Progress Report on Four New Prisons: discussion

Chairperson: Mr D Bloem (ANC)

Documents handed out:
None

SUMMARY
The Committee convened to discuss recent media reports that the Department of Correctional Services had "re-channelled" funds intended for building four new prisons. Ms Loretta Jakobus, Deputy Minister of Correctional Services explained that due to a prior commitment Commissioner Linda Mti and Minister of Correctional Services Balfour were unable to attend the meeting. She tendered Minister Balfour’s request that the meeting be postponed so that a delegation from the Department of Correctional Services, the Department of Public Works as well as National Treasury could jointly brief the Committee on the progress and challenges related to the building of the four prisons. Some Members expressed their dissatisfaction at still not having received any clear answers. Ms Sybil Seaton of the Inkatha Freedom Party said that if the problems persisted the Committee should seriously consider whether it could support the Department’s budget. The Committee agreed that the proposed meeting should be held as soon as possible.

MINUTES
The Chairperson said that the Committee was concerned about recent media reports stating that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) had re-channelled funds that were allocated for the building of four new prisons in Kimberley, Nigel, Leeuwkop and Klerksdorp. The Committee decided to call the accounting officer, Commissioner Linda Mti, as well as other key players in order to answer Members’ questions so that they could establish the truth. If funds were re-channelled, the Committee needed to know why this was done as well as whether or not the four prisons would still be built. He also requested Deputy Minister Jakobus to explain what the accounting officer’s role was.

The Chairperson emphasised that the Committee had no negative intentions towards the DCS, but needed to get answers so that it could assist if there were any problems. He reminded the DCS that the Committee was expected to exercise "100% effective oversight over the Department". Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, had said that it was important for Committees not to become lapdogs to their Departments.

Deputy Minister of Correctional Services Ms L Jakobus said that due to the seriousness of the project of construction within the DCS, Minister Balfour would personally have liked to attend the meeting. It was a matter of concern to him. He was concerned that the matter had been reported in the media "in a manner that could only be described as inaccurate". Deputy Minister Jakobus said that she, as well as the management of DCS, was of the opinion that "an urgent intervention" was needed to clarify the misconceptions that had been created by the media reports.

Ms Jakobus said that Minister Balfour requested that the Committee should convene a special meeting as soon as possible. The DCS would not like to give little bits of information that would simply confuse matters more. Minister Balfour was busy constituting a team consisting of DCS officials, officials from the Department of Public Works (DPW) as well as officials from the National Treasury that would present a "full, comprehensive progress report" to the Committee on the four prisons which should already have been completed, as well as the other four prisons which had been mentioned in the State of the Nation Address (SONA). She said that by the time the team would brief the Committee the processes of tendering for the new set of prisons would already have commenced.

Ms Jakobus said that Minister Balfour wanted to dispel the inaccurate statements that had been made about the project. There had been "no relocation or movement of any funds from the budget of the construction of the new centres to other projects." She emphasised that the DCS was "ready, able and committed to use the construction of correctional centres and other projects to continue economic growth and development".

The Chairperson thanked Deputy Minister Jakobus for a "short and sweet" statement. He asked Members’ opinions on the DCS’ request for a special meeting where their questions would be answered.

Mr L Tolo (ANC) supported Minister Balfour’s request. He was happy that the DPW and National Treasury
would also be involved. Any finger pointing would then happen in the same room. He pleaded with the other Members to also support the request especially in the light of the fact that the Commissioner and the DCS had only been given notice of the meeting five days earlier.

Mr J Selfe (DA) commiserated with Deputy Minister Jakobus because she had been "suddenly dunked"
into "quite an unhappy event". He agreed that her statement had been "short and sweet", and added that it was also very unsatisfactory. He pointed out that the Committee had been briefed by the DPW in February 2006. At this meeting it was decided that Minister Balfour should brief the Committee on the progress with the prisons. This matter did not arrive out of the blue; Minister Balfour had known about it for months. Officials from the DPW had already explained to the Committee where their areas of difficulty lay.

Mr Selfe pointed out that officials from National Treasury as well as Mr Patrick Gillingham (Chief Financial Officer: DCS) were present. They merely needed to give the Committee simple answers to simple questions whether or not the prisons would be built. He said that it was very unsatisfactory that a meeting was simply postponed because all the role players were not available. Bearing in mind that there was a parliamentary recess coming up, the meeting should be held as soon as possible. The matter should not be allowed to continue for much longer.

Ms S Seaton (IFP) agreed with Mr Selfe. She did not accept Deputy Minister Jakobus’s statement. She was not convinced that the prisons would be built. Minister Balfour should have made more of an effort to attend the meeting. This matter was taking too long to resolve. She echoed Mr Selfe’s request that the meeting should take place as soon as possible, irrespective of the parliamentary recess. If this matter was unresolved, the Committee should carefully consider whether it could support the DCS’ budget.

Mr S Mahote (ANC) concurred but wondered what the DCS should do if the inaccurate media reports persisted between now and the briefing. He asked whether the DCS should just remain silent?

In response to the suggestion that the Committee should consider the DCS’ budget carefully should uncertainty persist, the Deputy Minister said that the four new correctional centres mentioned in the 2006/07 budget and articulated in the SONA needed to be separated from the four prisons, which should already have been completed. Minister Balfour would be giving a presentation on the progress made and challenges faced in relation to the four prisons that should have been completed.

The Chairperson assured her that the Committee had never rejected any of the DCS’ budget proposals. He was pleased that Minister Balfour was taking the matter seriously. He hoped that all the role players would be present. That meeting would not be postponed.

The Chairperson said that Deputy Minister Jakobus had confirmed that the prisons would be built. She also confirmed that no funds had been re-channelled. The money had been used in the same project. These were two of the concerns that the Committee had raised. He said that at the next meeting the role players would have to clarify when the building would commence. He was sure that Deputy Minister Jakobus would not be able to answer this question now.

Deputy Minister Jakobus said that the reason why Minister Balfour had asked for a full report to be given to the Committee was so that the Committee’s questions could be responded to in full instead of in a piece meal fashion. The coming meeting could stretch over a whole day to ensure that all Members’ questions were clarified. The DCS did not want to respond to questions now – questions might appear simple but they could lead to more complex questions which the DCS might not be able to answer immediately.

The Chairperson said that he took the concerns raised by the Members very seriously. He shared their concerns. The Committee would decide when to call the meeting so that all questions could be answered.

The meeting was adjourned.