Question NW2289 to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
07 January 2025 - NW2289
James, Ms DE to ask the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
Whether the refurbishment of the Johannesburg Prison falls within his department’s mandate; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, following the oversight visit conducted to the specified prison on 10 October 2024, which uncovered significant health risks to both inmates and workers due to the flooding of the basement kitchen area, what (a) immediate interventions does his department intend to implement to protect the health and safety of both workers and inmates at the facility (b) are the reasons that routine maintenance of the infrastructure was neglected, resulting in the current situation and failing to preserve the asset and prevent the issue from escalating; (2) whether his department agrees with the estimated cost of R1,2 billion for the refurbishment of the facility; if not, why not; if so, on what date will, the work commence?
Reply:
The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:
(1) (a) The Johannesburg prison is under the custodianship of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and maintenance of the facility as well as all other immovable assets used by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is executed commensurate with accommodation charges.
With regards to the latter, it must be noted that the department has been faced with severe budget cuts, year-on-year for the MTEF. This is evidenced by the reduction of accommodation charges by user departments’ including DCS.
Accommodation charges relate to Property Rates, Refurbishment and Maintenance of the States immovable assets. The first charge of the latter is on Property Rates leaving the balance for the refurbishment and maintenance of properties. It is prudent to report that the accommodation charges as required for DCS in 2024/25 amounted to R 2.8 billion of which Property Rates alone accounts for R 485 million. However National Treasury and user departments did not grant the full amount required and approved a baseline of only R 693 million. Only 30% of this budget (R 208 million) is therefore available for Refurbishment and Maintenance of the entire DCS portfolio.
(b) As a result of the reduction of accommodation charges, DPWI notified DCS that only critical maintenance priorities would be attended to over the MTEF.
(2) With regards to the estimated cost of R 1.2 billion for the refurbishment of the Johannesburg Prison it should be noted that a project of this nature falls into the category of major Capital Works. Requests for Capital projects are as a matter of process are requested by the user department via the User Demand Management (UDM) section of DPWI and will only be registered as a project for execution once the requisite funding is confirmed for the Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) followed by the refurbishment contract. Currently there is no request from DCS for the registration of either a FCA or for the major refurbishment of Johannesburg prison.
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MR. D MACPHERSON, MP
MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
DATE: