ATC221011: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on oversight visits to Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng Provinces, dated 23 September 2022

Justice and Correctional Services

Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on oversight visits to Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng Provinces, dated 23 September 2022.

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, undertook their oversight visits to various provinces from 24-28 January 2022 and reports as follows:

Introduction

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services (the Committee) undertook oversight visit to Western Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces between 24-28 January 2022.

The Committee was divided into two groups one for inland provinces and another for coastal provinces. Group A comprised the following members:

Mr G Magwanishe (Chairperson) (ANC)
Ms A Ramolobeng (ANC)
Ms N Maseko-Jele (ANC)
Mr W Horn (DA)
Mr V Ramaano (Committee Secretary)
Mr M Mathabathe (Acting Content Advisor)

Group B comprised the following members:

Mr. QR Dyantyi (Chairperson) (ANC)
Mr. X Nqola (ANC)
Ms. Y Yako (ANC)
Ms. G Breytenbach (DA)
Mr. S Mthonjeni (Committee Secretary)
Ms. C Silkstone (Content Advisor)
Mr. M Dano (Committee Researcher)

The focus area for the oversight visit was on Infrastructure, Rehabilitation, Skills development and Social Reintegration.

PART I

Correctional Centers visited

The inland group visited Barberton Correctional Centre; Boksburg Correctional Centre and Zonderwater Correctional Centre.

The coastal group on the other hand visited, Pollsmoor Correctional Centre; Malmesbury Correctional Centre and Qalakabusha Correctional Centre and Durban-Westville Correctional Centre.

The Committee also invited the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure to their oversight visit in correctional centres.

Copies of all the presentations are available from the committee secretariat.

Barberton Medium B Correctional Centre

Barberton Medium B is one of the centres under Barberton Management Area. There are 6 Correctional Centres under this management area, namely: Maximum CC; Nelspruit CC; Medium B CC; Town Youth CC; Medium A CC; and Lydenburg CC.

The approved bed spaces for all these centres is 2 777 while the current offender population is 3 641 of which 2 793 are sentenced offenders, 841 are remand detainees and 7 State Patients. The occupancy rate is 131.15%.

Medium B has 318 lifers of which 11 are classified under Van Vuuren Judgement, 186 are classified under Van Wyk Judgment, 56 are classified under Phaahla Judgement and 65 are those who committed crime after 1st October 2004.

Barberton Management Area has 601 foreign national inmates of which 410 are sentenced and 191 are remand detainees. Majority of sentenced foreign national inmates are from Mozambique (262) followed by Zimbabwe (68) and Swaziland (54).

The number of Court referrals in terms of Section 49G of the Correctional Services Act, 111 of 1998 was reported as 115 in Nelspruit CC and 2 in Town Youth CC. all these referrals were unsuccessful.

The number of Court referrals in terms of Bail Review was 61 and only 11 were successful

Barberton Management Area offer offenders rehabilitation prorammes including Skills programmes and Educational programmes. Skills programmes include welding, plumbing, carpentry, building, sewing, bakery and vegetable production. Educational programmes on the other hand includes Adult Education and Training (Level 1-4); Further Education and Training (Grade 10-12); and TVET.

A total of 774 inmates participate in both skills and educational programmes: 321 from Maximum CC; 58 from Nelspruit CC; 261 from Medium B CC; and 134 from Town Youth CC.

There are 7 Community Corrections offices under Barberton Management Area. These are Nelspruit, Barberton, Bushbuckridge, Kabokweni, Leboeng, Lydenburg, and Tonga. These offices serve 922 parolees, 79 probationers, and 15 Awaiting Trial Persons. There are currently 31 active absconders and 133 archived absconders.

The post establishment of these offices are 67 of which 65 are currently filled and 2 are vacant.

Challenges identified under community corrections include reoffending of parolees and probationers; radius of the area versus the allocated resources; insufficient ventilation at Nelspruit and Barberton offices and the fact that all community corrections offices are leased.

