Report of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services on its Visit to Prisons in the Eastern Cape Province, dated 29 August 2006:

The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services having undertaken an oversight visit to the Eastern province from Monday 31 July to Friday 04 August 2006, reports as follows:

A. Introduction

The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services decided to undertake an Oversight visit to the Eastern Cape Province from 31 July to 04 August 2006.

B. Delegation

The following members of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services visited prisons in the Eastern Cape province.

· Mr. DV Bloem (ANC) (Chairperson)

· Mr. NB Fihla (ANC)

· Mr. S Mahote (ANC)

· Ms. W Ngwenya (ANC)

· Mr. LJ Tolo (ANC)

· Mr. ET Xolo (ANC)

· Mr. J Selfe (DA)

The following Members submitted their apologies:

· Mr. MA Cele

· Mr. MJ Phala

· Mrs. SA Seaton

C. Objectives

The objectives of the visit were to examine the following:

Centres of Excellence: The implementation of the White Paper will be rolled out at the Centres of Excellence. There are a number of Centres in the Eastern Cape that have been declared as Centres of Excellence. The Committee should investigate the reason for these Centres being declared as Centres of Excellence, the significant difference between these centres and normal Correctional Centres, as well as best practices that can be learned at these centres. These Centres should mostly host juveniles.

Awaiting Trial Detainees: The large number (46 327/ 29%) of Awaiting Trial Detainees in our prisons contributes toward the problem of overcrowding. The delegation will focus on the plight of the ATD’s in the various prisons with a view to identifying blockages in the system, which prevent release while awaiting trial. Awaiting Trial Detainees are not involved in any training rehabilitation programmes. They do not receive training, schooling and seldom engage in recreational activities. In the Eastern Cape, 1876 detainnes have been awaiting trial for longer than three months. The Committee should meet with the various stakeholders in the province who play a role in determining the release of ATD’s into the community while awaiting trial, including the police, the various justice officials, the Legal Aid Board lawyers and representatives from the Department of Social Development.

Staff Concerns: The delegation intends to meet with correctional officials at the prisons in order to discuss staff concerns and solutions to the problems faced by staff on the ground. Staff of the DCS should strive to be turning around the public perception. Only the behaviour of officials will dictate how the public perceives Correctional Services.

Corruption: The DCS stated that it is committed to a cleansed, trained and dedicated management, the consolidation of relations between managers and their staff in order to form a team necessary to deliver on rehabilitation and an enhanced ability to immediately investigate, prosecute and deliver appropriate sanction to any allegation of corruption.

Escapes: The Department has been plagued with escapes, many often very violent, from Correctional Centres. In April 2006, two prisoners escaped from the Middledrift Centre in the Eastern Cape. The DCS has confirmed that these escapes have been abetted by officials and these officials have subsequently been suspended. The Committee stressed that this phenomenon be seriously addressed by the DCS and that proper strategies are put in place to curb escapes from Correctional Centres countrywide.

Youth and Children in prison: There are 2354 children under the age of 18 years in prison, 12 are younger than 14 years, 1217 of them are awaiting trial, and 1137 are serving sentences. In line with the President’s State-of-the-Nation Address, the priority of the Committee remains to assist in the creation of a better environment for juveniles in conflict with the law and to ensure that children are not in prison. With the Special Remission process and a concerted effort of the DCS, Prosecutors and Magistracy, there are now 706 less children in prison, but the Committee does not want to see children in prison at all.

The Committee visited the following prisons in the region:

· East London Correctional Centre

· King Williamstown Correctional Centre

· Middledrift Correctional Centre

· St Albans Correctional Centre

D. Findings and recommendations

The following are the findings and recommendations of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services:

1. Overcrowding

Overcrowded conditions in prisons affect both offenders and staff working within those prisons. The following table represents the percentage of overcrowding.

Prison	Approved Accommodation	Actual Total	% Occupation
East London Prison
Medium A	846	1045	123%
Medium B	535	696	130%
Medium C	447	299	66.89%
King Williamstown	301	748	248%
Middeldrift	411	1550	377%
St Albans:
Medium A	1446	1800	124.5%
Medium B	760	1400	144.5%
Maximum	717	1900	216%

All of the centres visited during the Oversight visit are extremely overcrowded. The Committee inspected a cell at the Middledrift centre which was originally built to hold 30 inmates, but at the time of the visit, it housed 79 inmates, with only toilet, shower and basin.

Overcrowding has a serious effect not only on the inmates, but on the Correctional staff as well. Staff members have to guard, count, rehabilitate and lock up inmates and in many instances the staff to inmate ratio can be as high as 1 member to 83 inmates. Many of the male staff members are under extreme pressure at these centres, because they have to guard the offenders as well as safeguard their female colleagues as well.

Not all inmates at the centres can participate in rehabilitation programmes as the facilities are not conducive for rehabilitation programmes and because of the high number of occupation, programmes such as schooling are offered in corridors as well as in courtyards outside the sections as is the instance at East London Medium C as well as at King Williamstown.

At centres such as Middledrift, rehabilitation programmes are suspended over weekends, as there are not enough staff members to guard the high inmate population.

Because of overcrowding in centres such as St Albans, gangsterism is rife. An official was stabbed to death by an inmate, an incidence believed to have been a gang initiation. This had a very traumatic effect on the staff at the centre. Through gangsterism, many drugs and other illegal substances are smuggled into the centre, often by staff as well as members of the public.

2. Intersectoral Communication

The Portfolio Committee met with the Intersectoral Cluster at all the centres it visited in the Eastern Cape and had very successful discussions with all the stakeholders. Intersectoral communication between the various components of the criminal justice sector including the police, the courts and the prisons was very successful in the region.

(a) The number of Awaiting Trial Detainees (ATD’s) in the region has

been reduced through Plea Bargaining agreements and

interventions by the Integrated Justice Cluster.

(b) Many ATD’s with bail of less than R1000.00 have been released.

permanent representative who attends the Integrated Justice

meetings on a monthly basis.

(d) Public Education Awareness: The DCS has embarked on raising

awareness in communities with regard to social reintegration.

(e) The Area Commissioners at the centres are in continuing

discussions with Magistrates and Prosecutors with regard to the

conversion of sentences for those inmates who do not pose a danger to society.

(f) The East London area has a full time bail court and procedures and

conditions are explained to offenders on their first appearance. Prosecutors regularly visit ATD’s especially juveniles to ensure that they are not incarcerated unnecessarily. The Committee was however informed that many juveniles have committed serious offences and that bail cannot be considered for many.

(g) There is also a shortage of probation officers to monitor

probationers in the region. There is space available for juveniles at Secure Care facilities, but due to the serious nature of crimes, cannot be sent there as staff are not trained to handle such juveniles. Another serious problem the cluster is facing is the fact that parents do not want to take responsibility for their children and do not want them to be released in their care.

(h) It was stated that many of the investigating officers take long with

the dockets of offenders, but that could be assigned to the fact that investigating officers deal with as many as 200 cases at a specific time. Another contributing factor to the delay of cases is that of witnesses and attorneys who do not attend court sessions.

(i) A very successful ATD project is run in the East London area

where ATD’s are assisted with bail. Information is forwarded from the Correctional Centres indicating those ATD’s who have not been released. Magistrates are being sensitized not to set high bail amount.

(j) At King Williamstown and Port Elizabeth, permanent staff

members of DCS are employed at the court facilities to assist with backlog of cases and have a good working relationship with the Magistrates.

(k) The Committee was informed that the population in Port Elizabeth

has grown tremendously in the past years, thus contributing to high levels of crime. A Socio Crime Prevention Plan has been drawn up to deal with the issue.

