ATC180515: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on Budget Vote 18: Correctional Services, dated 15 May 2018

Justice and Correctional Services

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES ON BUDGET VOTE 18: CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, DATED 15 MAY 2018
 

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, having considered the Department of Correctional Services’ 2018/19 budget (Vote 18) and the annual performance plan, reports as follows:

 

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1        The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Adv. Michael Masutha, tabled in the National Assembly, the Annual Performance Plan (APP) of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) in line with section 10(1)(c) of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act (No. 9 of 2009), for consideration and report.

1.2        The Committee was given a political overview by the Minister on 17 April, who was accompanied by the two Deputy Ministers, Mr. Thabang Makwetla (Correctional Services) and Mr. John Jeffery (Justice and Constitutional Development). On 19 April, the Committee received a briefing by the Department of Correctional Services, which was led by Deputy Minister Makwetla and senior officials of the Department. The latter briefing focussed on the 2018/19 Annual Performance Plan and the budget allocation as per Budget Vote 18.

1.3        The DCS’s mandate is derived from the Correctional Services Act (No. 111 of 1998), as well as the white papers on Correctional Services (2005) and Remand Detention Management in South Africa (2014). The legislation and policies inform all the efforts towards achieving the safe and human detention of offenders and remand detainees, rehabilitation and reintegration into communities.

 

1.4        The DCS’s planning documents are also informed by the government-wide Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2014-19, which is geared towards the implementation of the National Development Plan’s Vision 2030 (NDP).

 

 

1. POLITICAL OVERVIEW BY THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
   1. The Minister introduced the newly appointed Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services to the Committee, Mr Arthur Fraser.
   2. The Minister introduced the Annual Performance Plan and indicated the following:

• The fundamental objective of the DCS is the rehabilitation of all offenders through the provision of education, skills development and an environment of broader reflection. The Departments was still facing challenges with regards to lifers who were cagey to participate in rehabilitation programmes. This puts them at a disadvantage when they become eligible to apply for parole as evidence of participation in rehabilitation activities is required. Between May 2014 and June 2017, the Department released 25.9% of lifers on parole. The Department will continue work to facilitate the successful rehabilitation and re-integration to society of those who are eligible.
• Overcrowding remains a challenge in correctional and remand detention centres. Over the past three years, there was a continued increase in offender population and this posed serious risks to staff and inmate safety and security. Correctional and remand detention centres were 37% overcrowded. This led to increased escapes, including the latest one where 16 inmates escaped from the Johannesburg Correctional Centre.
• Further, the Saldanha Judgment court order of decreasing the population at Pollsmoor to below 150% overcrowding could not be achieved because of the increasing crime rates in the Western Cape, the Minister said.  He explained that it was not easy to transfer inmates to other correctional facilities as offenders were sentenced in jurisdictions where they committed offences.
•  The Department was in the process of reviewing and aligning its Infrastructure Plan in order to construct additional bed spaces, convert outmoded (Zinc and Asbestos) structures and regain unused space. Public- private partnership models were being explored to build new correctional centres and the DCS head office. There were delays in implementing infrastructural programmes and challenges in coordinating work between the DCS and the Department of Public Works, which is responsible for delivering infrastructural projects for the DCS. The main challenges with delays were related to weak Supply Chain Management and contractual disputes with contractors.
• The Department will re-introduce offender labour in order to deal with basic infrastructural maintenance, as this would also contribute to offender rehabilitation by imparting skills to offenders.   

     

1. STRATEGIC GOALS FOR 2017/18
   1. According to its 2015/16 to 2019/20 strategic plan, the DCS’s mission is to contribute to a just, peaceful and safer South Africa through the effective and humane incarceration of inmates, and the rehabilitation and social reintegration of offenders. The DCS committed to playing its role to ensure that the MTSF and the NDP’s strategic outcomes are achieved. The overarching goal is to build a safer South Africa where all people are and feel safe.

 

1. To this end the DCS has committed to:

-           providing all remand detainees and sentenced offenders with safe, secure and human conditions of detention and incarceration;

-           ensuring that remand detainees attend court as prescribed/required, and that they are provided with services responding to their needs, including personal wellbeing programmes; and

-           attending to sentenced offenders health care, rehabilitation and social reintegration needs.