In terms of infrastructure, Medium B was built in 1976 to accommodate 631 inmates; Maximum was built in 1979 to accommodate 845 inmates and it is the only maximum in Mpumalanga; Medium A was built in 1975 to accommodate 137 inmates; Nelspruit was built in 1976 to accommodate 828 male and female inmates; Lydenburg was built in 1800 to accommodate 81 inmates; while Town Youth was built in 1884 to accommodate youth offenders between the ages of 14-25.

These facilities are dilapidated due to lack of maintenance and aging while Town Youth requires major upgrade. Medium A, Medium B, Maximum and Nelspruit Correctional Centres are in medium conditions that require repairs and renovations.

Challenges identified in terms of infrastructure include the delays in attending to reported needs for maintenance and the fact that R100 000 threshold for day to day is insufficient due to major maintenance requirements at centres.

In terms of self-sufficiency, Barberton has 1 541 hectares of land for agricultural activities that include dairy, piggery, beef, vegetables, fruits, bakery and agronomy. 14 hectares of vegetables is planted and new orange fruit trees has been procured and planting has started of which harvesting is expected in 4 years.

The Bakery at Barberton provides bread to 4 centres in the management area and also supplies 5 centres under Bethal Management Area with a population of 3 641 and 2 796 respectively. Offenders who are interested are registered for baking courses as part of skills development.

Some of the achievement registered under self-sufficiency include revamp of Medium B clinic through offender labour; installation of boreholes for self-sufficiency and sustainability. The centre has also partnered with Mpumalanga COGTA for the refurbishment of houses affected by Tropical Eloise storm in 2020; assisted with the cleaning of schools and crime awareness campaigns; and the refurbishment of 1050 school desks at Enhlanzeni District Municipality and Bohlabela.

Boksburg Medium A Correctional Centre

4.1 Boksburg Medium A Correctional Centre is one of the three (3) centres under Boksburg Management Area. The other two centres includes are Juvenile Maximum and Heidelberg Correctional Centre.

4.2 The approved bed space of the three facilities is 2850 of which there are 1 452 remand detainees and 1890 sentenced offenders bringing the total sentenced and remand inmates to 3 342.

4.3 Boksburg Medium A has 167 lifers. Of these, 40 van Wyk lifers were submitted to NCCS and 39 decisions of those are still outstanding and 1 is busy with programmes. There are 20 Phaahla lifers submitted to the NCCS.

4.4 Boksburg Management Area has 685 foreign national inmates of which 470 are sentenced and 215 are remand detainees. Majority of foreign national sentenced inmates are from Lesotho (78) followed by Mozambique (72) and Malawi (15).

4.5 The number of court referrals in terms of Section 49G of the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 was reported as 413 of which 110 were successful and 303 were not successful.

4.6 The number of court referrals in terms of Bail Review between April and December 2021 was reported as 411 of which 59 were successful and 352 were not successful.

4.7 Boksburg Management Area offers a number of rehabilitation programmes to inmates. These include long skills such as welding, plumbing, carpentry and building. Short skills offered include sewing, baking and vegetable production. Educational programmes are also offered such as Adult Education and Training, Further Education and Training between Grade 10-12.

4.8 A total of 532 inmates participate in both skills and educational programmes of which 349 are from Medium A, 58 are from Juvenile and 125 are from Heidelberg.

4.9 There are three (3) Community Corrections offices under Boksburg Management Area. These are Boksburg, Brakpan and Heidelberg. These offices serve 2633 parolees and probationers. Currently there are 663 active absconders and 573 archived absconders. The post establishment of these offices are 51 of which 50 are filled and 01 is vacant.

4.10 Some of the challenges identified under Community Corrections include reoffending by both parolees and probationers; lack of halfway houses to accommodate offenders who lack support system; criminal records of parolees and probationers which limit employment opportunities and inability to decentralize services to communities due to lack of facilities in communities to establish satellite services points to be accessed by parolees, probationers and the community.

