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As we approach the end of another year, I note with a degree of great satisfaction that the tempo of our activities in the past year has risen, in spite of the many problems which continue to beset us.

Progress in the Department has been registered in several fields and I would like to highlight just a few:

* Programmes have been put in place to implement our decision to put rehabilitation at the centre of all our activities;

* The Restorative Justice Approach has been launched to bring together the offender, the victim, families and the community in the promotion of the healing process;

* The Correctional Services Amendment Bill was passed by Parliament to, among others, promote greater community involvement in Parole Boards;

* Five training centres have been completed and delivery has taken place while four others are still under construction. The planning of another five centres is in the final development stages. These are meant to provide prisoners with market-related skills which they will need upon their release from prison;

* The President has announced the appointment of Judge Jali as the Chairperson and sole member of a Commission of Inquiry into allegations of corruption in the Department;

* The process of evolving the Department's HIV/AIDS policy is nearing completion and is to be submitted to the Committee of core Ministers before being put before the Cabinet Committee for the Social Sector;

* As part of our rehabilitation exercise, prison art was exhibited in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal to indicate to the public the creativity of our prisoners;

* We have put in place several mechanisms to deal with the problem of overcrowding in our prisons;

* We are continuing to address the question of escapes from prisons and we have noted that there is a high degree of success, having registered a 16% decrease in the number of escapes in the first seven months of 2001; and

* Self-sufficiency in the production of agricultural produce reached an average of 72% allowing the Department to pay the remaining 28%.

These are just a few of the successes which we have registered during the past year. However, we believe that with the appointment of the new National Commissioner, Mr. Linda Mti, more successes will be realised. He has the arduous responsibility of steering the Department through difficult times as we face some of the following challenges:

* The implementation of strategies aimed at consolidating our rehabilitation programmes;
* Strengthening partnerships with the community and promoting greater public participation in our activities;
* Promoting and seeking acceptance of the new restorative justice approach;
* Ensuring timeous completion of our training facilities as well as expanding their availability in other areas;
* Devising and implementing further strategies to reduce over-crowding;
* Finding ways and means of eliminating escapes from prison;
* Ensuring that we reach our self-sufficiency targets in the coming year; and
* Promoting co-operation between the Department and other similar institutions within the SADC region.

I have no doubt that we have men and women in this Department who are more than capable of meeting these challenges.

In conclusion, I wish to urge everyone within the Department to gear themselves up even more to devise solutions to our problems and regard the new year with renewed vigour and commitment in our effort to provide quality service to the public.

Issued by: Ministry of Correctional Services, 14 November 2001