 

1. OVERVIEW OF THE DCS BUDGET
   1. The DCS will receive R23 845 billion, a nominal increase of 5.72 per cent (or R1 033 billion) higher than 2017/18. By 2020/21, expenditure is projected to increase to R27 251 billion.
   2. The DCS budget is distributed across the following five programmes: Administration (which is allocated 18 per cent (R4.3 billion) of the total budget), Incarceration (61 per cent (R14.5 billion)), Rehabilitation (8 per cent (R1.8 billion)), Care (9.5 per cent (R2.2 billion)), and Social Reintegration (3.7 percent (R898 million)).
   3. As in the previous year, 79 per cent of the total DCS budget goes towards the Administration and Incarceration programmes. The Care programme received an increase of 13.85 per cent compared to last year’s (2017/18) allocation.
2. OVERVIEW OF ALLOCATIONS PER PROGRAMME
   1. Programme 1: Administration
      1. The Administration programme provides for the functions that underpin the DCS’s service delivery and comprises administrative, management, financial, information communication and technology, research, policy co-ordination and good governance support functions. The sub-programmes under this programme are: Ministry, Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS), Management, Human Resources, Finance, Internal Audit, Information Technology and Office Accommodation.
      2. This programme receives the second largest allocation in 2018/19; R4.3 billion or 18 per cent of the total DCS budget. The bulk of the allocation will again go towards the ‘compensation of employees’ (77 per cent) followed by ‘goods and services’ at 21 per cent. See Table 1 below for subprogrammes allocations.

	2017/18 (R’000)	2018/19 (R’000)	Nominal % changes	Real % change	Nominal Rand change	Real Rand change
Programme 1: Administration	4 150.9	4 283.8	3.20%	-2.18%	132.9	-90.4
Sub-programmes
Ministry	36.5	32.6	-10.68%
Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services	69.4	71.2	2.59%
Management	805.6	834.0	3.53%
Human Resources	1 811.9	1 846.4	1.90%
Finance	997.5	1 068.6	7.13%
Assurance Services	100.2	99.7	-0.50%
Information Technology	250.9	248.6	-0.92%
Office Accommodation	78.8	82.6	4.82%

  Table 1: Administration programme

 

5.1.3     Key targets for 2018/19 include:

-           increasing the number of officials trained in line with the Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) to 22050 officials;

-           achieving zero audit qualifications; and

-           achieving a 96 per cent target of officials charged and found guilty of corruption.

 

 

5.2.       Programme 2: Incarceration

5.2.1.    The Incarceration programme provides for services and physical infrastructure that supports secure conditions of incarceration of inmates. It comprises four sub-programmes: Security Operations, Facilities, Remand Detention and Offender Management.

5.2.2     Its expenditure is projected to increase from R13.9 billion in 2017/18 to R14.5 billion in 2018/19. The largest share of the allocation will go towards Security Operations, which will receive R8.1 billion. See Table 2 below.

	2017/18 (R’000)	2018/19 (R’000)	Nominal % changes	Real % change	Nominal Rand Change	Real Rand change
Programme 2: Incarceration	13 987.4	14 529.3	3.87%	-1.54%	541.9	-215.6
Sub-programmes
Security Operations	7 358.3	8 112.5	10.25%
Facilities	4 118.2	3 765.1	-8.57%
Remand Detention	688.8	732.8	6.33%
Offender Management	1 821.6	1 919.3	5.33%

  Table 2: Incarceration programme

 

5.2.4.    Key targets for 2018/19 include:

-           reducing the percentage of inmates allegedly injured in assaults to 4.7 per cent;

-           reducing the percentage of escapes from remand centres to 0,034 per cent;

-           reducing the percentage of unnatural deaths to 0,032;

-           creating 435 bed spaces. The target is 492 bed spaces in 2017/18 and 925 in 2016/17 (this latter target was not achieved as only 407 bed spaces were created); and

-           down-managing overcrowding to below 39 per cent. The target is 38 per cent in 2017/18 and 32% the previous year (not achieved).

 

1. Programme 3: Rehabilitation
   1. The Rehabilitation programme provides for needs-based programmes and interventions to facilitate offenders’ rehabilitation and eventual reintegration to society. It comprises three sub-programmes: Correctional Programmes, Offender Development and Psychological, Social and Spiritual Services.
   2. Most of the allocation on this programme (79 per cent) will go towards ‘compensation of employees’. Table 3 illustrates the allocation across the programme.

