Societal issues such as poverty, lack of education or employment opportunities, drug or alcohol abuse, exposure to others involved in criminal activity and mental illness affect the crime rate and subsequent inmate population.
For the financial year 2022/23 the inmate population increased by 13,833 from 143,223 to 157,056 inmates constituting a 9.7% upward movement in one year. Unsentenced inmates — that is remand detention — comprises 59,574 of these inmates.
Working teams with other criminal justice agencies will be strengthened to address the causes of delays in criminal justice process to ensure case backlogs can be approached in a systematic manner and pressure on correctional facilities relieved by joint action.
The long-term solution requires departments and agencies within the justice, crime prevention and security cluster to develop comprehensive and evidence-based criminal justice reform strategies that address overcrowding in an effective and sustainable manner, said Groenewald.
The department’s main task in the current financial year is to build on interventions of making correctional facilities safe and secure.
“We need to identify and acknowledge the challenges and problems facing correctional services.
“We need to prioritise addressing the areas of inefficiency in the department, root out corruption, ill-discipline, and restore effective service delivery to create a system that not only corrects but heals, educates, reintegrates and contributes to the eradication of crime.”
Two issues that will receive urgent attention are effective contract management and the reduction of outsourcing.
“We must ensure value for money. It is also important to build a capable workforce and to ensure that the skills and expertise of our officials are utilised rather than outsourcing tasks and services,” he said.
The cardinal factor in the success of correctional services is its correctional officials being fit for purpose. Groenewald said action had been taken against 66 officials for theft, fraud, corruption and maladministration and that the departmental investigation unit has finalised 77% of investigations (334/432).
He said the department was working on reviewing the parole system.
“It is a subject that has generated a lot of interest and mixed reaction from the public. The debate on it is receiving necessary attention.
“The time has come for (the department) to finalise this matter, as reforming our parole system is not just a policy issue but a moral imperative. People have been asking for a system of fairness and transparency.
“The current criteria seem not to be appreciated. Though victims of crime are allowed to participate in the parole process, how far do their voices go? This calls for a relook in the review and oversight mechanisms. It is critical that this administration finalise this review in the interest of all.”
TimesLIVE
Prisons minister decries budget cuts facing his department
Image: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach
Correctional services minister Pieter Groenewald has warned that the budget cuts facing his department could affect security in prisons, nutrition for prisoners and the monitoring of parolees.
Delivering the department’s budget vote on Monday, Groenewald said due to the country experiencing insufficient economic growth, a budget deficit and unsustainable government debt burden necessitated budget cuts which include the department’s baseline being cut by R2.525bn.
The budget allocation for the department over the next three years is R87.1bn while the department’s expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 4.5%, from R26,6bn in 2023/24 to R30.3bn in 2026/27.
“The impact of these cuts is severe,” said Groenewald.
“The provision of security equipment is compromised, capital investment in skills developments was cut, the budget for nutritional services had to be cut, capital works projects will be on hold and the monitoring of parolees could be negatively impacted.
“We will and have to do more with less. This will require innovation, discipline and commitment.”
Groenewald said the challenges facing the department include overcrowding, dilapidated facilities, ever-increasing remand detainees, deteriorating infrastructure, staff shortages, crime syndicates and gangs operating in the facilities, and new forms of crime patterns challenging the rehabilitation programmes.
He said overcrowding resulted in a reduction of general services to be provided in a correctional facility to comply with the demands for medical treatment, sanitary equipment and educational, training and rehabilitative programmes.
POLL | Do you support reinstatement of the death penalty?
Societal issues such as poverty, lack of education or employment opportunities, drug or alcohol abuse, exposure to others involved in criminal activity and mental illness affect the crime rate and subsequent inmate population.
For the financial year 2022/23 the inmate population increased by 13,833 from 143,223 to 157,056 inmates constituting a 9.7% upward movement in one year. Unsentenced inmates — that is remand detention — comprises 59,574 of these inmates.
Working teams with other criminal justice agencies will be strengthened to address the causes of delays in criminal justice process to ensure case backlogs can be approached in a systematic manner and pressure on correctional facilities relieved by joint action.
The long-term solution requires departments and agencies within the justice, crime prevention and security cluster to develop comprehensive and evidence-based criminal justice reform strategies that address overcrowding in an effective and sustainable manner, said Groenewald.
The department’s main task in the current financial year is to build on interventions of making correctional facilities safe and secure.
“We need to identify and acknowledge the challenges and problems facing correctional services.
“We need to prioritise addressing the areas of inefficiency in the department, root out corruption, ill-discipline, and restore effective service delivery to create a system that not only corrects but heals, educates, reintegrates and contributes to the eradication of crime.”
Two issues that will receive urgent attention are effective contract management and the reduction of outsourcing.
“We must ensure value for money. It is also important to build a capable workforce and to ensure that the skills and expertise of our officials are utilised rather than outsourcing tasks and services,” he said.
The cardinal factor in the success of correctional services is its correctional officials being fit for purpose. Groenewald said action had been taken against 66 officials for theft, fraud, corruption and maladministration and that the departmental investigation unit has finalised 77% of investigations (334/432).
He said the department was working on reviewing the parole system.
“It is a subject that has generated a lot of interest and mixed reaction from the public. The debate on it is receiving necessary attention.
“The time has come for (the department) to finalise this matter, as reforming our parole system is not just a policy issue but a moral imperative. People have been asking for a system of fairness and transparency.
“The current criteria seem not to be appreciated. Though victims of crime are allowed to participate in the parole process, how far do their voices go? This calls for a relook in the review and oversight mechanisms. It is critical that this administration finalise this review in the interest of all.”
TimesLIVE
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