The Following Members of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services visited the Brandvlei Youth Centre and the Drakenstein Medium B Juvenile Detention Centre:

Mr. D Bloem (Chairperson)

Ms. LS Chikunga

Mr. MS Moatshe

Mr S Mahote

Mr C Morkel

Mr LJ Tolo

Mr E Xolo

The objectives of the visits were to concentrate on the following issues:

• Overcrowding

• Educational facilities

• General Conditions

• Statistics

• The successful reintegration of offenders into society

The Portfolio Committee received a briefing by the management of each of the prisons, visited the prison facilities and spoke to some of the offenders. In addition, inmates of the Drakenstein Medium B Juvenile Detention Centre put on a show for the Members, which included a choir, gumboot dancing, and a short play on HIV/AIDS. In addition, an inmate read a poem and another played a piece on the recorder.

The following are the findings of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services for Brandvlei Youth Centre.

The prison was built to accommodate 288 offenders but currently accomodates 503 offenders. The prison is almost 150% overcrowded. The prison consists of 4 sections which include:

• A section: holds 110 offenders under 18 years of age (including a few 14 year olds).
• B section: holds 128 offenders of 18 years of age.
• C section: holds 129 offenders of 19 years of age.
• D section: holds 136 offenders aged 19 and 20 years.

The prison only accommodates male sentenced offenders. Most offenders are sentenced to 2 to 8 years for crimes such as housebreaking and robbery.

• The cells were designed to hold 18 offenders and now hold more than 36 offenders. There are 2 toilets and 2 showers per cell which are inadequate for this amount of offenders.
• The prison receives a large number of offenders from other prisons such as Pollsmoor in order to alleviate overcrowding in those prisons. The prison management is currently holding discussions on how to alleviate their overcrowding problem by, for example, releasing offenders at their first parole hearing if they are deemed ready for release.
• On days when inmates have to go to court and needs to be escorted, the ratio of staff to inmates is 1:70. This is classified as a "bad " day. Normal days occur only approximately twice a week and the ratio of staff to inmates on these days is 1:45.

The staff establishment has not grown from the initial 73 posts which were made available when the prison was opened in 1996 and catered for only 288 offenders. The prison has only one female staff member in a management position who occupies an assistant director post.

The prison has:

• 2 social workers
• 1 psychologist
• 1 nurse
• 17 teachers

The prison is currently operating at 46% establishment on weekends and lower levels are given the opportunity to work during the weekends to augment poor salaries.

• The prison would like to appoint more women in senior positions but relies on the regional and national office for appointments.

Educational programmes available at the prison include formal education classes on Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET), National Intermediate Certificate (NIC) courses and Correspondence Courses. External partnership agreements are in place for the provision of ABET and NIC courses with the Western Cape Department of Education and the national Department of Education.

There are 9 classrooms available for academic classes. Between January and June 2004 a total of 273 offenders participated in educational programmes and courses. These included:

• 260 offenders attended ABET courses.
• 11 offenders attended NIC courses.
• 2 offenders participated in a human resource management course through correspondence.

• Of the 17 educators which were supposed to be at the prison only 7 were at work on the day of the visit. The other 10 were on family responsibility leave or away on training. When there are no teachers the juveniles cannot attend classes.
• A lack of adequate classroom space and insufficient educators mean that not all juveniles can attend classes even if they wish to do so. Approximately half of the offenders do not attend formal classes.
• There is a shortage of junior primary teachers, laboratory facilities for science students and computers.

The prison has a radio project run by four of the inmates which broadcasts to the inmates in their cells. This project was funded by the University of Cape Town, KFM radio and foreign donations. Skills training is also provided in welding, woodwork, pottery, leatherwork, cane work and agriculture. Offenders participate in a variety of sports such as rugby, soccer and athletics. Offenders are also involved in a choir and drama groups. The prison has a library which is well utilised. There are 5 classrooms available for practical classes.

