applied to officials. They had to be able to speak before issues became a time bomb. He was definitely not in favour of victimisation.

Mr Max referred to the fact that the recruitment of officials was based on the number of available beds. Yet there was 200% overcrowding. The ratio budgeted for did not exist any more. The strategy had to be amended, to accommodate overcrowding.

Mr Mokoena replied that the organogram had to speak to staff ratios. Initial assumptions were being reviewed. The process had started the year before.

Mr Max told the Minister that he had talked to him during the Minister’s budet speech, about ten coloured officials who had taken the DCS to court about alleged discrimination against coloureds for promotion. The Minister had then said that the MTT would investigate the matter. It could possibly be under adjudication. The judgement in the court case indicated that there had been discrimination against coloureds. Solidarity had appealed, but not on the grounds of discrimination. He asked if there would be an equity plan to address the situation.

Mr Mokoena replied that the other party had filed an appeal. The Department was studying the judgment. It was currently sub judice.

The Minister added that the DCS had to be a model in matters of equity. It had to be visible in all regions of the country.

Mr M Cele (ANC) remarked that there were challenges, but the Portfolio Committee applauded work done. The Committee was seeing changes. He referred to the case of a man in his area who was from a poor family, who had stolen from a tearoom and had been sentenced to eight months' imprisonment. He had then tried to go back to school, but was in and out of prison. There had to be access to education. There had to be feedback from the Ncome centre to get both sides of the story.

Ms Phaliso remarked that she had led the delegation to Kimberley to investigate accused officials. Everybody was accusing each other. The new Area Commissioner had been accused of things that had occurred before she had even arrived. Racism was still rife. She appealed to the Minister that he was best placed to implement equity. Women would not allow being played off against each other. There had to be action against sensitive issues of racism. Relevant issues in the report had to be identified.

The Chairperson told the Minister that the Portfolio Committee would want to call him back. The meeting had been useful for the legacy report expected from the Portfolio Committee.

Ms Nontsikelelo Jolingana, Regional Commissioner, DCS, said that the gratuity budget committee would meet and report back. The Kimberley investigation had shown that there was no substance to allegations against the Area Commissioner. There had been personality clashes, but no substance to allegations of racism and harassment.

The Minister concluded that parole had to be defined more clearly.  There was commitment to the inculcation of a new ethos of service and equality.  Officials had to treat offenders on the basis of their potentials.  Officials could make a difference.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting.
 

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