POPCRU SUBMISSION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON CORRECTIONAL SERVICES:
2008/2009 BUDGET OF THE DEPARTMENTAL OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES.
[18-03-2007]
Chairperson,
Honourable
Members of the Portfolio Committee
Leadership
of the Department of Correctional Services
Leaders
of organised labour
The
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union appreciates the opportunity given so that
we can voice our views and opinions around the 2008/2009 budget. The invite is a reflection that recognises
POPCRU as an important stakeholder in the advancement of the strategic
imperatives of the department. It
further encourages our continued relationship as a labour movement operating
within the department of Correctional Services.
Honourable
Chairperson, it needs to be noted that processes of this nature must not be
used as a formality. Matters and concerns that are raised on the utilisation of
public funds must be treated with a degree of respect that these matters
deserve. We shall not be happy with a
situation whereby we raise the same issues over and over again without seeing
any change on areas where change is required.
In dealing with budget allocation, the
department need to understand that public spending poses a serious
challenge in our country. The public sector forms a large part of the economy,
and as such public spending has a major impact on the macro-economy, as well as
on the day-to-day quality of people's lives. To make public
expenditure efficacious, it is essential that resource allocation decisions are
underpinned by sound analysis and that a well designed set of institutions,
systems, and a performance focus guide budget formulation and execution.
The competency of the department needs to be enhanced. We need to recruit the right calibre of
people, and put in place targeted professional enhancement of the competencies
of those in the department. This is what will make the department more outward
looking, creative and become innovative-driven, relative to what it is now.
Capable people must be appointed to strategic and operational units, and they
must be exposed to policy and strategic issues and further reduce this
top-heavy structure of the department.
Honourable
Chairperson, allow me to stream line the areas of concern while on the same we
would want to acknowledge strides taken by the department in improving service
delivery. The aspects are as follow:
1.
Filling of vacancies:
Efforts have been made by the
department to fill the 35000 vacant posts as promised and that is given thumbs
up by POPCRU. Further to this Honourable
Chairperson, we need to emphasise that the millions of rands that were returned
to treasury due to the delay of filling vacancies should not recur. The success of the 7-day establishment will
also be determined by further employment of personnel in the department.
2.
Public Private Partnerships.
Prisons in
3.
Overcrowding
While we recognise the challenges
facing the department on this matter, we still believe that not enough is done
to address the matter. Probably our understanding on alternative solutions to
the problem is different, and also very possible, Honourable Chairperson is
that our understanding on what overcrowding is might be different also. The
crux of the matter is that the effects of overcrowding are evident and can be
seen regardless of where one stands. Some of the challenges being experienced
in the correctional centres can be attributed to overcrowding and these would
include illness complains, disciplinary infractions, blood pressures and
recidivism. Building more correctional centres cannot be overemphasised as thee
solution to overcrowding, while other areas like addressing the root cause of
crime, effective implementation of policies, improved management of
correctional centres and the restructuring of the justice system are not attended
to.
4.
Training and development
There is little that is being
reflected by the budget when it comes to staff training and development. It needs to be noted that the success of the
programmes being implemented entirely depends on the skills and competencies of
the employees. It is therefore crucial
that the department begins to take serious the issue of staff development and
put appropriate mechanism in place.
5.
Utilisation of consultants
In our submission to the Portfolio
Committee on the Annual Report of 2006/2007, it was made clear of our
disapproval in the utilisation of consultants to perform government tasks. As we have stated that most of these
consultants are former employees of the department and therefore their inputs
do not bring variety and creativity, but instead milking the department of
hundreds of millions. We further Honourable Chairperson, convey our
disappointment by the continuation of the department with this practice. This
is evident from the presentation dated 14 February 2008 that the department
will continue with this kind of services while acknowledging its serious
downfalls.
6.
PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2007
We have recognised that in your
budget there is an additional allocation for the implementation of PSCBC
Resolution 1 of 2007. We need to
highlight that serious efforts should be undertaken to implement this
resolution and such funds should not be channelled to oppose the views of
labour on this resolution. It has been evident that the department is willing
pay fro legal process contesting the interpretation of agreement than
implementing the gains of labour achieved through such resolutions.
Occupational Specific Dispensation
is the brainchild of this resolution and we therefore expect the department to
implement it as agreed and on the timelines specified.
7.
White Paper on Corrections
Honourable Chairperson, the White
Paper on Corrections as a broader government policy give guides and set
objectives against which the department’s performance and service delivery will
be measured. The fundamental question at this stage would be “ have we aligned
our policies with the strategic objectives of the white paper?” South African
legal system presumes innocence until proven guilty, and yet awaiting trial
detainees are accommodated in the facilities of correctional system, which are
designed for sentenced offenders. This
defeat the primary purpose of correctional services, which is to enforce the
sentence of courts, ensures humane detention and the promotion of social
responsibility and human development. We therefore Honourable Chairperson make
a call to the department to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate its
strategies and policies so that they seek to implement the objective of the
white paper.
8.
Restructuring
Restructuring refers to process or an instance of changing the way in which something
is organized or arranged. The entire
restructuring process was informed by the service delivery arrangement that
lies at the core of the prison rehabilitation processes. In the process of
restructuring we need to ensure that we employ personnel who will directly deal
with all the services of the offices and all those employed under the
correctional service act can be deployed correctly at the correctional centres. Further to this the structure of the
department does not talk to and respond to the challenges of the department in
terms of services delivery. We are also
opposed to the current demarcation of the department, which is informed by regions.
Our call is that of provinces and is backed by the supreme law of the country,
which is the constitution.
We conclude:
As the Police and Prisons
Civil Rights Union we believe that employees, as stakeholders are the vehicles
in achieving great objectives of any department, therefore it is crucial that
they be regarded and treated as such. We
further rally behinds the spirit of extensive consultation in as far as such
processes are concerned.
Thank you
Delivered by: Abbey Witbooi
General Secretary of POPCRU
[18-03-2008]