A total of 110 offenders are involved in skills training each quarter. While offenders serving less then a 1-year sentence are not involved in formal education courses they are allowed to participate in skills training programmes. Offenders involved in internal skills training courses provided by the Department of Correctional Services do not receive certificates, as the Department of Correctional Services is not accredited to do so. The Department of Correctional Services is investigating ways of bypassing this accreditation problem by linking with NGOs in the provision of training.

• There is a shortage of training facilities and a hall for indoor activities.
• There is a lack of artisans for training and staff for arts and culture.

The most prevalent diseases amongst offenders are TB and HIV/AIDS. One nurse cater for all ill offenders. A doctor visits the facility once a week and spends only one hour at the juvenile facility. Three HIV cases have been identified amongst offenders. There are 9 active TB cases. Kholesa, Worcester Aids Action Committee and the University of Stellenbosch present HIV/AIDS courses to offenders. A total of 30 offenders have received certificates as a result of this course as peer educators on HIV/AIDS.

The two social workers at the prison provide a variety of needs-based programmes for offenders including life skills, alcohol, drug, aggression and sexual awareness programmes for sexual offenders. During the first half of 2004, 284 offenders participated in group work sessions, 131 assessments were completed and 245 individual interventions conducted.

Brandvlei has also established a peer intervention called ‘Peersacompany’ which is a group of 10 offenders who facilitate supportive discussions with new admissions under the supervision of a social worker. During the first 6 months of 2004, this group held 8 sessions with 136 offenders. The group also addresses children with behavioural problems from outside the prison on the dangers of getting involved in crime. Gang activity is not a serious problem in Brandvlei largely as a result of intervention by this group.

Spiritual care services are provided by 8 religious care workers.

• There is no kitchen at the Centre and food is transferred from Medium A to the Youth Centre. There are sub-kitchens where the food is kept once it is transferred.
• Visitor facilities are shared with the offenders from the adult prisons which is contrary to Departmental policy.

The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services makes the following recommendations:

• That the Department of Correctional Services investigates the possibility of renovating the unused building in the Brandvlei prison complex to house additional offenders. This structure, which was closed in 1997, can house 600 offenders.

• The Department makes a concerted effort to recruit more female personnel at Brandvlei Youth Centre, particularly for managerial positions.

• The Department investigates the possibility of building a kitchen for the Youth Centre.

• The Department follows up on the request by the Youth Centre to install more sanitary facilities for offenders.

• The Department ensures that Education is compulsory for all Juvenile Offenders.

1. Findings

The following are the findings of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services for the Drakenstein Medium B Juvenile Detention Centre.

The Drakenstein Medium B Juvenile Detention Centre is situated within the Drakenstein Prison complex. There are three prisons in the prison complex:

• The Drakenstein Medium B Juvenile Detention Centre that caters for juveniles.
• The Maximum Centre which caters for maximum security adults.
• The Medium A prison which caters for minimum security adults.

There are a total of 2007 inmates in the prison complex which includes juveniles and adults.

There are a total of 658 offenders at the Juvenile Detention Centre. The prison only caters for male sentenced prisoners. The prisoners are divided into medium security and maximum security categories. A total of 327 offenders are in the medium section of the prison and a total of 331 are in the maximum section. There are only 33 children under the age of 18 years in the prison of which 23 are in the medium section and 10 are in the maximum section. The bulk of inmates are juveniles between the ages of 18 and 20 years. There are a total of 437 juveniles in this age group of which 277 are in the medium section and 160 in the maximum section. While the prison is meant to cater only for offenders under the age of 21 years there are 188 adult offenders (21 years and over) at the prison. Of these 27 are in the medium section and 161 are in the maximum section. Children, juveniles and adults are separated from each other, either in different sections or in separate cells.

All ‘difficult’ juveniles are brought to Drakenstein Juvenile Detention Centre, as it is the only juvenile centre in the area with a maximum facility.