4.11 In terms of infrastructure, Medium A was built in 1990. Juvenile Maximum was also built in 1990 housing at the time female inmates. It currently houses juveniles sentenced offenders from Gauteng and other Regions who have committed aggressive crimes and serving sentences longer than 10 years. Heidelberg was built in 1888. The facility initially housed both male and female offenders until 1998 when females were moved to Johannesburg Female Correctional Centre.

4.12 Challenges identified in terms of infrastructure include dilapidated parameter fencing at Heidelberg due to corrosion; theft of steel palisade parameter fence by nearby communities and unavailability of watch tower post at Heidelberg. Heildelberg is closer to an RDP settlement to and the absence of a tower post compromises early detection of threats.

4.13 A RAMP project by Letlapa Construction has been in progress in Medium A and Juvenile Maximum since 2017, limiting effective use of available bed-space. A number of Units are closed. These include Hospital (40), Observation (114), A Unit (810) and A Single (50).

4.14 In terms of Self-Sufficiency, 297 offenders benefited from the production workshop in Boksburg. Materials produced in the workshops include steel, textile, and wood. In agriculture 10 offenders benefited and vegetables such as cabbage, pumpkin and spinach were produced.

4.15 In terms of bread production, three centres in the management benefit from the bakery. A total of 54 740 loaves of bread are baked per month and 657 000 loaves of bread are baked per annum. The Department saves a total of R1 642 500 per annum through the bakery.

4.16 The following achievements were highlighted in the management area:

No backlog of lifers due for submission to the NCCS
35 offenders completed their training in welding skills and are currently attending trade tests
02 parolees secured employment as tutors in a Skills Development Centre on 07 January 2022
15 Parolees secured business start-up opportunities through stakeholder relations on 10 January 2022
79 Offenders and Victims participated in Restorative Justice, Victim Offender Mediation and Victim Offender Dialogue
The Management Area has achieved a clean audit outcome for 4 consecutive years on Regulatory and AOPO Audits.

4.17 The Management Area has highlighted that the inadequate post establishment impacts negatively on service delivery. Possible solution to this challenge includes a review of post establishment.

ZONDERWATER MEDIUM B CORRECTIONAL CENTRE

5.1 Zonderwater Medium B is one of the two centres in Zonderwater Management Area. The other centre is Zonderwater Medium A which houses maximum offenders.

5.2 The Management Area has approved bed space of 1595 and currently houses a total of 1 981 sentenced offenders.

5.3 In terms of lifers in Medium A, there are 537 lifers of which only 01 offender qualifies under Phaahla judgement and there are no lifers under either Van Vuuren or Van Wyk Judgement.

5.4 In terms of lifers in Medium B, there are only 66 of which 3 qualifies under Van Vuuren, 17 qualifies under Van Wyk, 14 qualifies under Phaahla and 33 who were committed after 1 April 2004.

5.5 Zonderwater Management Area has 221 foreign national inmates and majority are from Zimbabwe (106) followed by Mozambique (68) and Lesotho (20).

5.6 Zonderwater Management Area has a post establishment of 596 and only 566 positions are filled with a vacancy rate of 5.04%.

5.7 Offenders in Zonderwater are provided with variety of skills programmes and educational programmes. Skills programmes includes welding, plumbing, carpentry, sewing, baking and vegetable production. Educational programmes on the other hand include Adult Basic Education, Further Education and Training and Technical and Vocational and Education and Training. A total of 502 offenders benefited from these programmes.

5.8 There are 284 parolees and probationers in the system of Community Corrections of which 21 are active absconders and 61 are archived absconders. The post establishment of Community Corrections is 10 and all position are filled.

5.9 Challenges facing Community Corrections include reoffending of parolees and probationers, the post establishment which is insufficient for services rendered and the shortages of auxiliary social workers for restorative justice processes.

5.10 In terms of infrastructure, the Medium A was built in 1970 to accommodate 825 maximum offenders while Medium B was built in 1986 and occupied in 1989 to accommodate 770 offenders.