	2017/18 (R’000)	2018/19 (R’000)	Nominal % Changes	Real % change	Nominal Rand change	Real Rand change
Programme 3:Rehabilitation	1 822.4	1 861.3	2.13%	-3.19%	38.9	-58.1
Sub-programmes
Correctional Programmes	506.3	535.2	5.71%
Offender Development	874.7	859.3	-1.76  %
Psychological, Social and Spiritual Services	441.5	466.7	5.72 %

  Table 3: Rehabilitation programme

 

1. The key targets include:

• increasing the number of sentenced offenders subjected to correctional programmes from 76 per cent in 2017/18 to 80 per cent in 2018/19;
• increasing the number of offenders involved in Further Education and Training (FET) programmes from 663 in 2017/18 to 718 in 2018/19;
• maintaining participation in skills development programmes at 80 per cent;
• increasing the target for involvement in psychological services from 17 per cent to 18 per cent in 2018/19; and
• increasing access to spiritual service (59 per cent target).

 

1. Programme 4: Care
   1. The Care programme provides for needs-based programmes and services aimed at maintaining the personal well-being of offenders. It comprises two sub-programmes; Nutritional Services and Health and Hygiene Services.
   2. This programme will receive R2.2 billion from R1.99 billion the previous year (See Table 4), a nominal increase of 13.85 per cent.

	2017/18 (R’000)	2018/19 (R’000)	Nominal % changes	Real % change	Nominal Rand change	Real Rand change
Programme 4: Care	1 998.7	2 275.3	13.84%	-7.90%	276.6	-158.0
Sub-programmes
Nutritional Services	1 161.2	1 402.4	20.77%
Health & Hygienic Services	837.5	872.9	4.23%

  Table 4: Care programme

 

1. Key targets for 2018/19 include:

• decreasing the percentage of inmates receiving antiretroviral therapy to 98 per cent from the 99 per cent target the previous year;
• decreasing the target for providing prescribed therapeutic diets 15 per cent in 2017/18 to 12 per cent in 2018/19 and
• increasing the TB cure rate to 88 per cent from 86 per cent in 2017/18.

 

1. Programme 5: Social Reintegration
   1. The Social Reintegration programme provides for services focussed on offenders’ preparation for release, for the effective supervision of parolees, and for offenders’ reintegration into society upon their release. It comprises three sub-programmes: Supervision, Community Reintegration, and Office Accommodation (Community Corrections).
   2. The programme receives 3.7 per cent of the DCS’s total budget, from 4 per cent in 2017/18. Table 5 illustrates the budget allocation across this programme.

	2017/18 (R’000)	2018/19 (R’000)	Nominal % Changes	Real % change	Nominal Rand change	Real Rand change
Programme 5: Social Reintegration	855.3	898.9	5.10%	-0.38%	43.6	-3.3
Sub-programmes
Supervision	775.5	816.3	5.26%
Community Reintegration	45.7	45.8	0.22 %
Office Accommodation: Community Corrections	34.0	36.8	8.24%

  Table 5: Social Reintegration programme

 

1. Key targets for 2018/19 include:

• increasing the participation in restorative justice programmes by victims/offenders to 6 875 from the target of 6250 in 2017/18 and decreasing the target number of offenders/parolees and probationers who participate in rehabilitation programmes from 6593 in 2017/18 to 6000 2018/19;
• maintaining the percentage of parolees without violations at 97 per cent, and increasing the percentage of probationers without violations to 97 per cent;
• increasing the number of parolees and probationers reintegrated through halfway house partnerships to 160;
• increasing the number of service points established in community corrections offices to 36; and
• maintaining the number of persons being monitored electronically at 1 000.

 

