30th June 2009

Honourable Chairperson,

The IFP welcomes the Minister to this new portfolio, where she will again serve every South African. Because not only is DCS responsible for the incarceration of some 165 000 people, but also for protecting every one of us by rehabilitating offenders who will at some point re-enter society.

We accept that the prison population profile is changing, with more offenders serving long sentences, and bail being either unaffordable or denied to most awaiting trial inmates. The prison population is growing, but the persistent problem of overcrowding is not addressed through this budget.

A key point has been made by the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services: There would be no overcrowding if inmates didn't spend 23 hours a day unproductively locked up in their cells.  Cells should be used for sleeping only, while daylight hours are spent in meaningful work, literacy training and rehabilitation programmes.

The White Paper emphasises rehabilitation. The Department emphasises rehabilitation. The Joint Cluster emphasises rehabilitation. Civil society emphasises rehabilitation. In fact, the only document out of sync with this call is the budget.

DCS has set its expectations low for the year, intending to add a negligible number of offenders to already poorly populated skills development, production and literacy programmes. The National Commissioner has pointed out that legislation offers offenders an easy out if they choose not to participate in such programmes. Legislation can be changed, far more easily than on-the-ground realities.

How many inmates are going to volunteer to sit on the floor in a corridor and try to learn to read, if and when someone is available to teach them? How many can learn to bake bread when there are just five bakeries across South Africa? And how many can work in the one and only shoe factory?

The President has warned that in this time of economic recession "every cent must be spent wisely and fruitfully". DCS does not have an inspiring track record in this regard, with six successive qualified audit reports. But the point is, DCS must become more self-sufficient and less reliant on tax payers money.

It has been pointed out that the inmates themselves could be staffing the kitchens, cutting the grass and cleaning up. Not only will this save in terms of contractors and outsourcing, but it will begin to impart a work ethic and a sense of usefulness which are essential ingredients in rehabilitation. It will also combat the social perception that prisons are paid vacations.

The Department has commissioned a cost evaluation to determine whether it would be most cost effective to outsource catering or have inmates do the work. But the cart has really been put before the horse, because a three year contract has already been awarded.

Bosasa's R900 million contract is under investigation by the Special Investigations Unit, and its report must be made available. Decisions on Bosasa should also be considered against the Minister's personal financial interests, as Bosasa is owned by Dyambu in which she has disclosed financial interest.

This said, the IFP will be closely following the Department's key deliverables over the next year, particularly on rehabilitation strategies, and we hope to see measurable value emerging from this budget.

I thank you.

Contact: Velaphi Ndlovu, 083 625 0803.