Department 2006/7 Annual Report: hearings with Minister

CORRECTIONAL SERVICES PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
31 October 2007
DEPARTMENT 2006/7 ANNUAL REPORT: HEARINGS WITH MINISTER

Chairperson: Mr Dennis Bloem (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI) submission on Department Annual Report 2006/07 South African Council of Churches submission on Department Annual Report 2006/07
POPCRU submission on Department Annual Report 2006/07
Khulisa Crime Prevention Initiative on Department Annual Report 2006/07
Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Annual Report 2006/07

Compressed audio recording or WAV Recording of meeting

SUMMARY
The Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, South African Council of Churches, Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union as well as Khulisa Crime Prevention Initiative evaluated the Department Annual Report 2006/07, where the primary points discussed were protection of prisoners from torture; the increase in unnatural deaths in prison; poor budget allocation for rehabilitation; corruption; the importance of strengthening reintegration programmes; decentralisation of DCS staff and increasing skills development, transparency within the 2006/07 Report and minimum sentencing.

Some points of note was that the Department had failed to give a breakdown of the types of unnatural deaths and assaults, as had been done in previous years’ annual reports. Concern was raised over the increase in unnatural deaths of prisoners in the last two years from 30 to 62. Minister Balfour agreed that DCS headquarters is overstaffed, and that DCS staff should be sent to correctional facilities to prevent the DCS from becoming an overly bureaucratic and centralised department. He also agreed with POPCRU’s assertion that the Internal Audit Committee is weak.

MINUTES
The Chair introduced the hearings by noting that because of the democratic principles adopted by South African government, it is mandatory for the public to contribute and participate in evaluating government departments. He added that tax-paying citizens’ incomes supplement the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), which emphasises the need for public involvement in assessing the Department’s achievements and challenges.

Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative (CSPRI) submission
Mr Lukas Muntingh (CSPRI senior researcher) focused on the protection of prisoners’ human rights and the prevention of torture. He noted that although South Africa ratified the UN Convention against Torture in 1998, the act of torture had not been criminalised. Concern was raised over the increase in unnatural deaths of prisoners in the last two years from 30 to 62. In many cases of unnatural deaths and incidents of assault, the investigation progress was largely slow and inadequate. Although there had been a marginal decline in reported assaults, the decrease might be due to poor faith in the complaints mechanism. He pointed out that the information available for assaults did not differentiate between types of assailment that occurred in the past year. He asserted that if the issue of prisoners’ rights was not attended to, a culture of impunity would be disseminated.

Mr Muntingh recommended that:
● the Portfolio Committee should enter into a partnership with the Department of Justice to finalise the inclusion of the prohibition of torture in legislation;
● an inclusive investigation of unnatural prison deaths by the Inspecting Judge of Prisons, so as to gain insight into the short and long-term causes, which will allow for the realisation of relevant solutions to violent behavior in prisons;
● DCS staff be trained in how to use minimum force;
● prisoners be informed of their right not to be tortured;
● a general awareness program be initiated informing the public on the prohibition of torture;
● oversight from the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons in dealing with assaults and deaths to ensure that cases received adequate attention;
● the DCS should publicise the results of unnatural death and assault investigations in their annual reports to enhance transparency and accountability.

Discussion
The Chair opened the discussion by noting that there are some cases where prisoners have no regard for the system, causing prison staff to be faced with a difficult and often violent environment. While considering this reality, he asked how CSPRI proposed that prison officials deal with unruly and aggressive prisoners.

Mr Muntingh pointed out that the prohibition of torture denies the use of violence under all circumstances, no matter how violent the prisoner. He explained that this is why giving the staff constitutional education is crucial, as well as practical training on how to use minimum force when dealing with prisoners. Moreover, there are constructive mechanisms to reduce violent behavior, such as daily activity to keep detainees busy, and increased visits from family members. He commended the Portfolio Committee on their regular trips to correctional facilities.

Mr E Xolo (ANC) requested more information on “minimum force” as used by CSPRI.

Mr Muntingh requested that the Department give a breakdown of unnatural deaths and assaults, as had been done in previous years’ annual reports. He added that in the case of assaults, there is no clear distinction of whether the assaults that occurred were between prisoners, or prisoners and staff. He stressed that these details would provide the information that is required to determine what the minimum force should be when training staff in restraining violent behavior.

Mr M Shah (DA) expressed his doubt of the viability of the Inspecting Judge of Prisons investigating each individual case of unnatural death and assault.