• Many of the juvenile offenders at prison are serving long sentences. Once they reach the age of 21 years they are supposed to be transferred to an adult prison. However, due to overcrowding problems in most of the adult prisons, these adults cannot be transferred and thus remain at the Juvenile Detention Centre until a space becomes available for them at an adult facility. The key concerns in this regard are twofold. Firstly the Juvenile Detention Centre is supposed to cater only for juveniles under the age of 21 years and it is therefore problematic that these juveniles remain in contact with adult offenders at the facility. Secondly, the issue is complicated by the fact that at the juvenile facility inmates are given a variety of opportunities for rehabilitation, which may not be available at adult prisons. This means that the benefits, such as Rehabilitation, of the Juvenile Detention Centre are diminished as soon as they enter the adult prison. The lack of rehabilitative resources at adult centres (including opportunities for education) are compounded by exposure to other problems including gangs and drugs.
• The problem of keeping adults at the juvenile centre means that if problems occur between juveniles and adult prisoners, the Department of Correctional Services is accountable as the centre is meant to cater only for children and juveniles.

The staff establishment of Juvenile Detention Centre consists of 126 posts of which 119 are currently filled. Only 14 members of staff are female. To serve the needs of the 658 offenders there are:

• 3 social workers.
• 1 registered nurse and 1 nursing assistant.
• 5 educationists.
• 1 psychologist.

The remaining posts are all for functional staff.

• Due to safety concerns it is difficult to make optimum use of female staff members as they cannot move alone around the institution.
• The post establishment has been restructured but there is a problem in timeously filling available posts.
• The shortage of women, particularly in managerial positions, is a concern of the prison management. However, the prison is not in control of appointments which are done at regional and national level.
• The management of the prison received instructions to implement a 46% establishment for two weekends after which they would receive feedback. The prison implemented this as required but has not received feedback from the national Head Office. The management of the prison acknowledged that most staff want to work overtime to supplement poor salaries. If weekend overtime falls away then salaries must be improved and additional staff hired. However, there have been no clear guidelines from the national Head Office in this regard.

When Drakenstein was built, it was constructed without making any classrooms available. Three storerooms have been modified into classrooms but these can only cater for a total of 70 learners at one time. There is a computer centre, which has 12 computers for training purposes.

A total of 199 offenders are currently participating in formal education classes or have participated in these classes between January and June 2004. The majority of these, a total of 130, participate in ABET (literacy) training. A total of 36 are undergoing basic computer training. The remainder, a total of 33 offenders are doing formal schooling (NIC).

• There are only 5 educators at Drakenstein. Of these, one of the teachers is studying full time at Stellenbosch and is thus unavailable for teaching. The current teacher pupil ratio is therefore 1 teacher to every 114 offenders. According to Department of Correctional Service norms the ratio of pupils to staff should vary from 1:10 to 1:20. There are thus clearly insufficient educators to ensure that all offenders receive adequate education opportunities throughout the day.
• The shortage of teachers is further exacerbated by the lack of classroom facilities. As mentioned above, the classrooms can only cater for 70 students at a time out of a total offender population of 658 offenders.

Drakenstein is a production and agricultural prison and thus training is provided in a number of areas including:

• Vegetable production.
• Chicken abattoir.
• Clothing manufacture.

A total of 107 offenders participate in these three informal training areas. In addition, 29 offenders participate in hand skills and formal trade training in the areas of cloth and garment making (presented by the Department of Labour), cabinet making, brick laying, carpentry and painting.

• While there are training facilities in the Drakenstein prison complex, the workshops are used mostly the adult prisoners from the other two prisons. The prison management hopes to create space within the workshops for the training of juvenile prisoners.

There are currently 3 social workers who cater for the needs of all 658 offenders. Social workers provide both individual and groups sessions in a variety of areas including life skills, alcohol, drugs, pre-release preparation, marriage and family care, sexual offenders, trauma and aggression.

A number of external service providers assist by providing services in a variety of areas including life skills focusing on self-awareness and values, career counseling, job preparedness and business skills, caring for the body and substance abuse. In addition, offenders also participate in prison community projects such as arts and crafts (facilitated by one of the inmates). Drakenstein is also hoping to establish a prison radio such as the one that operates in Brandvlei.

There is 1 psychologist who serves the whole of Drakenstein prison (including the adult facilities) and thus caters for a total of 2007 offenders. There are also 20 religious care workers who cater for the religious needs of inmates.