5.11 Infrastructure challenges include dilapidated buildings due to aging as well as delays in attending to logged calls. Currently there are repairs done on ablution system in agronomy as well as in centre B soccer field. The renovation of Community Corrections offices started in 2021 and the outstanding issues include building of carports as well as installation of electrical cables for IT and air-conditioning system.

5.12 In terms of Self-Sufficiency, Zonderwater has 2 147 hectares and produce dairy, beef, poultry (broiler), vegetables, and fruits amongst others. The workshops in the centre have stainless steel, textile, upholstery, fitters and turners, sheet metal and cabinet making.

5.13 The achievements highlighted include the upgrading of Medium A entrance and the connection of water tanks from boreholes to the correctional centre using offender labour as well.

DURBAN-WESTVILLE CORRECTIONAL CENTRE

6.1 Durban Management Area has Six (6) correctional centres which are Remand Detainee facility, Maximum facility, Medium Correctional Centre, Female Correctional Centre and Umzinto Correctional Centre. The approved bed spaces for all these centres is 6 030 and there are 7 379 inmates, resulting in an overcrowding rate of 22.37%. Of the total number of inmates, 2 839 are remand detainees.

6.2 There are 1 042 lifers of which 166 falls under the category of Van Wyk, 133 under Phaahla, 2 under Van Vuuren and 741 classified under Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998.

6.3 Durban Management Area houses 301 foreign national inmates of which the majority are from Malawi (81), followed by Mozambique (43), and Zimbabwe (31). There are 81 foreign national inmates who are classified as ‘unidentified’.

6.4 In terms of human resources, there are 1 774 financed posts of which 1 719 are filled and 55 are vacant translating to a 3.10% vacancy rate.

6.5 In terms of court referrals, 7 applications were submitted under Section 49G of the Correctional Services Act and non were successful, while 122 were submitted under Bail Review and only 68 were successful.

6.6 Durban Management provides long and short term skills as well as educational programmes as part of rehabilitation of offenders. For long term skills, the facility provides upholstery, furniture making and bread and flour confectionary.under short skills, the centre only provides sewing. In terms of educational programmes, FET and GET are provided for youth and adult offenders.

6.7 Infrastructure challenges include; delays in the installation of boilers, aging infrastructure which results in high maintenance costs, as well as shortage of artisans to manage the day to day maintenance.

6.8 Achievements highlighted by the centre include 100% matric pass at Usethubeni Youth School for 5 consecutive years, manufacturing of uniform for awaiting trial juveniles and females, as well as sewing of infants garments using off cuts and donated fabric for the mother and child unit and needy communities.

6.9 Other general challenges experienced include the negative impact that the shift pattern has on shortage of staff, shortage of computer equipment, as well as shortage of offenders and official’s uniforms.

QALAKABUSHA CORRECTIONAL CENTRE

7.1 Qalakabusha is one of the facilities under Empangeni Management Area in Kwazulu-Natal. There are Six (6) other facilities in this management are namely: Eshowe CC, Empangeni Medium CC, Mthunzini CC, Stanger CC, Maphumulo CC and Ingwavuma CC. These facilities have approved bed spaces of 2653 of which there are 2 853 inmates currently with an overcrowding rate of 107,54%.

7.2 There are 33 foreign national inmates in the management are of which majority (15) are from Mozambique followed by Tanzania (7) and Swaziland (4).

7.3 Empangeni Management Area has only 267 remand detainees. 23 remand detainee cases were referred to Court under Section 49G of the Correctional Services Act and none was successful. In terms of Bail Review, only 5 cases were referred to court and none was successful.

7.4 The Community Corrections in Empangeni Management Area manages a total of 2 322 parolees and probationers of which there are 83 absconders.

7.5 Rehabilitation Programmes offered are both skills programmes and educational programmes. Skills programmes include both short and long term while educational programmes include AET, FET and Grade 12. 130 inmates benefited from skills programmes while 200 inmates benefited from educational programmes.

