Department & Minister of Correctional Services: Annual Report briefing

NCOP Security and Justice

08 November 2007
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Meeting report

SECURITY AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE
8 November 2007
DEPARTMENT & MINISTER OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES: ANNUAL REPORT BRIEFING

Chairperson: Kgoshi L Mokoena (ANC, Limpopo)

Documents handed out:
Department of Correctional Services Annual Report 2006-2007 presentation
Department of Correctional Services Annual Report 2006-2007

Audio recording of meeting

SUMMARY
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) and the Minister briefed the Committee on its activities during the past year. The briefing focused mainly on performance and the achievements recorded at the regional level. New security was established, but there had been 94 escapes and a number of deaths in custody. Overcrowding remained a problem. Health care was provided to all offenders, with implementation of anti-retroviral treatment for HIV positive offenders being offered. The construction of the new facility at Kimberley had begun and five others were being planned. Challenges remained in filling vacancies, in budgeting, in alignment of planning and reporting. There was a need for more work at the regional level. The incidents of violent escapes needed to be investigated and avoided. There had been qualifications in the audit report in regard to assets, medical expenses, receivables and accruals. Members raised questions on the overcrowding, the vacancy levels, the retention strategies for staff, the high number of awaiting trial detainees, and the problems around assets in the Department. Further questions related to facilities for disabled prisoners, the facilities, whether the privately run facilities were better than the old ones, and the suspension of officials. The Committee requested a further report in writing on the longest serving awaiting trial detainees, and the staff suspensions.
MINUTES
Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Annual Report briefing
Commissioner Vernon Peterson, National Commissioner, DCS, gave a run down of the performance highlights of the Department during the year. Some of the highlights included the launch of the annual corrections week, the development of a comprehensive framework and policy on social reintegration, and the finalisation of the strategy on recruitment and retention of scarce skills. At the regional level, certain activities were also highlighted. In the area of administration, the new communication strategy was extended to the regions, while about 358 litigation actions were handled in all regions and the Head Office.

Under the area of security, new security equipment was installed in the regions. However, 94 escapes were recorded during the year under review, and there was an increase in unnatural deaths, caused mainly by an increase in violence on inmates by other inmates and officials. The Gauteng region was identified as the most overcrowded region, while Kwazulu Natal had the largest number of children in its facilities. There was also high level of participation in formal education and skills development in all the regions.

Health care was provided to all offenders in the regions. In particular, eight sites were accredited for implementation of anti-retroviral treatment for HIV positive offenders, while HIV/AIDS was identified as a risk factor with regions reporting quarterly on mitigating this risk. In the area of social reintegration, 52 parole boards had been established in all regions, while sensitisation workshops were being organised to enlighten communities, NGOs and state departments on social reintegration. In regard to facilities, the construction of Kimberley Correctional Centre had commenced, while feasibility studies for construction of five other centres had been completed.

Challenges were faced by the Department in filling of Regional Commissioner posts, and in the incidents of violent escapes. There were some problems in budgeting between Head Office and Regions, and there needed to be greater alignment of planning and reporting processes. There was a need for development of region-specific operational plans, for training of security officials, and improvement of recruitment and retention process at regional level.

The Department also received a qualified report from the Auditor General with qualifications in the areas of asset management, medical expenditure, receivables and accruals.

Discussion
Mr E Sogoni (ANC, Gauteng) asked if there had been any efforts at cluster level to deal with the problem of overcrowding.

Furthermore he asked to know what the Department was doing about the vacancies on the Parole Boards.

Mr L Fielding (ANC, Northern Cape) asked to know why there were so many awaiting trial detainees (ATDs) on whom the Department was spending R25 per day.

Comm Petersen noted that much of the overcrowding was caused by awaiting trial detainees, a problem which the Department had inherited. He however said they had made some progress with the ATDs, as the Department now has a dedicated programme to deal with overcrowding. With regard to the vacancies in the Parole Boards, he said that an arrangement had been reached wherein some of them would be roving boards, to help with those areas that were affected by the existing vacancies.