6. COMMITTEE DELIBERATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

1. The Committee acknowledges the continued government-wide fiscal consolidation measures under which the DCS is operating. The Committee notes that the budget of the Department has been cut by 2.47% (R605 million) in 2018/19, and is projected to be cut by 2.55% (R668 million) in 2019/20 and 2.54% (R709 million) in 2020/21. The Committee also notes  that since 2015 up to 2020/21, the “Compensation of Employees”, “Goods and Services” and “Payments for Capital Assets” allocations would respectively reduce by R3 billion, R2.2 billion and R847 million. According to the Department’s analysis this might have a considerable impact on the operations of the Department and impact on the achievement of its NDP objectives. The Committee cautions that the cuts should not be used as an excuse for failure to perform by the Department.   
2. The Committee notes the Department’s submission that in 2018/19 these cuts will affect, among others; the planned maintenance of facilities by the Department of Public Works, the work of the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (JICS) of visiting correctional and remand detention centres, compensation of employees (payment of reduced performance bonuses and no bonuses at SMS level), and the Skills Development Levy. The baseline reductions do not only affect the DCS, but all Departments. The Committee encourages the Department to learn to do more with less.  
3. The reduction in funded posts from 42006 to 39101 is of great concern to the Committee as it might affect frontline service delivery and worsen safety and conditions of incarceration. However, the Committee understands that the funding for these posts was withdrawn, over and above the cost-saving measures, as a result of the Department’s continuous failure to fill its funded posts. It is, therefore, no surprise that any expenditure cut would target such funds which have over the years been transferred to other programmes through virements because the Department continuously struggled to fill its funded posts. The Committee has always expressed its concerns about the Department’s failure to fill funded posts in an environment of high unemployment in the country.
4. The Committee welcomes the ring-fencing of R16,9 billion for the compensation of employees. The Committee does not agree with the Department’s analysis that paying bonuses on reduced rates could lead to high staff turnover, especially given the implementation of second phase of Occupation Specific Dispensation of 30% in salary back-payments.
5. The Committee notes the Department’s submissions of the impact of budget cuts on the replacement of fleet, equipment and machinery and the 1% VAT increase on goods and services.  
6. The Committee notes the persistent challenges with municipal services accounts which have over the years resulted in considerable accruals and payables. We welcome the assurance from the CFO that these pressures have to an extent been addressed through the restatement of the baseline for payment of capital assets to cover those accruals and payables on municipal services in the 2018/19.  
7. The Committee notes the amounts allocated for the feasibility study for the Department’s new head offices at R29 million in 2017/18 and R45 million in 2018/19.  In the previous Budget Vote report, the Committee requested clarity on these allocations.
8. The Committee is not impressed by the downward revision of a number of targets throughout the various programmes. The target for the filling of vacant funded posts has been completely excluded from the performance plan. Some of the targets that have been revised downwards are targets that have previously been achieved such as those on Work Skills and the rolling out of anti-retroviral therapy. The Committee is not convinced by some of the explanations for their downward revision.   
9. The Committee notes that despite its recommendation in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 Budget Votes and the respective Budget Review Recommendations (BRR) reports, there are still no performance indicators and targets for the Assurance Services subprogramme under the Administration Programme. This is an important programme as it helps to improve the internal control, risk and governance environment. The Committee believes that it should be possible to continuously monitor the performance of Assurance Services either quarterly or bi-annually through performance indicators and targets.
10. As stated in our previous Budget Vote and BRR reports, the Committee is still concerned that the Department has continuously failed to achieve many of its targets that are directed at improving security conditions by reducing the number of escapes, violence and unnatural deaths. Failure to achieve these targets attests to the poor conditions of incarceration, particularly in the urban centres which are highly overcrowded.
