Cape Town - From body cavity scanners to community outreach food gardening by inmates – these are among a range of security to rehabilitation measures Correctional Services is taking to restore public confidence in the prison system.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Correctional Services budget vote, it emerged body cavity scanners would be installed at the Gauteng prisons of Groenpunt, Kgosi Mampuru II, Johannesburg and Barberton, the Eastern Cape’s St Albans jail and Durban-Westville in KwaZulu-Natal in this financial year.
Security measures to prevent contraband like drugs and knives reaching prisoners are being implemented. On the rehabilitation front, correctional centres are set to adopt a community and help grow food gardens, or provide their skills in furniture making and vehicle repairs.
“One way to restore public confidence is to work closely with communities,” Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha told a pre-budget vote briefing. He added that while public safety was critical, inmate rehabilitation was important to give offenders a second chance in life and to ensure sustainable rehabilitation efforts, including inmates cleaning and repairing schools before their annual opening.
The minister’s comments come in the wake of last month’s Statistics South Africa survey on public satisfaction with the criminal justice system, which showed Correctional Services trailed the courts and police. Since 2011, it persistently enjoyed the least approval with its rating falling to 49.8 percent in 2013/14 from 52 percent in 2011.
But Masutha said Correctional Services should not be viewed in isolation as the department’s contribution to “a potjiekos” of measures also needed the involvement of other partners. Acknowledging “public discomfort” with the bail system, he also pointed out that community members could approach courts to make representation why bail should be refused.
“I’m not sure whether between the prosecutor and the police and other stakeholders enough is being done to make full use of this,” Masutha said, adding that the criminal procedure legislation could be reviewed to tighten up, or improve, provisions.
Yesterday, Correctional Services claimed successes in lowering overcrowding in prisons: there are 159 241 inmates in jails which have a total capacity of 120 000. Overcrowding has been reduced through co-operation with partners to reduce the number of remand detainees 42 901 in March 2015, about 5 000 fewer than three years ago.
Correctional Services has identified just over 10 000 foreigners in jail, but did not give a breakdown of sentenced and awaiting-trial numbers. Acting national commissioner Zacharia Modise said overcrowding was at 27 percent, well below the acceptable international standard of 32 percent.
Political Bureau