DCS Minister Ngconde Balfour agreed with Mr Shah, and declared that the judiciary did not have the capacity, nor the power to investigate prison crimes. The primary task of the Inspecting Judge of Prisons is to ensure that justice is served, and that investigation is the duty of the police.

Ms W Ngwenya (ANC) said that the DCS needs assistance from civil society in educating citizens so that the use of torture is undermined. It would be preferable that the DCS provide an individual case breakdown of the unnatural deaths and assault cases before the end of the year.

Ms L Chikunga (ANC) asked whether there is a direct connection between the increase in deaths and the decrease in assault with the arguably deficient prisoner complaint mechanism. She requested that the CSPRI conduct further research into the current system of lodging complaints, so that the Portfolio Committee may evaluate whether the procedure needs to be amended.

Mr Muntingh replied that, as there is limited public access to investigation reports, it is difficult to source the systemic causes of prison deaths and assault. He added that although there may be a connection between a flawed complaint mechanism and the increase in deaths, there is no firm evidence that this is the foremost reason for an increase in unnatural deaths. 

The Chair closed the discussion by thanking Mr Muntingh for his detailed contribution.

South African Council of Churches (SACC) submission
Rev Keith Vermeulen (Director of the SACC's Parliamentary Office) said that the primary concern of SACC was the budget allocation, as there has been a noted relative decrease in spending on facilities, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes and spiritual care.

Mr Vermeulen reported that the SACC was distressed by the negligible increase (2%) in the DCS budget allocation. Although the DCS was spending more in terms of building new correctional institutions, the SACC was opposed to these developments. He asserted that increasing the number of prisons would not remedy overcrowding. He urged the Committee to consider creating a stronger framework for rehabilitation and integration programs which was a more long-term solution to crime.

Rev Vermeulen pinted out that the impact of minimum sentencing legislation was excluded from the 2006/07 report, legislation that needed to be revised in order to reduce prison overcrowding. On the point of recidivism, although rehabilitation had been outlined in the 2006/07 DCS report as a key issue, the Department had neglected to propose the initiation of research into the causes of recidivism. He highlighted the need for a more proactive and expansive approach to social reintegration of prisoners. He suggested that the DCS consider the possibility of creating halfway houses to assist the reintegration process. Rev Vermeulen conceded that although there has been a dramatic improvement in the treatment of HIV/AIDS prisoners, the meagre spending on prisoner meals and the budgetary reduction in spiritual care was a point of concern for the SACC.

Discussion
Mr Shah asked whether the SACC was in favour of a conceptually new approach to crime and violence.

Rev Vermeulen affirmed Mr Shah’s sentiments by noting that in order for the system to become more effective, a shift in tackling crime and violence is required. He asserted that the justice system does not emphasise crime prevention, which is what demands attention.

Mr L Tolo (ANC) asked about the SACC’s views on HIV/AIDS transmission prevention. He asked whether the organisation only supported the power of prayer on this matter.

Rev Vermeulen replied that the SACC had assumed a realistic stance on the problem of HIV/AIDS, where it believed that the use of condoms, abstinence and faithfulness should be promoted in prisons. He added that the organisation has faith in prayer and practicality as tools of prevention.

Ms Chikunga stated that she believed that there was a direct correlation between an increase in crime and the loss of spiritual faith. She added that the church has a direct role in preventing crime.

Mr N Fihla (ANC) commented that retaining minimum sentencing was necessary, as it provided continuity in judges’ verdicts. He noted that if this mechanism was to be discontinued, judgments regarding a specific crime would vary too much amongst different judges. He asked what the SACC believed to be the role of the church and community in the process of prisoners being rehabilitated.

Rev Vermeulen agreed that an active approach from the community and the church was necessary in crime prevention and criminal rehabilitation. Crime was primarily caused by a breakdown of relationships in communities and families. He asserted that the aim of the church is to repair the roots of degeneration, which is why restorative justice is crucial.

The Chair expressed concern that the large number of recently retired prison chaplains had not been replaced, and accepted that the DCS should provide new priests for prisoners. He said that the Portfolio Committee would be prepared to visit churches to speak to the public about the importance of crime prevention.

Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) submission
Mr Abbey Witbooi (General Secretary of POPCRU) noted that there were a number of points of concern about the 2006/07 DCS Annual Report. It was noted that:
● corruption within the department needed to be investigated, and that independent research on the causes of corruption needed to be initiated;
● the process of policy formulation should be democratised and POPCRU and DCS should co-manage the Department with the Relationship by Building Objectives (RBO) mechanism;
● the DCS headquarters is overstaffed, and personnel should be decentralised and redeployed to correctional facilities;
● the social reintegration programme should be intensified in order to reduce recidivism;
● the Audit Committee should improve its management;
● rather than outsourcing to private consultants, the DCS should train its own staff to perform government tasks;
● ensure that the DCS Labour Relations Division promotes harmonious relations between the DCS and trade unions, instead of proposing unfair staff dismissals;
● empower DCS employees through skills training;
● restructure the performance rewards mechanism, as it proves to be problematic;
● in the areas of IT, logistics and finance, employment equity has not been achieved, a recruitment campaign needed to be initiated;
● the DCS should avoid over or under-spending their budget.

Discussion
The Chair thanked POPCRU for its submission, but noted that the presentation lacked proposals and recommendations.

Mr Shah queried POPCRU’s meaning of ‘co-management’. He pointed out that there cannot be too many leaders if the task of government is to attain proficient decision-making.

Mr Witbooi replied that POPCRU did not desire to run the DCS, but ensure that the highest degree of cooperation and communication is achieved.

Mr Fihla argued that no matter how capable management is, the real strength comes from the workers on the ground, which is why it is crucial to have strong communication and integration between workers and management to ensure the efficiency of the workforce.

Ms Chikunga noted that not all officials in the DCS are corrupt, and that most of the time dismissals were as a result of corruption. She asked what POPCRU meant by the recruitment of “quality personnel”.

Minister Balfour added to Ms Chikunga’s comment, by noting that the majority of dismissals and suspensions are as a result of corruption charges.

Mr Witbooi replied that due to globalisation, new sophisticated trends of crime and corruption had emerged, this meant that research and information was required to source the roots of corruption in order to establish measures to combat corruption. He added that you cannot recruit workers that are of high quality, you need to train employees to be of high calibre.

Minister Balfour agreed that DCS headquarters is overstaffed, and noted that DCS staff will soon be dispatched to correctional facilities to prevent the DCS from becoming an overly bureaucratic and centralised department. He agreed with POPCRU’s assertion that the Internal Audit Committee is weak, and that compliance with its members needs to be gained.

Khulisa Crime Prevention Initiative submission
Mr Graham Vine focused of the submission would be on the DCS programmes Corrections, Development and Care. He noted that Khulisa had no knowledge of whether the budget was approved or increased/decreased. He raised the point that many of the instances where the DCS was unable to meet its targets in the past year was due to funding inadequacies. The issue of staff attrition was raised and concern was expressed over the loss of experienced, high level DCS employees, which may affect the DCS performance.

Mr Vine pointed out that in the 2006/07 DCS Report, it was difficult to adequately gauge the progress made in the spheres of Corrections, Development and Care, as there was limited report-back on the development of individual programmes. Furthermore, the policies and procedures with regards to the Offender Rehabilitation Path (ORP) need to be developed, so that civil society might provide support. Mr Vine asserted that Social Reintegration is a crucial stepping stone in curbing recidivism, yet the budgeting for the programme was far from satisfactory, and the DCS did not give the strategy adequate attention in the 2006/07 Report. On this matter Mr Vine proposed that the DCS establish partnerships with civil society so that reintegrative mechanisms might be furthered. He noted that youth detainee care and attention is crucial, as it is juveniles who are the future. If effective treatment strategies were established, the future level of recidivism might be dramatically lower. He thanked the Committee for their time, and asked whether in future, Khulisa might receive earlier notice of a request for submissions.

Discussion
The Chair opened the discussion by expressing his apologies to Mr Vine, because there would only be a few minutes for questions and answers, as the Chair had another meeting to attend.

Mr Shah asked what Mr Vine meant by “organisational change”.

Mr Vine replied that this was the organisational change that is proposed in line with White Paper. He stated that this organisational shift would entail transformation in management, general attitudes and training programmes.

Ms Chikunga asked if Khulisa deemed the ORP as having the potential to provide a decrease in repeated offenders.

Mr Vine noted that Khulisa had already established integration projects that are funded by a Finnish foundation, yet these endeavours have to take place on a small-scale only. He noted the ORP is very similar to Khulisa’s integration projects, and they supported the DCS strategy.

The Chair concluded that for reintegration to be successful, partnerships with civil society need to be initiated. The submissions had given the Portfolio Committee much to think about.

Meeting ended.