11. The recent escapes of inmates from Correctional Centres, including in Johannesburg and Pollsmoor, are of great concern to the Committee. The Committee notes that there is an element of rogue officials from within the DCS that facilitates these escapes and that investigations are being undertaken. The Committee commends the DCS and the SAPS for promptly re-arresting escapees in the different centres.
12. The Committee noted progress made by the Department in complying  with the Western Cape High Court Judgment in Sonke Gender Justice vs The Government of South Africa (The Saldanha Judgment). In previous reports, the Committee requested the Minister and the Department to develop a plan for dealing with similar situations of overcrowding in other urban centres by replicating the steps taken to try and comply with the Saldanha Judgment. The Committee believes that poor conditions of incarceration may expose the Department to more civil claims.  The Department should be more proactive in mitigating the situation across the big five urban centres.
13. The Committee is concerned about the increasing inmate populationThe Committee has been informed about the increasing crime rate and certain challenges in the criminal justice system.  The increase in the population in correctional centers means that the Department should  create new bed spaces and implement other measures to control overcrowding, including electronic monitoring, alternative sentencing, bail protocols and section 49G, where applicable.   
14. The Committee welcomes the commitment from the Minister and the Department to review and align the Infrastructure Plan in order to construct additional bed spaces and convert outmoded structures. The Committee remains concerned that the DCS and the Department of Public Works (DPW) are struggling to work together to deliver infrastructure due to challenges with Supply Chain Management and contractual disputes with contractors. Three years ago, the Committee was informed that a coordinating committee was established to deal with capital works between the two Departments and the Independent Development Trust. At the current pace of delivery, the Committee is not convinced that the Department will be able to create 18 000 new bed spaces over the next 10 years, as reported to the Committee during the briefings on the APP and the budget. The delays in the completion of capital projects remains a huge concern as it impacts on conditions of incarceration and overcrowding.
15. The Committee notes that there are contradictory figures in the APP (2018/19) and the Estimates of National Expenditure (2018/19) on the number of bed spaces to be created over the next 10 years.
16. The Committee is concerned about the challenges in implementing the electronic monitoring system as this is one of the tools that could assist the Department in dealing with overcrowding.
17. The Committee is further concerned about the delays in rolling-out the Integrated Inmate Management System (IIMS).    
18. The Committee welcomes the commitment from the Minister to introduce offender labour to handle minor maintenance projects. The Committee further commends the Department on the productivity of its farms (and factories) which bring about some considerable self-sufficiency and revenue generation. The Committee is concerned about the Department’s submission that reduced funding will negatively affect production levels and exacerbate the Department’s reliance on external sourcing of food items. Efforts should be made to keep the farms and factories productive. The Committee believes that constructive utilisation of offender labour in the farms, workshops and maintenance work contributes towards the rehabilitation and skills development of inmates.
19. In its previous Budget Vote report, the Committee welcomed the development of a draft policy framework to facilitate inter-state transfer of foreign national inmates. The Committee noted that there were thousands of foreign national inmates in our centres of which 9242, at the time, were from SADC countries alone.
20. The Committee notes that the budget for the Offender Development sub-programme under the Rehabilitation Programme has been decreased from R874 million in 2017/18 to R859 million in 2018/19. It is not clear why this allocation has been decreased and the impact it will have on the sub-programme.
21. The Committee notes the 14 per cent increase to the Care Programme, which is the largest increase for any DCS programme this year. The Committee also notes that under that under the same Programme, the target for the ‘percentage of inmates who tested for HIV and know their results’ has not been included in the 2018/19 performance plan. The Committee furthermore notes the revision downwards of the target of inmates on anti-retroviral treatment.
22. The Committee welcomes the completion of the review paper and draft legislation on the parole system and parole boards. The Committee looks forward to receiving the review paper and the draft legislation once it has been approved by Cabinet.

