Committee Reports: Consideration & Committee Programme: adoption

CORRECTIONAL SERVICES PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
20 November 2007
COMMITTEE REPORTS: CONSIDERATION & COMMITTEE PROGRAMME: ADOPTION

Chairperson: Mr D Bloem (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Committee 2008 First Term Programme
Draft Committee Annual Report 2007
Draft Committee Report on Department of Correctional Services Annual Report 2006/7
[available at Committee Reports once published]

Audio recording of meeting

SUMMARY
In this the final meeting for the year, the Committee considered and adopted its Programme for the First Term of 2008; as well as minutes of previous meetings. The Chair called for an urgent meeting later in the week to finalise and adopt the Committee’s Annual Report 2006/7 as well as its Report on the Department’s 2006/7 Annual Report. Minutes of a previous meeting were adopted, without amendments.

MINUTES
Introduction by Chairperson
The Chairperson opened the meeting by addressing a serious security breach in one of the prisons. He informed the Members that he was contacted by an inmate in a particular prison on Saturday, and who informed the Chair that he had confidential documents in his possession that he wanted to fax through to the Chairperson. In dealing with the matter, the Chair complained to the National Commissioner and the relevant Regional Commissioner about the fact that an inmate would have access to such facilities, especially since this particular inmate was a known fraudster. The Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons would be called in to carry on further investigations.

Mr J Selfe (DA) asked which prison the inmate had called from, and supported the Chair in his handling of the situation.

Ms W Ngwenya (ANC) also asked whether it was a male or female prison and also expressed her support for the manner in which the Chairperson handled the situation.

The Chair responded to the Members by stating that all that information on the matter was confidential, and would be revealed after a Report from the Inspecting Judge on the matter.

Committee First Term Programme 2008
The Chair emphasised that the Programme was merely a draft and was thus subject to change during the course of the year.

The Committee considered the Programme and adopted it, without amendments.

Committee 2007 Annual Report
Mr Selfe stated that he had just received the amended Report. He would thus not be able to support its adoption at the present meeting as he had not yet considered it. Moreover the Report contained certain technical errors.

The Chair stated that he was not happy with some of the figures reflected in the Report, as they did not appear to be accurate.

The Chair called for an urgent meeting later in the week to finalise and adopt the Report.
.
Committee Report on Department Annual Report 2006/7
Mr Selfe informed the Chair that the Report was incomplete.

The Chair stated that the Report on the Inspecting Judge had been deleted, but that a letter had been sent out to Members on the matter.

The Committee moved that the Report could not be adopted as it was incomplete.

Adoption of Minutes 
The Committee adopted its minutes of the meeting held on 16 November, without amendments.

The meeting was adjourned.