Question NW1805 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
29 June 2023 - NW1805
Siwisa, Ms AM to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
Following the Standerton Correctional Centre warden that was arrested after a raid was performed at the centre and where drugs, cell phones and an undisclosed amount of money was confiscated, what (a) total number of wardens were involved and (b) measures are in place at all correctional centres to deal with access to drugs and cell phones?
Reply:
a) No other officials were found to have been involved in the incident, only the arrested officials was involved.
b) The Department continues to implement security awareness sessions and has established security committees which tackle security incidents including smuggling of drugs and cell-phones and prevention thereof. Additional measures in place at all correctional centres to deal with access to drugs and cell phones are as follows:
- all persons (officials, visitors and service providers) entering or leaving the correctional centre are subjected to searching as per section 27 of the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) guidelines;
- searching of vehicles at access points has been intensified including daily searches inside cells and living Units including storerooms, work spaces and ablution areas;
- intensified searches by Emergency Support Team (EST) include unannounced search operations even after hours;
- correctional centres have been declared a bugless environment;
- Training of sniffer dogs on cell- phones are reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and banned from future visits.
END