7.6 In Qalakabusha, 870 inmates benefited from Social Work Services, 563 benefited from Psychological Services while 740 benefited from Spiritual Care Services.

7.7 The Integrated Security System (ISS) in Qalakabusha is not operational. A full scale upgrading of the entire ISS is currently taking place in one unit out of six units. It is also reported that CCTV cameras and recording system is out of order. A project to electrify the perimeter fence is in place.

7.8 Some of the achievements highlighted included a 100% pass rate over the past two years, no unnatural death over the past two years, there is no overcrowding in the management area, corruption cases are handled successfully through the Code Enforcement with the outcome of two dismissal of officials.

7.9 Challenges identified include structural defects in Qalakabusha Centre and Empangeni Medium, filling of critical posts, the use of padlocks to lock and shortage of artisans.

Pollsmoor Correctional Centre

8.1 Pollsmoor Management Area comprise five (5) Correctional Centres and two Community Corrections offices. These centres are: Remand detention Centre, Medium A, Medium B, Medium C, and Female Centre. The approved bed space for these facilities is 3 891 but there are 6 246 inmates of which 4 448 are remand detainees and 1 798 are sentenced inmates. This translate to 160.52% overcrowding.

8.2 The Management Area houses 21 lifers of which 2 are categorised under Van Wyk Judgement, 1 under Van Vuuren Judgement, 15 under Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998, 2 under Phaahla Judgment and 1 is categorised as Violator of Van Wyk Judgment.

8.3 In terms of Court referrals for remand detainees, 214 cases were referred to court under Section 49G of the Correctional Services Act and none was successful. Those referred to Court under Bail Review were 141 and only 33 were successful while 108 were not successful.

8.4 Pollsmoor Management Area has a financed post establishment of 1 468 and only 1 374 posts are filled and 94 are vacant translating to 6.40% vacancy rate.

8.5 A number of skills programmes and on the job training are offered to inmates in the management are and these includes sewing, hair dressing, wielding, painting, carpentry, bricklaying and tiling, textile, food handling, agriculture and upholstery.

8.6 The Community Corrections offices under Pollsmoor Management Area have 3 625 cases of parolees and probationers on their system of which 3 379 are males and 246 are females.

8.7 Parolees and probationers are said to be actively involved in community projects to provide labour to Khayelitsha Milton Matiwane Church; Mitchells Plain New Life Christ Mission and the Department of Home Affairs; Nyanga St Pauls Anglican Church; Rosewood Primary School grass cutting and cleaning; and Brandweer Street cleaning amongst others.

8.8 In terms of infrastructure, Medium A was constructed in the early 1960’s and expanded from there onwards. Medium A was erected in 1964, Remand Detention facility in 1975, Medium B and Female Centre of Excellence both in 1975 and Medium C in 1991. Due to age, overcrowding and vandalism by inmates, the infrastructure and bulk services have experienced fatigue. Currently, the Management Area spends an average of R3 million on day to day maintenance annually.

8.9 Some of the infrastructure challenges identified in the management area include the following:

The roof of Remand Detention Facility, Medium B and Female Correctional Centre is still leaking although a DPW&I contractor was appointed and work performed. Currently DCS and DPW&I are in the process of addressing the challenge.
The current hot water systems that was installed and maintained by DPW&I can’t supply the need in all the centres due to overcrowding.
The current existing boundary wall adjacent to the Tokai residential area needs to be replaced due to fatigue and inadequate structure. The boundary wall was registered as a Capital Works to RBAC (Regional Building Advisory Committee) for 2022/2023 Building Plan.
Delay by approved service providers to deliver material to workshops. The management area will review supplier on the Central Data-base and Head Office intervention is said to be required.

8.10 Some of the achievements registered in the management area include the following:

Successful set up and management of Regional COVID-19 isolation sites in Medium B and B5 unit
The containment of the COVID-19 virus preventing a breakout in the correctional centres
Building of Case Management Administration office at RDF with own resources
Refurbishment of court room at Medium A institution and the gazetting of the venue as a fully fletched court.

