Question NW3459 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services

Reply:

(1)(a) number of times has his department been sued for crimes committed by repeat offender parolees in the past five years	(1)(b) amount in Rand has his department paid in the specified cases;
13	NIL

2. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) utilises various communication methods, including key messages, video-clips, publications, pamphlets, website, social media, community outreach, media engagement, marketing and advertising, events and other opportunities, to support efforts to make citizens aware of their rights.

It is evident that communication effort and consistency have over the years yielded positive outcomes in raising public awareness on DCS main functions. These are attributed to the continued educational programmes that DCS has constantly embarked on over the years to highlight its main functions to South African citizens through various media platforms i.e TV and radio.

Though the awareness of the functions of DCS to rehabilitate and re-integrate offenders into society started on a low base, continuous and purposive communication succeeded in increasing the level of awareness in these areas.

Informed by research, programmes such as Yobe, CorreXions and community outreach programmes were put together and seem to have contributed in showing increased awareness of the role of DCS over time.

Changing public opinion or views takes time. This is clearly seen from the trended data on DCS indicators that have been tracked over time.

Case Management Committees (CMC compile Correctional Sentence Plans (CSP) for all offenders serving sentences of longer than 24 months. The CSP spells out the interventions proposed to address the needs and risks of an offender that were identified during an assessment of the offender. These interventions are implemented and monitored over the duration of the sentence and inform the basis for the Correctional Supervision and Parole Boards (CSPBs) granting or declining Parole for any given offender. It must be noted that CSPB’s are not responsible for monitoring Parolees serving their sentences outside the bounds of a correctional facility as this is a function carried out by Community Corrections in the Department.

The day to day monitoring of Parolees by Community Corrections is conducted by allocation of resources for physical monitoring, office consultation, telephone monitoring where applicable, community service and programme attendance. The nature and frequency of monitoring an offender is based on their specific profile. Any violators of Parole conditions are sanctioned and where the gravity necessitates they are returned to continue serving their sentences in a Correctional Facility.

END