(l) The Committee was informed that through initiatives such as

Business Against Crime and Stepping Stones in the Port Elizabeth area, the court facility at St Albans prisons are a major success. The court has its own Magistrate, Prosecutor as well as Legal Aid Board attorneys and even its own Identification Parade room. The court is also used to deal with outside cases. The public are allowed to sit in when the court is in session. The cluster has monthly meetings as well as continous workshops where magistrates are being sensitized around issues of diversion, community supervision, in other words, alternative sentencing.

Comments and Recommendations

The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services understands that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) cannot be held solely responsible for resolving the problem of long periods of awaiting trial. The Committee identified a female in East London Correctional Centre who has been incarcerated for twelve (12) months with her two children (one being only a few months old) for stealing baby shoes. The Committee is aware that the offender had prior convictions for other petty offences as well, but is of the opinion that imprisonment had a greater negative impact on the lives of the children involved.

The Committee recommends the following additional measures that should be initiated in the shorter term to reduce the awaiting trial population:

(a) The Portfolio Committee believes in a just and fair judicial

system and will never be soft on crime, but in an attempt to relieve overcrowding in Correctional Centres, recommends that the DCS should liaise continuously with Magistrates with regard to those ATD’s who cannot afford bail and that such people should be considered for alternative sentencing.

(b) Independent Prison Visitors should act as the link between

the offender, DCS and the Judiciary. It is the responsibility of the IPV to ensure that all cases are attended to.

(c ) The Committee supports the deployment of full time staff

members of the DCS to nearby courts to assist with the backlog of awaiting trial cases and strongly recommends that this action is rolled out countrywide.

(d) The DCS should redirect resources to enhance the

Community Correction Programme. This will assist in improving the confidence of court officials to sentence offenders to supervision within the community.

(e ) The Committee is very impressed with the successful

intersectoral activities and commitments in the region.

All stakeholders in the cluster must communicate and participate to ensure intersectoral solutions. The DCS must take responsibility for ensuring the effective functioning of cluster committees at all levels.

3. Staff concerns

The Portfolio Committee met with both management and staff in all Correctional Centres to address key concerns and problems. Most of the problems identified were common in the region. The following are some of the key concerns highlighted by managers and staff:

3.1 Communication

Through various discussions with staff as well as management in the Eastern Cape region, it is clear that there is little, and in some instances, no communication strategies between the National Head Office and staff as well as between management and staff. This causes a lot of uncertainty and confusion amongst officials. Grievances tabled by staff are not attended to, with some grievances only attended to after years and staff not receiving feedback on grievances. Many complaints were received about the implementation of policy in DCS. Staff within DCS are not adequately informed on key issues and developments within the Department. It also became clear that staff meetings are essential as many of the issues could have been addressed by regular interaction of the regional office, area commissioners and managers in the region.

Comments and Recommendations

The Committee recommends the following:

It is recommended that monthly meetings be arranged in each management area and that these meetings be adequately represented by officials from the Regional Office. The Committee further recommends that the National Head office embark on country wide staff information sessions, where staff will get information on all new developments within the DCS. This will certainly address concerns of staff members and relieve frustration in the work place.

3.2 Acting Posts

Much unhappiness was raised during the oversight visit, as on all other oversight visits, about acting positions. The process of restructuring was completed in 2004 and yet staff stated that there are still numerous problems with regard to the filling of posts. In some cases, staff are appointed to act in three (3) different positions without remuneration. Staff are not being paid the allowance that would be allocated to a financed post in which they are acting.

This is a matter that has been raised with and by the Portfolio Committee on numerous occasions. It is unfair to have staff acting in the same position for years and then not be considered for promotion in the position the official occupies.

Comments and Recommendations

The high number of people filling acting positions in the DCS is unacceptable to the Portfolio Committee. The Committee strongly believes that no persons should be filling acting positions for longer than the 3 months as laid out in the policies of the DCS. If posts have been identified as critical then they must be financed and filled on a permanent basis.