MALMESBURY CORRECTIONAL CENTRE

9.1 Malmesbury Correctional Centre falls under the West Coast Management Area in the Western Cape. The Management Area consists of: Medium A Correctional Centre; Medium B Correctional Centre and Riebeeck West Correctional Centre. The Management Area has two Community Corrections offices which are; Malmesbury Community Corrections and Vredenburg Community Corrections.

9.2 The Management Area has an approved bed space of 1 448 and currently houses 1 944 inmates of which 1 079 are sentenced and 865 are remand detainees.

9.3 The Management Area has a total of 28 offenders serving life sentences.

9.4 In terms of personnel in the Management Area, the approved post establishment is 474 and positions filled are 442 while 32 positions are vacant resulting in a 6.7% vacancy rate.

9.5 The Management Area has 47 foreign national inmates of which 28 are sentenced and 19 are remand detainees.

9.6 In terms of Court referrals, the Management Area submitted 62 cases under Section 49G of the Correctional Services Act and none were successful, while 938 were submitted under Bail Review and 132 were successful and 59 were unsuccessful.

9.7 Rehabilitation programmes offered in the centre include plastering, basic computer training, cabinet making, welding, electrical, tertiary studies, ABET (Level 1- 4) and NSC Grade 12.

9.8 The Centre also provides Psychological programmes (670 sessions); Social Work programmes (1 056 sessions); Spiritual Care programmes (1 619 sessions); Correctional programmes (471 sessions) and Restorative Justice programmes (72 sessions).

9.9 The Community Corrections offices under West Coast Management Area have a case load of 476 parolees, probationers and those awaiting trial under Section 62F. There are 37 active absconders in the system of community corrections.

9.10 A number of reintegration programmes are provided by the management area including; Pre-release programme, Restorative Justice, Substance Abuse, Family Care & Parenting programme, Anger Management and Sexual Offender Programme.

9.11 In terms of infrastructure, Medium A was completed in 1997 and was designed for rehabilitation. However, the site is being used as a mixed centre with a large percentage of remand detainees who seriously vandalize the facility. Medium B on the other hand was completed in 1942 and the building is still in a fair condition even though its old. The greatest challenge is the security fencing around the centre which does not meet the security standards.

9.12 Riebeeck West facility was completed in 1960 and the building is also in a fair condition even though is also old. It was built to incarcerate minimum classified offenders.

9.13 Some of the challenges identified include the following:

Unreliable Integrated Security Systems and Structures in Medium A Correctional Centre
Security fencing in Medium B
Increase of Remand Detainees population at Med A & B and the crime category of sentenced offenders incarcerated in Med A.

9.14 Interventions to address some of these challenges include:

Increased external patrol systems to conduct security surveillance around Medium A Centre to prevent contrabands movements as part of security.
DPW&I is in the process of developing specifications for the repair and renovation of the unreliable/malfunctioning ISS system for Med A.
Strengthening working relations with stakeholders in the management of overcrowding and promotion of a quarterly security meetings with all security bodies.
The IDT project at Med B for the ISS was planned to commence after the tender closure on 31 January 2022. It will include a new fencing, sally port, visitation area for inmates, parking area, CCTV cameras and new access area.

9.15 Achievements identified include:

Riebeeck West CC is a dedicated COVID-19 isolation site for the region;
COVID-19 Response Action Plan implemented in all Centres and reached herd immunity in the Management Area;
Appointment of a contract Doctor & Social Auxiliary Workers, Pharmacist & CSPB Com Members;
614 officials trained on various training disciplines, in line with WSP registered training in the Management Area and 01 official trained as Technical Assessor for technical skills programmes;
Installation of visitation intercom system at Med B;
Management Area has a working relationship with West Coast College in Skills Development (N1-N3) Programmes; and
The implementation of mobile telephone system at Med B.