Out of the three funded post for nurses only one post is currently filled. A nursing assistant assists the nurse. A doctor visits the Juvenile Detention Centre once a week. Three cases of HIV have been identified at the Juvenile Detention Centre.

• The average ratio of social worker to offender is 1:219 while the proposed ratio should be 1:100. Vacant posts need to be funded and filled.
• There is a lack of facilities for group work.
• The ratio of psychologists to offenders is 1:2007.
• The ratio of nurses to offenders is 1:658.
• The nursing posts were advertised in December 2003 and have not been filled due mainly to administrative delays.
• Offenders often do not meet the criteria of the Department of Health (for example, they do not belong to the region) for receipt of anti-retroviral treatment. In addition, a doctor must sanction the prescription of anti-retroviral treatment and monitor and test the patient continuously. The lack of a full time doctor for Drakenstein means that offenders with HIV have problems in receiving treatment. In addition, the Department of Correctional Services does not have a workable policy specifically on the receipt of anti-retroviral treatment by prisoners. This lack of national policy direction means that there is no uniformity in the regions and negotiations with the Department of Health occur on a regional rather than a national basis.

The Drakenstein prison complex is an agricultural and production prison. All state Departments are meant to come to the Department of Correctional Service’s workshops for products but in practices only a few Departments make use of the products from these workshops. The Drakenstein prison complex would like to establish its own shoe factory which would be cost effective, as shoes are currently supplied from the workshop in Witbank.

All agricultural production at the prison is running at a profit in addition to sustaining the needs of the prison environment as well as providing vegetables, chicken, eggs, milk and pork to other prisons in the southern Cape and parts of the Boland. All revenue from sales goes back to Treasury. The agricultural production would be improved by the addition of fridges and other technologies. Drakenstein prison complex would like to establish a bakery as well as a fish farm.

1. Recommendations

The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services recommends that:

• The Department of Correctional Services must clarify the position of adult prisoners at juvenile facilities, specifically the problem of juveniles serving long sentences which cannot be completed in a juvenile institution. When addressing this problem, the Department should be mindful of the needs of juvenile inmates. This problem is clearly a complex one and the Department must look at measures to ensure that the benefits of imprisonment in a juvenile facility are retained when juveniles turn 21 years of age and must be transferred to adult facilities.

• The Department makes a concerted effort to recruit more female personnel at the Drakenstein Juvenile Detention Centre, particularly in managerial positions.

• The Department must urgently address the delays in filling professional posts. Salaries for professional posts such as nurses and psychologists, for example, are not competitive and thus delays mean that when there are interested applicants they may lose interest if the processing of their applications takes too long.

• The Department must address internal communication problems. Communication between the Department of Correctional Services Head Office and the prisons seem problematic particularly with regard to overtime and the migration to a 7-day week. The Department needs to address this problem urgently especially in the light of dissatisfaction that it is causing amongst members.

• The Department is urged to address the problems in providing formal education opportunities to offenders. Less then half of the offenders at Drakenstein Juvenile Detention Centre participate in formal education programmes largely due to the shortage of classroom space and teachers.

• The Department should ensure that juvenile inmates have the opportunity to participate in formal training courses in order to acquire skills for when they leave prison. The existing workshop facilities should be utilised for juvenile inmates in a manner which ensures that they do not come into contact with adult offenders.

• The Department must develop a national policy in consultation and agreement with the Department of Health on the dispensing of anti-retrovirals for prisoner who have HIV/AIDS. This policy must take into account the particular problems within a correctional context. It should not be the responsibility of the Areas to negotiate this on an individual basis.

• The lack of acceptance of released offenders back into the community is a problem which must be urgently addressed by all role-players including the Department of Correctional Services, religious groups and other community support structures. Members of Parliament should also play a role in ensuring that their constituencies understand the importance of supporting released offenders, especially juveniles in order to improve their chances of staying out of prison.

• Current production and agricultural facilities should be extended and state Departments urged to make use of the products from the facilities. Training of inmates in productive skills as artisans equips them with important skills for utilisation after release from prison.