 

1. RECOMMENDATIONS
   1. The recommendations of the Committee in this report should be read with recommendations made in the previous years’ Budget Vote (2017/18) report and the BRR report of October 2017. The Committee urges the Department to take note of the Committee’s recommendations and to respond to them timeously as requested in order to facilitate the Committee’s oversight role.  
   2. The Committee requests the Department to submit a full report on how the baseline budget reductions will affect its operations and service delivery. That report should include a detailed plan of how the Department aims to mitigate against the potential negative impacts on service delivery. 
   3. The Committee requires clarity on whether the baseline cuts on the ‘compensation of employees’ allocation has led and will lead to any loss of jobs, especially given that the allocations have been ring-fenced throughout the MTEF (at R16.9 billion for 2018/19, projected to grow to R18.2 billion and R19.6 billion in 2019/20 and 2020/21). The Committee requests the Department to report quarterly on staff turnover and the implementation of the second phase of Occupation Specific Dispensation.
   4. The Committee welcomes the investigations into the escapes in correctional centers and expects to be updated on the action taken against anyone when the investigations are finalized. The Department should provide a detailed report on the correctional officials who were charged with assisting escapees since 2014/15.
   5. The Committee notes the filling of the position of the National Commissioner with Mr. Arthur Fraser as the new Commissioner. The Committee thanks the previous acting Commissioners, Mr James Smallberger and Mr Mandla Mkhabela for their work. The Committee requests a written update on the status and plans on the filling of vacant strategic senior management (SMS) positions such as CDC Human Resources, CDC Remand Detention and CDC Community Corrections, among others. The Department should supply more information on its plans to fill critical skills vacancies of social workers, psychologists and other scarce skills.
   6. The Committee remains concerned that some correctional services officials are appointed in terms of the Public Service Act and, others, in terms of the Correctional Services Act and that this hinders those employed in terms of the former Act from performing duties in correctional centres. The Committee reiterates its recommendation that the Public Service Commission’s advice be sought on the feasibility of appointing all officials under one piece of legislation in order to eliminate the hindrances.
   7. In the 2016/17 and 2017/18 Budget Vote reports, this Committee welcomed the proposals to establish nine regions that mirror South Africa’s provinces. The Committee was assured that this issue was receiving the Minister’s attention but yet little progress seems to have been made. The Committee requests a report on the weaknesses of the current structure of 6 regions of the Department and how these could be addressed in the new organizational structure. The Committee further requires the Department to report quarterly on the performance of each of the six regions.
   8. The Committee requires a written response from the DCS on the plans to ensure the (financial and operational) independence of JICS. The Committee believes that JICS’s independence would enable it to perform its oversight role more efficiently. The Committee would support initiatives that would enhance JICS’s independence, including amendments to the current legislation.   
   9. The Committee requests to be provided with all JICS investigation reports in respect of assaults, use of excessive force, unnatural deaths and torture over the 2017/18 financial year and from now onwards.
   10. The Committee recommends that the Department considers developing some measurable performance indicators and targets for the Assurance Services sub-programme. This could assist the DCS to achieve clean audits in the future.      
   11. The Committee requires more details on the feasibility study for the Department’s head office which has been allocated R29 million in 2017/18 and R45 million in 2018/19. The Department should indicate whether a service provider has been appointed or not and on what work has been done in this regard already.  
   12. The Department should submit a full report on the details of all pending and settled civil claims against the Department over the last two financial years, detailing all current contingent liabilities and settlement amounts and amounts spent on legal costs in defending those civil claims.
   13. The Committee urges the Department to redouble its efforts at working with other departments in the criminal justice cluster to down-manage the remand population and overcrowding in general. The Department should to make effective use of all applicable legislative provisions including the bail protocols and section 49G of the Correctional Services Act.
   14. The Committee requests more detailed updates on the implementation of the electronic monitoring system and the Integrated Inmate Management System. 
   15. The Committee once again recommends that the Department gives serious consideration to the use of technology to increase safety within its facilities. The Committee requests an update on the progress made in initiating and implementing such interventions as CCTV and cellphone detection technology.  
   16. The Committee still awaits more details on the draft policy framework to facilitate inter-state transfer of foreign national inmates in our correctional centres as this could contribute into easing overcrowding in our centres, once implemented. As stated in the previous Budget Vote report, the Committee recommends that the development of a draft policy framework be expedited and should draw lessons from international best practice standards, conventions and protocols.
   17. The Committee requests a detailed report on the delayed infrastructural upgrades, detailing the challenges and steps that have been undertaken to resolve them. The report should also detail how much has been spent to date on those projects and the expected completion dates. The Committee will schedule a joint briefing with DPW and the IDT to receive such a report on all aspects of the infrastructure programme, including planned maintenance, as soon as its programme permits.
   18. The Committee requires more information on the contradictory figures in the APP (2018/19) and the Estimates of National Expenditure (2018/19) on the number of bed spaces to be created over the next 10 years.
   19. The Department should expedite its exploration of assuming responsibility for its infrastructure and maintenance works through building internal capacity that will, where feasible and appropriate, utilise inmate labour and thus contribute to the skills development of inmates. The Committee welcomes the Minister’s assurance that the Department is working on introducing offender labour to deal with minor maintenance works.
   20. As per the previous Budget Vote report, the Committee recommends that the Department works together with the Department of Small Business Development in exploring opportunities and encouraging the creation of cooperatives where ex-offenders could receive long-term employment, transfer their skills to their communities and thus facilitate their reintegration into society. This could go a long way in fighting recidivism.
   21. The Committee requires more details on the reduction of the Offender Development sub-programme allocation from R874 million in 2017/18 to R859 million in 2018/19.
   22. The Committee requires more information on why the target for the ‘percentage of inmates who tested for HIV and know their results’ has not been included in the 2018/19 performance plan. The Department should provide reasons for the downward revision of the target of inmates on anti-retroviral treatment.
   23. The Committee will schedule a briefing on the review paper of the parole system as soon as our programme permits. That briefing should also focus on issues concerning political prisoners.

 

 

Report to be considered.