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4 May 2001

Master of Ceremonies,
Minister of Public Works, Ms Stella Sigcau,
Premier of the Eastern Cape, Rev. Makhenkesi Stofile,
Acting National Commissioner,
Provincial Commissioner,
Members of the Management Board present,
Ladies and gentlemen.

It gives me great pleasure to officiate in this deserving ceremony to officially open this important rehabilitation project as part of a strategic initiative by the Department of Correctional Services to enhance its rehabilitation programmes.

In terms of the priority programmes presented by the crime prevention and justice cluster to the Cabinet Lekgotla held on 22-23 January 2001, the Department of Correctional Services has committed itself to step up its campaign to put rehabilitation at the centre of all its activities, by identifying the enhancement of rehabilitation as a key departmental objective for the forthcoming MTEF planning cycle.

This has necessitated a re-examination of the Department's strategic role within the broader criminal justice system and a re-prioritisation of departmental resources. Our effectiveness in making a positive contribution towards crime prevention depends on our ability to strike a proper balance between the functional mandates of eradicating recidivism through rehabilitation and ensuring community safety through incarceration, by allocating resources accordingly.

This project is part of an initiative to increase the Department's capacity to enrol more prisoners into its rehabilitation programmes, and in so doing it will be making sure that it is putting its money where its mouth is.

In this regard, this enhancement exercise involves the building of a number of training centres countrywide, which will be equipped with modern machinery and staffed by qualified trainers.

Furthermore, as part of the enhancement process, we have undertaken to provide individualised needs based rehabilitation programmes and increase participation in rehabilitation programmes to at least 75% of the total prison population by the end of March 2005.

It is the intention of the Department to provide comprehensive rehabilitation services to prisoners. We offer various programmes in the fields of social work services, education, vocational training, psychological services, moral and spiritual enlightenment, personal development and pre-release preparation.

It is widely acknowledged that unemployment is one of the contributory factors to crime. It is also an indisputable fact that the vast majority of inmates in our prison system are from the previously disadvantaged groups who are unskilled and of little value in the labour market.

The Department is therefore required to offer various skills development programmes to equip prisoners with market-related skills and competencies needed by the production sector, in so doing, helping to break the cycle of crime.

The duty of the Department of Correctional Services to involve itself in the training of prisoners is derived directly from its statutory function, "as far as practicable ... to train prisoners in habits of industry and labour." This duty follows closely SMR 71(5) which stipulates: "Vocational training in useful trades shall be provided for prisoners able to profit thereby..."

The purpose of training is articulated clearly in the Departmental Orders: The Purpose of training is to develop the market related labour potential of all prisoners, in order to equip them to lead an honourable, self-supporting and decent life after release.

The criteria for deciding to what training a sentenced prisoner should be exposed, are laid down by regulations which provide that:

* Training shall be determined by an assessment of the personal factors and history of the prisoner concerned, and special attention shall be given to:

(i) Qualifications and previous experience;
(ii) Aptitude and ability; and
(iii) Duration of sentence.

In practice, a minimum sentence of two years is normally required before a prisoner is considered for admission to a training programme. The allocation of such prisoners to a form of training is determined provisionally shortly after their admission. The eventual allocation follows a recommendation by the Institutional Committee to the Head of the Prison. Such training can take three forms:

(a) Vocational training, that is the type of training where a prisoner can obtain a nationally recognised diploma or certificate;

(b) Specialised training in which a prisoner is given at least one month's intensive training before being put to work; and

(c) What the Department calls "constructive unskilled labour".

In deciding on the allocation of a prisoner to vocational or specialised training, the institutional committee must bear in mind trade or professional qualifications of the prisoners, the period for which they practised such trade or profession, and, in instances where prisoners had served a previous term, the training which they had been given before. The Institutional Committee can also recommend that prisoners be reallocated. Considering the important role played by the Institutional Committee the Department must seriously re-look at the functioning and capacity of the Institutional Committee as a matter of urgency.

In terms of the Department's recent strategic planning session in Karridene Hotel from the 17-19 April 2001, we have undertaken that by the end of the forthcoming MTEF planning cycle, the productivity of our production workshops will be in line with industrial norms. This is a major challenge, which will ensure that inmates are equipped with the skills, experience and confidence needed to face the challenges of the competitive job market. Mr Master of Ceremonies, I am informed that St Albans Production Workshop will be utilised to manufacture woodworks, steelworks and textile.

I am also informed that a feasibility study is currently underway to evaluate the possibility of erecting a shoe production factory on site. I was also pleased to hear that the prisoners earmarked for this training will be taken from all over the Provinces to ensure that these training facilities benefit the entire country. The Department must develop clear enrolment criteria for prisoners to be trained in these facilities, which must take into account the principles of affirmative action to promote representivity of the previously disadvantaged groups in apprenticed fields.

The Department must also develop an affirmative action based staff-training programme to increase the number of qualified trainers. In this respect, we should consider engaging in appropriate public-private partnerships to utilise the private sector to assist in the training of qualified trainers.

This project, with the value of R 24 million is indeed a milestone in the history of our correctional system as we move to re-position the Department to assume its new strategic role of re-prioritising its resources to focus on providing individualised needs based rehabilitation programmes. It is envisaged that approximately 500 offenders will be trained in various disciplines in this facility.

I would like to recognise the contribution made by the Department of Public Works in ensuring the success of this project; the continued success of the Department of Correctional Services to deliver such projects depends on this partnership.

Based on the positive feedback I received on the workshop by our respective departments to discuss the nitty gritty of this partnership, which was held this Wednesday, 2 May 2001, I am confident that there is a bright future ahead of us. As I understand it, our current loose agency arrangement will be replaced by a definitive formal agreement, which will clearly spell out the vertical relationship between the Principal (DCS) and the Agent (DPW) as well as the responsibilities and obligations of the parties.

I am also reassured by the positive transformation processes currently taking place in the Department of Public Works to improve service delivery. The establishment of client focused units and call centres to deal exclusively with specific clients and the setting up of a professional property brokerage service within the Department of Public Works, will go a long way in improving service levels to client departments like ourselves.

In conclusion, I would like to end by quoting from these fitting remarks made by Sir Winston Churchill in the House of Commons in 1923:

"The mood and temper of the public with regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilisation of any country. A calm, dispassionate recognition of the rights of the accused, and even of the convicted, criminal against the State - a constant heart searching by all charged with the duty of punishment - a desire and eagerness to rehabilitate in the world of industry those who have paid their due in the hard coinage of punishment; tireless efforts towards the discovery of curative and regenerative processes; unfailing faith that there is a treasure, if you can only find it, in the heart of every man. These are the symbols, which, in the treatment of crime and the criminal, mark and measure the stored-up strength of a nation."

Thank you and God Bless you.

Issued by: Ministry of Correctional Services, 4 May 2001