Department of Correctional Services on its 4 Quarter 15/16 & 1 Quarter 16/17 performance; Recommendations for Vacant Posts at SA Human Rights Commission

Meeting report

Briefing by Department of Correctional Services

Mr James Smalberger, Chief Deputy Commissioner: Department of Correctional Services (DCS), apologised for the absence of the Director General who had undergone a back operation.

Mr Joseph Katenga, Chief Deputy Commissioner: Strategic Management, DCS, said 29 out of the 47 annual targets, (62%), of the Department was achieved. The challenges for the Department were:

• the development and implementation of an integrated communication and marketing strategy
• the finalisation of all cases defended by the DCS and improved turnaround times of the cases.
• the rolling out of the Integrated Inmate Management System
• security VPN upgrades to correctional centres
• the filling of 3 780 vacant funded posts
• escapes assaults and unnatural deaths
• that feedback on unnatural deaths be provided to stakeholders within 30 days
• the provision of new bed spaces through upgrades to facilities
• overcrowding
• the finalisation of the remand detention management policy
• the participation of offenders in educational programmes
• social work services
• the placing of parolees under an electronic monitoring system
• the participation of victims, parolees and probationers in restorative justice programmes

Mr Nick Ligege, CFO, DCS, said the budget of the Department had been cut by R30m. The Department overspent by R121 000, which occurred in Programme 2: Incarceration. However, within programmes there was over and underspending. In Programme 1 there was overspending on compensation of employees and on interest while there was underspending on transfers and subsidies and payment of capital assets. In Programme 2 there was overspending on goods and services and the payment of capital assets and underspending on transfers and subsidies. The Department was expecting a clean audit from the Auditor General.
Discussion
The Chairperson said he was concerned that the targets and challenges presented to the Committee were vague and questioned whether it had any impact on society. For him the biggest problem was moral degeneration and the overcrowding in prisons would not stop while there was continual moral degeneration in society. The work appeared to be inward looking and not trying to develop active citizenry. The Department should mobilise and involve society and work with social structures. A municipal councillor, for example, had enquired from him about the halfway house in Naturena that had been closed down without explanation. Could this house be reopened? Could a substantive report be submitted on all halfway houses the Department had? There were many social work, law and other students who could assist at halfway houses. Could there be partnerships with the SACC and other social organisations in interventions?
 
Mr J Selfe (DA) said overcrowding in prisons could be addressed in many ways. It appeared there were not enough people at centre level to do what was needed. The Committee had waited a long time for the Remand Detention Management Policy which had been submitted to the Minister for approval to be completed. What was the hold up? He had heard that some of the electronic-tagging mechanisms were in a state of disrepair and that the Department had problems with the service provider and that only 850 out of a 1000 were in use and this was of great concern.

Mr L Mpumlwana (ANC) said the Department was being sued by lifers because they had not appeared before a parole board. What progress had been made? Had the number of parole board members been increased, because there had been a number of vacancies? What was causing unnatural deaths in prisons and what measures were being taken to limit these deaths? How many inmates were infected by TB or AIDS while in prison? What progress, if any, had there been in installing CCTV cameras in cells?

Mr W Horn (DA) wanted information about three contractors who were placed under liquidation. He said the only target the security operations programme had achieved was for the drafting and approval of policies and procedures and that there had been an 8.4% underspending of the security budget.

Ms M Pilane-Majake (ANC) said the Department had to outline its retention strategy and gang management strategy.

Ms M Mothapo (ANC) wanted an update on the Integrated Inmate Management System. 38% of predetermined objectives were not met, yet the whole budget was spent, hence what impact had the spending on the lives of prisoners? The overall vacancy rate of 8.9% was of great concern. What was in place to expedite the filling of these vacancies. There were significant variances in rental and hiring costs. Could this, as well as on the overspending on compensation of employees be commented on?

Mr Smalberger said the current reporting system was restrictive in that the Department had to report only on what was in the APP. This influenced how the Department reported. The Department would brief the Committee on all MOUs and partnerships the Department had.

Regarding overcrowding, he said the Department did have a multi-pronged strategy based on the management of remandees, of sentenced offenders, and the provision of facilities and to improve engagement in the cluster to enhance synergies. Remand detainees was drastically reduced by 15-20 000 over the last few years. A task team was finalising how best to manage short time offenders.

On the lifers, the Minister recently appointed a new National Council for Correctional Services (NCCS) which met more regularly and would be considering the lifer cases in the current month. There was also a Parole Review Board where appeals could be lodged. There was a continual challenge in employing psychologists. The Eastern Cape, North West province, Limpopo and Mpumalanga all had challenges in employing psychologists. Most of the Department's psychologists were based in the Western Cape and Gauteng.

On the contractors, in the current quarter the Department of Public Works had allocated a new contractor to continue with the work on C Max prison.

The misalignment of plans was more a misalignment between national, regional and centre level plans. The Department was also looking at the organisational structure of the Department.

Regarding the Integrated Inmate Management System, he said the “order” that restricted them currently was still in force, so the situation remained the same while the court processes continued.