Mr A Moseki (ANC, North West) stated that the Department had improved in its activities and commended it. He asked to know if the Department monitored to ensure that skills that were taught were being put to proper use. He asked also whether there was a retention strategy in place to curb the increasing number of staff leaving the service.

Mr Petersen noted, in relation to the vacancies, that these were higher in the area of exceptional skills. Some staff positions had been upgraded- for instance, doctors had been upgraded to level 12. Also, the Department was planning to become a 7-day organisation, and had received R54 million to take care of additional positions. On skills development, he said that many ex-offenders have been successfully reintegrated back into society.

Mr Moseki asked if there was an up to date asset register. He also asked whether the Department had an up to date asset register.

Mr Sogoni also enquired if there were qualified staff responsible for asset management in the Department.

Mr N Mack (ANC, Western Cape) asked to know how many disabled convicts the Department had in its facilities, and whether there were any special provisions made for them.

Comm Petersen responded that a policy on persons with disabilities was being put in place.

Mr Mack asked to know the percentage of loans the Department had written off.

Mr Mack enquired if the facilities run by private companies were better run than those owned by the government. He also asked if there was a need to build different facilities for ATDs.

Dr Van Heerden also asked to know what the Department was doing about ATDs who had to wait very long before being tried.

Mr Manyosi asked to know how the escapes recorded were facilitated.

Ms F Nyanda (ANC, Mpumalanga) asked to know how many unnatural deaths had occurred in custody.

Comm Petersen said that the unnatural deaths were caused by suicides, and incidents of violence among inmates.

Ms Nyanda asked why the Department’s assets were not bar-coded.

In relation to all the questions around assets, Comm. Petersen responded that the Department has now been permitted to migrate to LOGIS, which was a government system that integrated all accounting systems. He said they were working on its implementation, which could extend to 2008/09. Furthermore, he stated that the Department had a lot of assets and had started using engraving as an alternative to bar-coding. He further said that the Department had received extra funds from Treasury to fund employment of 600 supervisory and junior staff.

The Chairperson asked to know what the Department was doing about the recurring cases of vacancies. He also asked for how much longer the outsourcing of the recruitment function within the Department would last.

The Chairperson enquired how much was being spent on suspended officials per region.

Comm Petersen stated that cases of corruption in correctional facilities were very common all over the world. However, the Department was tackling this by instilling professionalism within the service.

The Chairperson enquired the longest periods for which ATDs had been incarcerated.

Comm Petersen responded that there were 297 persons incarcerated for 24 months or longer in the Western Cape, while in the Eastern Cape, the longest serving ATD had spent 4 years incarcerated. The Department was collaborating with the National Prosecuting Authority on the use of the plea bargain mechanism in order to deal with the issue of ATDs.

Generally, Comm Petersen conceded, in relation to infrastructure and overcrowding problems, that the Department had not done well. He however stated that a new Deputy Commissioner had been appointed to be responsible for infrastructural development within the service. He also stated that the Department was making headway in the procurement of new correctional facilities. In addition, the Department was amending its disciplinary code to speed up appeals from disciplinary hearings.

Hon Ngconde Balfour, Minister of Correctional Services, added that the Department could not do away with outsourcing the recruitment function. He stated that the volume of applications received was in the millions and therefore needed to be handled by companies that had expertise in the field. He admitted that outsourcing was an expensive venture, but it was also unavoidable. He also stated that some of the privately run correctional facilities were very good, being far better run than the Government-owned ones. He added that five new facilities were being planned by the Department. He also reiterated that separate arrangements had been put in place to cater for ATDs with disabilities.

The Chairperson requested that a list of the longest serving ATDs per region be made available to the Committee. He also asked for a breakdown of all staff suspended in all regions, including how long they had spent under suspension.

The meeting was adjourned.


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