PART II

COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Barberton Correctional Centre

10.1 The Committee is concerned that there is no Social Worker position in Barberton Community Corrections.

10.2 The Committee notes that the facilities in Barberton Management Area are very old and dilapidated and only Lydenburg was refurbished in 2019 while other Centres have not been refurbished or had any major maintenance in a long time. The Committee urges DPW&I to work with the Management of the Centre to ensure that maintenance is carried out as required and refurbishment is done as per schedule.

10.3 The Committee noted that a number of vacancies have not been filled and this has a negative impact on services rendered in the facility. The Department is requested to ensure that positions are filled as soon as they become vacant.

10.4 The Committee was informed that Medium A has an approved bed space of 154 and was currently being utilized as an isolation site. The Committee encourages the Management Area to consider utilizing some of the space in Medium A to alleviate overcrowding in other facilities since currently there is only 1 reported COVID-19 case in the whole Management Area.

10.5 The Committee is concerned about the low number of offenders benefitting from short skills in Barberton CC. A total of 23 offenders were reported to be participating in short skills at the time of the oversight visit. The Committee urges the Department to ensure that more offenders benefit from skills programmes in order to increase their chances of successful reintegration upon release.

10.6 The Committee is seriously concerned that the fire extinguishers are not being serviced. The Department is requested to ensure that regular inspections of fire extinguishers is carried out and that they are serviced as required. The Committee request DCS in Barberton to submit a report by June 2022, detailing progress made by DPW&I in servicing fire-extinguishers

10.7 The Committee also registered its unhappiness about the slow pace in which the DPWI services its clients. The Committee will invite the Director-General of DPW&I to account on some of the concerns identified during the oversight visit in Mpumalanga.

10.8 The Committee commends the DCS in Barberton for a number of initiatives to become self-sufficient. These include the revamping of Medium B clinic using own resources and the installation of boreholes for self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Boksburg Correctional Centre

10.9 The Committee is concerned that a number of bed spaces are unavailable due to RAMP project by Letlapa Construction since 2017 and this has an impact on overcrowding in the facility.

10.10 The Committee is also concerned about poor workmanship by contractors in some of the projects in correctional centres. The Committee believes that there seems not to be systems in place to prevent or address poor workmanship in a number of projects. The Committee urges the Department of Correctional Services and DPW&I to put systems in place to detect such early.

10.11 The Committee noted that the number of absconders in the system of Community Corrections was very high in Boksburg when compared with that of Barberton. The Committee was not impressed to hear that 26 people were re-arrested for committing new crimes after they were released under COVID-19 special parole dispensation.

10.12 The Committee is also concerned about the vacancies in the Boksburg Management Area. In addition, the Committee noted the skewed ratio between officials and offenders which has the potential to pose serious threat to the safety of both offenders and officials in the centre. The Committee was informed that the official ratio is supposed to be 1 official per 8 offenders but at the time of the visit there were about 10 officials and more that 400 offenders in a unit. The Department is requested to ensure that available vacancies are filled as a matter of urgency

10.13 The Committee also noted with concern the shift system of 12 days in and 2 days off applied in Boksburg Correctional Centre. The Committee urges the Department to ensure that vacancies are filled as a matter of urgency so that officials are not overworked and stretched which could have a negative impact on their health and general wellbeing.

10.14 The Committee request that records of decisions between DCS and DPW&I on outstanding projects with start date and end date be submitted by 31st March 2022.

10.15 The Committee will invite the DG of DPW&I to come and account on issues which were picked up during the oversight visit.

10.16 The Committee was impressed with the kind of skills produced in Boksburg Correctional Centre. The Committee also welcomed the partnership between Correctional services and Justice in which offenders produce furniture for the High Court in Middleburg. The Committee urges the Department of Correctional Services to explore this partnership further with other departments.

Zonderwater Correctional Centre

10.17 The DCS and DPW&I in Zonderwater should submit a report identifying all infrastructure projects and their statuses and also indicate completion time-lines for each of those projects. The report should be submitted by 31st March 2022.