Ms Britta Rotmann, CDC: Remand Detention, said the issues of the staffing to offender level ratios; the structure of the joint regions of the Department which did not accord with the provinces; understaffing at centre levels; and the creation of posts in addition to the establishment, pointed to issues regarding the structure of the Department. There were engagements and consultations on a proposed structure which would address all these challenges.

The key retention strategy was the retention of an OSD and the Department was focusing on the resolution of this item. It focused on levels three to eight which were the levels found to be leaving the Department. The Department would increase the analysis of exit interviews.

Regarding the filling of vacancies in care programmes, Ms Rotmann said the Operation Hira intervention was successful but further strategies needed to be looked at to attract professional staff, for example by offering half day positions rather than full time ones.

Regarding remand detainees, the Minister had requested that the Department, together with the NPA establish a task team to look at people with bail who were in the Department’s facilities.
 
Regrading unnatural deaths, Mr Gcinumzi Ntlakana, Deputy Commissioner: Security, said that in the 2015/16 financial year there were three deaths through overdosing on medication; 29 people had died of unknown causes which required further autopsies; nine deaths through assault; 15 through hanging; one through wrist slashing; two through smoke inhalation; two through burns; and one, an escapee trying to hijack a fidelity guards van, was shot by SAPS. Regarding the medication overdoses, he said the challenge was that some inmates were sometimes given medicines for a week. They could stockpile this self-administered medication or it could be used by someone else. Of note was that there had been no deaths through assault by officials.

Regarding the CCTV cameras in cells, proposals had been sent to the NCCS. The Department had obtained two conflicting legal opinions around the balance between privacy and security. The executive had recommended that the Ministry be consulted. Operationally, the Department was able to act on a decision.

Regarding the general performance of security operations, it spoke to the security philosophy of the Department. The Department was currently focused on a draft of the policy because effective security management was based on people, processes and systems. The incidents occurring pointed to the need to look at the Department’s procedures. However, refining the procedures would not eliminate the challenges because the challenge was the failure of people to implement the processes.

On gang management, it was important to accept that gangs were constantly evolving. The nexus between the street and prison gangs were constantly changing, even the ability to predict the behaviour of gangs. So the Department’s own strategy needed to be constantly renewed. The first objective could be linked to the strategy. It was managing risk through continuous risk assessment from remand detainees.

The second objective was reducing the motivation to join gangs by identifying factors that drove people to join gangs and these factors were centre specific. The Department was also developing an intelligence management system which was sorely lacking as there was a need to profile people and have this information readily available.

The third objective was inter sectoral cooperation where the Department was fostering relationships between communities and the centres and engaging with civil society.

The fourth objective was to address the potential negative effects of incarceration, for example alienation.

The Chairperson asked if there were countries that had implemented the CCTV system in cells.

Mr Ntlakana said the Department needed to consider possible litigation. It would not be prudent to implement the CCTV cameras knowing that possible litigation could arise.

Mr Mpumlwana said the benefits outweighed the privacy.

Mr Smalberger said the matter had been referred to the NCCS where there were three judges and other legal people and their views might provide the Department with a clear way forward.

Regarding the Naturena halfway house, it had not closed down, the contract of the house parents had ended and the Department was busy with renovations.

On electronic monitoring, the 870 people were not monitored for the whole year, that was only for the fourth quarter. People were tagged and then de-tagged and the monitoring unit was used for someone else. Tags were being tampered with and action was being taken against parolees in these instances.

Regarding TB and Aids treatment, in the fourth quarter 21 509 offenders had received ARTs, 374 had been treated for TB and 52 000 had been tested for Aids.

Regarding compulsory Aids testing on admission, legal opinion had been sought and their view was that it would be unconstitutional to implement compulsory testing and would leave the Department open to legal challenges. Hence the Department was doing voluntary testing

The Chairperson asked if building capacity in the Department would be cheaper than paying consultants.

Mr Ligege said the consultants were mainly used for professional IT services, however the majority of these contracts had been cancelled.

Mr Mpumlwana said he had asked previously about security fences, for example the one in Umtata where a perfect fence was taken down and replaced with another one which then disappeared. What happened to the fences that were taken down? The blocking of cell phones by the Department appeared not to work. In the past there were agricultural fields used by the prisons to provide food. Could the Department be partially self-sufficient in food supply?

Mr M Maila (ANC) asked if the Integrated Inmate Management System (IIMS) had been suspended, if not what was the extent of the implementation and its impact on the budget? How many centres used mobile kitchens and what was the cost implication of this? Could the Department not use its own mobile kitchens?

Mr Horn said there was no budgetary allowance for interest and rent but interest was paid out on salary expenses. He asked for an explanation on this and the R5.9m spent on this item in the budget. In terms of transfers and subsidies; there was underspending on some sub programmes whilst on others there was overspending. Was this because the budget itself was not correctly drawn up?

Ms M Mothapo wanted clarity on fleet management because the previous quarter had reflected a huge amount for fleet maintenance. How was the Department working towards a clean audit?

Mr B Bongo (ANC) said his concern was the under and over expenditure. What would the consequence management be for this? How was the issue of vacancies reconciled with these over and under expenditures?