The DCS’ Head Office will be called in to account to Committee as to why numerous posts have not been financed and what action will be taken to address the situation, as this is a matter of grave concern.

3.3 Shortage of Professional Staff

The shortage of professional staff within prisons hampers the ability of DCS to fulfill its stated mandate of rehabilitation. Many DCS officials e.g. nurses, leave the Department in search of better work opportunities, some being employed abroad and some returning to the Department of Health, who offer better incentives to health care workers. The shortage of social workers is especially problematic, as it is a requirement that an inmate must consult with a social worker before appearing before the parole board. The shortage of social workers means that parole hearings are often delayed. The ratio of social worker to inmate can be as high as

1 to 240 at any given time.

Poor salaries and difficult working conditions for professionals have been identified as key reasons for the inability of DCS to attract and retain professional staff. The need to offer improved salaries for professionals was identified as a priority by staff.

At the East London Correctional Centre, school is attended by the inmates only every alternate day, because of a shortage of educationists.

Comments and Recommendations

The Portfolio Committee recommends as follows:

(a) That the DCS tables before Parliament a retention and recruitment strategy for all staff of DCS, not only professionals,

(b) The Portfolio Committee has on numerous

occasions complained about the salary packages of Professionals. Those packages will not attract and retain the necessary and critical staff members.

list of all vacant positions within the DCS.

3.4 Salary Adjustments and Promotions

Staff were extremely dissatisfied with the current status of promotion. Staff feel that there is no incentive for them to study while employed by DCS, as there is no link between further studies and promotion.

The Committee was informed that the Interim Promotion Policy implemented by the DCS only benefited certain categories of staff e.g. those with matric. Many employees did not benefit from the Interim Promotion policy, as they did not meet the criteria, but had years of service in the DCS. Many long serving staff members in the DCS do not have matric and this was not recognized previously.

Salaries of DCS staff are not on par with the salaries of other staff in the safety and security cluster. Notch promotions i.e. promotions from Grade 2 to Grade 1, have left many staff stagnant at the same salary levels.

It was stated that the DCS staff work with very dangerous and rich offenders and are often lured into acts of corruption by these inmates, because of a lack of financial resources. It was further stated that staff often have to rely on “money lenders” to meet all their daily and monthly expenses.

Comments and Recommendations

(a) The Portfolio Committee recognises the implementation of the Interim promotion policy within the DCS, but recommends that much more needs to be done in terms of promotions. The lack of promotion is one of the key factors that have led to the decline in staff morale.

(b) The Portfolio Committee urges the DCS to develop a promotion policy for staff at lower levels. This will boost the morale of staff and at the same time enhance the rehabilitation of offenders.

3.5 Shortage of staff

Whilst many of the staff members understand the provisions and or procedures of the 7-day establishment, it has created many problems within their working environment.

When offenders go to court, there are not enough officials to assist with other duties. This shortage of staff hampers the education programmes of offenders.

The 7-day establishment has also resulted in many officials taking sick leave and this also causes staff shortages. Staff also stated that the shortage of staff on weekends posed a security risk to both staff and inmates.

The guarding of inmates has become a very stressful duty, because of the high numbers of inmates in the centres coupled with the shortage of staff. This can translate to a ratio of 1 staff member to 83 inmates at any given time.

The Committee has also visited the many workshops of the DCS, specifically at the St Albans centre. Many of the workshops were not manned as there is a general lack of artisans in the DCS.

The Committee was further informed that the region does not have a single Employee Assistance Practitioner for the whole Eastern Cape region.

Comments and Recommendations

(a) The Portfolio Committee would like to be kept abreast with the recruitment of staff in the DCS on a 3 monthly basis.

(b) The Committee should also be approached to assist with the head hunting of staff such as artisans etc.

(c) With the high levels of stress amongst staff as well as staff suicides, the Committee urgently recommends that the appointment of an Employee Assistance Practitioner (EAP) in the region be fast tracked.