10.18 The Committee is concerned about lack of programmes for Zonderwater Medium A Correctional Centre.

10.19 The Committee is also concerned about the time it takes for offender profiles to return from the National Council for Correctional Services (NCCS). The Committee was informed that there were instances where profiles were submitted in 2018 and not returned yet.

10.20 DPW&I is requested to submit to the Committee their Action Plan on all projects and this Action Plan should be jointly signed with DCS and outline project plans with budget and should be submitted by 25th of March 2022.

Pollsmoor Correctional Centre

10.21 The Committee was concerned about the overcrowding in Pollsmoor Management Area and encourages the Department to implement measures to reduce the numbers of inmates especially in Remand Detention. The Committee also encourages the stakeholders in the Justice Cluster to have a discussion regarding sentencing options available for different offences to ensure that incarceration is used as a last resort and only for appropriate offences.

10.22 The Committee was concerned about the low intake of inmates into educational programmes. The Department is urged to ensure that more inmates are encouraged and afforded the opportunity to access educational programmes offered in the facility.

10.23 The Committee was informed that some officials are involved in smuggling of contrabands into the Centre, especially drugs and dagga. The Committee request the Department to ensure that consequence management is implemented where relevant.

10.24 The Committee was not happy to hear that the Community Corrections system in Pollsmoor Management Area has 1032 absconders. The Department is requested to provide the Committee with a report detailing what contributes to this huge numbers of absconding and how they intend to deal with this challenge.

10.25 The Committee request the Department to submit a list of inmates with bail of less than R1000. The list should reach the Committee by 31st March 2022.

10.26 The Committee will make another visit to Pollsmoor as soon as its schedule allows. The Committee requests the Department to invite it to observe a session of Audio-Visual Remand, especially when there is a high profile case.

Malmesbury Correctional Centre

10.27 The Committee was concerned about the time it takes for DPW&I to do maintenance in the facility.

10.28 The Committee commends DCS management in West Coast for the work done in the correctional centres and would urge that more should be done to ensure that rehabilitation of offenders remain in the centre of the Departmental responsibilities.

Qalakabusha Correctional Centre

10.29 The Committee urges the Department to ensure that consequence management is implemented especially for those officials who assist offenders to escape from correctional centres.

10.30 The Committee commends DCS in Empangeni Management Area for upgrading their own internal security systems instead of waiting for DPW&I which would have taken long. The Committee believes that other management areas should adopt this approach and use their own internal resources and expertise of their own personnel in order to save costs and time.

10.31 The Committee noted that DCS has an overcrowding problem nationally but Qalakabusha was much better when coming to overcrowding.

10.32 The Committee noted with concern that the electric fence in the centre has not been working for more than 8 years and that there is generally low level of maintenance done in the facility.

10.33 The Committee was informed that leasing of Community Corrections offices costs the Department R34 000 per month and the current contract started in June 2021 and will expire in May 2022. The Department is urged to also look at acquiring some of the government buildings to house Community Corrections so as to save costs.

Durban-Westville Correctional Centre

10.34 The Committee was not pleased to hear that since 2011 the laundry machine at Durban-Female workshop has not been working. However, the Acting-National Commissioner has committed that a budget will be provided to procure the equipment of laundry machine before the of the current financial year. The Committee request a progress report by 31 March 2022 on this commitment.

10.35 Although the Committee appreciate the effort by DCS to provide rehabilitation and skills programmes to equip offenders in their care, the issue of criminal records becomes a hindrance to the successful reintegration of offenders into the community. The Committee notes that this is a legislative issue that needs a serious debate and a way-forward.

10.36 The Committee acknowledge that some of the challenges experienced in the correctional centres are management and operational issues that needs clear and decisive leadership to overcome.

10.37 The Committee has committed to make a follow up unannounced visit to the centre to track progress on some of the commitments made.

Report to be considered.

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