The Chairperson said the Department should try to be more practical. He asked how many state owned farms could be accessed by the Department to produce food.

Mr Smalberger said the Department had 21 correctional farms and 96 small garden sites which were producing produce currently. The Department would need to return to give account on the total kilograms of fruit and vegetables produced, of chickens, meat and pork produced, of egg and milk production and of all farm activities. The Department was also liaising with the Department of Small Business on the issue of cooperatives.

The mobile kitchens were part of the nutrition contract, where the Department had serious challenges with the existing kitchens which were not up to standard as at for example Groenpunt prison.

Regarding the IIMS, Ms Rotmann said an interim interdict had been granted by the court that the Department could not implement the Treasury instruction or cancel the Service Level Agreement with providers. The Minister decided to abide by the decision of the court. The court case had not impacted on the implementation of IIMS at this stage. The next milestone would be user acceptance testing in September and the roll out to other centres would start in October. The budget for IIMS resided in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

On cell phone detection, Mr Ntlakana said the Department had cell phone detection equipment at various facilities. There was confusion over cell phone detection and cell phone blocking. The Department had engaged with ICASA on cell phone blocking where the signal was blocked.  ICASA was very clear that the Department was not a security Department which had the privilege to block signals. ICASA should brief the Committee because the issues ICASA raised were beyond the mandate of the Department. Cell phone blocking blocked an area, not a signal, which could lead to litigation from those affected by the blocking outside of the correctional facility, including service providers. The Department was working with SAPS to overcome these operational measures.

Mr Smalberger said a specific signal was not blocked; rather the whole environment was blocked. One could not block only a correctional facility; the surrounding areas would also be affected.

Mr Ligege said the underspending of R500m on security was as a result of vacancies.

The R5.9m payments to households category was payments made to private individuals who received awards by the courts. This could not be budgeted for.

The R7m for rentals and hiring was for rentals of marquees for events etc.

The transfers and subsidies were mainly leave gratuity payments because of resignations.

The Department was exploring fleet management to optimise fuel and reduce fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The fleet that was bought was to replenish the old fleet. Any redundant vehicles were auctioned off.

To get a clean audit the Department was trying to comply with legislation regarding performance information and the automation of processes in the IIMS system would assist. Procurement at a national office had been capacitated to avoid irregular expenditure. An enforcement unit in this regard would go around to inspect and make recommendations. This was a preventative measure. A Risk management committee had been resuscitated and risk management processes had been improved.

Mr Mdakane, the new Head of Facilities, said he had already received instruction to develop the Department’s own mobile kitchen. Contractors were paid to remove the fences. Of the six contractors that were liquidated, four projects had been completed with two still outstanding - C Max and Escourt - which would be completed in May the following year.

The Chairperson said that in Thohoyandou there were 150 SETA learnerships that were not happening because the SETA needed to get private companies from Johannesburg. If the SETA, the Department of Public Works and the construction industry came together those learners would be in training. There appeared to be a problem in interdepartmental communication.

Mr Smalberger said the Department had their own experiences regarding dealing with SETAs. Adopting learners into the Department’s system had its own challenges and question marks. There was no system to place learners into the Department’s system. The only system they had was where nearby communities were helped through training at the Department’s workshops and in agricultural activities.

Review of Recommendations for Vacant Posts at the SA Human Rights Commission
Mr Vhonani Ramaano, Committee secretary, said the Committee had received a referral to recommend a person for appointment to the Commission the previous year and early in the current year it received another referral. The two vacancies were advertised together and candidates were shortlisted. Mr Lambani and Mr Gaum were recommended and the Committee’s report containing the recommendations was currently before National Assembly.  However, in June/July the Committee received another referral for the appointment of a further five commissioners. The five vacancies were advertised with the closing date being 12 August. Some responses for these vacancies were received.

The Chairperson said the Committee respected the gender policy but that did not mean that women should be appointed when they did not qualify. Two men were appointed for the two vacant posts because there were no appointable women. Parliament however did not accept this. Five posts needed to be filled and serving commissioners were eligible for reappointment. The gender issue and the eligibility of the serving members were the two issues that had to be addressed. Because the matter was before Parliament, he proposed that Parliament reject their initial proposal to appoint two members and refer the matter back to the Committee who would then advertise and recommend seven commissioners.

Mr Horn said advice was needed whether any additional vacancies would be arising soon. There had been a complete interview process for two positions. The DA had felt that the female candidate was suitable because it was OK for her to be part-time knowing that five positions would become vacant. Did the two nominated candidates acquire legal rights in expectation of being appointed as commissioners?

The Chairperson said the Committee’s recommendation would culminate in Parliament accepting or rejecting the recommendation. As that had not happened, they had no rights.

Ms Pilane-Majake said she agreed with Mr Horn that the process was now laborious. The total number of commissioners was eight in terms of the new legislation. By October there would only be one commissioner who still had two years of his appointment to run therefore the appointments had to be concluded as soon as possible.

The Chairperson said the Committee agreed on the need to bring the proposal to the house so that the matter could be resolved.

The meeting was adjourned