3.6 Transport

Many officials at centres such as at Middledrift and St Albans, complained about the non availability of transport, especially for attending funeral services of fellow colleagues or attending sport events of the DCS.

Staff also complained that this issue makes it extremely problematic for night shift workers, those working in rural areas and those living in areas that are far away from the prison.

Comments and Recommendations

While the Portfolio Committee recognises that the provision of transport to staff has budgetary implications, it is clear that when there is no or limited public transport systems available and when it is dangerous for staff to travel at night, the DCS should ensure that transport is available to staff to ensure their safety.

The Portfolio Committee is aware that the DCS provides transport to the funerals of staff members, not exceeding 200km.

(a) The Portfolio Committee recommends that the transport policy of the DCS be revisited so as to allow transport, especially for those working night duties. This should be prioritised in the rural areas.

3.7 Transfers

Many staff members identified that they had been placed to work in prisons far from their hometowns and that they had applied for transfers to prisons closer to their hometown.

Comments and Recommendations

(a) Recruitment should be nation wide but placement after training should take into consideration proximity to the areas in which people come from.

(b) Resolution 7 was applied to match and place persons but needs to be revisited administratively to ensure that members of staff are placed closer to their hometowns.

3.8 Danger Allowance

The Committee was informed at the King Williamstown centre that many staff must work with ATD’s, from admission to the centre up until the holding cells. Staff complained that according to policy, danger allowances are paid only to staff working with maximum sentenced offenders, but that staff working with ATD’s do not get paid this allowance even though the ATD’s with whom they work may be extremely dangerous.

Comments and recommendations

(a) The Committee is fully aware that ATD’s is not the responsibility of the DCS alone, but recommends that since these detainees are incarcerated in DCS facilities, the DCS develop an Interim classification system for ATD’s. This will assist Correctional centres and staff with the general management of centres and detainees.

(b) In the light of the above recommendation, the Committee recommends that danger allowances for staff working with ATD’s, be developed.

3.9 Facilities

Correctional Centres were never build to rehabilitate offenders, but rather to detain people. These facilities are very old and definitely not conducive to rehabilitation. DCS’ facilities are literally bursting at its seams.

It was stated that even at Centres of Excellence, the programme of Unit Management is merely a “writing on the wall” and that the infrastructure of centres does not allow the implementation of Unit Management. Staff mentioned that because of the structure of Correctional Centres, there are not enough facilities, such as classrooms to facilitate educational programmes. Social Workers need enough space to carry out essential rehabilitation programmes with offenders.

Comments and Recommendations

(a) The Committee strongly recommends that more classroom facilities and other optimal space are provided. This should be seen as part of the Rehabilitation role of the centre.

(b) The Portfolio Committee is aware that all maintenance and repair work of all government buildings are done by the Department of Public Works, but recommends that the DCS looks into the possibility of using its own labour force (inmates) to do minor maintenance and repair works.

3.10 Resources

The Portfolio Committee is concerned about the lack of resources, especially at Centres of Excellence. The Committee was informed that in many of the sections, staff do not even have access to telephones, two way radios or office materials.

Comments and Recommendations

The Portfolio Committee recognises that there are 241 Correctional Centres country wide, but it is a serious problem if the National and Regional offices do not provide the basic resources.

Resources, such as telephones or two way radios are essential to combat escapes, assaults or the ambushing of staff members.

The Committee recommends the following:

(a) The Committee is aware that the DCS has utilised its budget to purchase protective clothing such as bullet proof vests, but would like to see that sections are equipped with telephones for staff and that each staff has a two way radio.

3.11 IT Systems

The Committee was informed that a company by the name of Sondolo IT has been awarded contracts for biometric access and CCTV cameras at centres such as East London and St Albans.

At both these centres, many complaints with regard to the systems have been received. It was said that there is only one point of entry and exit with these IT systems and this will cause major havoc in case of fires etc.

At the St Albans prisons there is a duplication of biometric access and CCTV systems. There are two companies, i.e. Superway and Sondolo IT performing the same functions. These two companies operate from the same operating room in the facility and only staff employed by them can operate these systems. At the time of the visit, the equipment of the company called Superway, was unmanned.

3.12 Training of Officials

New recruits of the DCS receive theoretical training at the colleges and are then placed at the centres without any practical training.

Comments and Recommendations

(a) The Committee recommends that the DCS implements a training strategy on how best to handle ATD’s in Correctional Centres.

(b) The Committee recommends that all staff be sent on refresher courses, if possible, at the centres, as many received their training when they joined the DCS.

4. The Middeldrift Correctional Centre

The Committee met with the Regional Office, the Management as well as the staff of the Middledrift Centre to:

(i) understand the problems at the Centre, and

(ii) provide guidance to the managers and staff

Previously the centre was under the former Ciskei government and staff employed at the centre are mostly from the area. The Centre has a post establishment of 258 staff, but currently only 180 staff members are employed at the centre.

The centre houses 1550 inmates with an approved accommodation number for 411 inmates only. Most of the inmates incarcerated are maximum offenders with many serving long sentences such as 82 years + 7 life sentences.

Middledrift centre is subsequently referred to as “Sons of the Soil”. This emanates from a vision that staff members has at the centre that people who are not from the area and who are not long serving members of this centre, are not welcome there.

Middledrift has experienced many difficulties such as escapes and the abetting thereof, smuggling of illegal substances as well as the smuggling of fire arms. The Committee was informed that many of the members are unruly and disrespectful towards management and often escapes are abetted to prove that managers don’t or can’t manage the centre.

During the visit, the Committee also established that female staff members at the centre had intimate relationships with inmates incarcerated there and even have children from inmates. The Committee was also informed that inmates have their own mobile phones inside the centre, they had their bankcards and some even play the National Lottery from inside the prison. The Head of the Centre found an architectural plan of the prison in the possession of an inmate.

It was said that the centre was a challenge, it then became a problem, but now it is in a crisis. The Unions at the centre have their own agenda, which is not the agenda of POPCRU (Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union) or the PSA (Public Service Association). Management of Middledrift complained that they do not get any support from the Regional Office as well as the National Office.

Disciplinary cases take very long at the centre as staff is intimidated by other staff members, to the extent that staff fears other staff members. 7 Staff members have been suspended for abetting escapes and insubordination.

There were Commissions of Inquiry instituted by the National office into the Middeldrift centre as far back as 1992. The Commissions concluded four inquiries into the Middlefdrift centre and made several recommendations with regard to the centre. These reports were handed over to the National Commissioner.

Comment and Recommendations

The Portfolio Committee had very successful interactions with the staff employed at Middledrift and it became evident that the lack of communication as well leadership and guidance from management, hampers the effective running of the centre.

(a) The Accounting Officer of the DCS must report to and furnish the Portfolio Committee with the reports of the inquiries into Middledrift Centre within 14 days after the tabling of this report.

(b) The DCS should incorporate Middledrift into the East London Management area.

(d) The DCS should transfer all maximum prisoners to other maximum prisons around the country and convert Middledrift into the Medium institution it should be.

(e) The shortage of staff at the centre should be urgently addressed.

E. Conclusion

The Portfolio Committee has identified many serious concerns and issues in the Eastern Cape region and concludes that the region is a very challenging region.

The Committee is of the opinion that the Department of Correctional Services is not in control of its Centres and many of the centres visited, especially the Middledrift centre, is at the verge of collapse. From Head Office, Regional Office and Area Management level, there is no involvement in the running of Middledrift centre.

The Committee applauds the officials of the region for their hard work under very difficult circumstances.

The Committee will monitor the implementation of the recommendations in this report and the DCS should report back to the Committee within one month after tabling of this report.

Report to be considered.