30 October 2006
editorial
Johannesburg — IT's no good employing more policemen to put more criminals away if our prison system is completely dysfunctional.
Recent reports suggest that the system is, at the very least, in need of intense and urgent attention. Medium-term budget figures during the week showed the correct-ional services department has had to give about R800m back to the national treasury, two-thirds of which is unspent because the department can't fill vacant positions. The rest of the underspending relates to prisons budgeted for but not built -- an issue that goes back as far as 2002, when cabinet approved plans to build four new prisons as part of a broader crime-fighting strategy. None have even gone out to tender yet and overcrowding in SA's existing prisons grows worse with each passing day.
But overcrowding, with its inhuman consequences, is only one of the many horrors detailed in the report of the Jali commission of inquiry into alleged incidents of corruption, maladministration, violence and intimidation in the department of correctional services. Though the full five-volume, 1000- page commission report has yet to be released, transparency was finally served, at least in part, last week when the 185-page executive summary was made available to parliamentarians and the public. That came after former high court judge Thabani Jali protested strongly at correctional services minister Ngconde Balfour's initial decision to release only an edited 60-page version, which left out some of the recommendations.
Those with delicate stomachs might prefer not to read the unexpurgated version, because the picture the Jali report paints of SA's prisons is unrelentingly bleak. It's not just about the gangs that dominate prison life, or the sexual violence perpetrated against vulnerable inmates, or the leaky prison security, but about the extent to which prison warders and senior prison management are embroiled in all of this -- and the degree to which corruption and abuse are institutionalised in the system. It's about warders selling prisoners as sex slaves to the highest bidder and using prison workshops and supplies to run their own businesses. It's about dangerous inmates who are allowed to escape multiple times while those who complain of abuse are likely to be thrown into solitary confinement. It's about prisons being used to punish, rather than as punishment in themselves. The report details theft and corruption in a whole range of departmental activities. And it shows how procedures are subverted in areas such as parole and disciplinary hearings.
Nor can the rot be attributed entirely to SA's apartheid history, as Balfour has suggested recently. Rather, the report finds that efforts to restructure the prison system post-1994 are as much to blame. Particularly disturbing is the role played by Congress of South African Trade Unions-affiliated union Popcru, which represents nearly two-thirds of correctional services staff, include 95% of prison management. Popcru, Jali found, had a deliberate strategy of manipulating the department and gained huge influence over hiring and firing, one result of which was that many people appointed to senior positions were not qualified.
The scope of the commission proved to be almost too wide. Its recommendations, which cover 17 sets of issues from trade unionism and gangs to procurement and logistics, require careful scrutiny. The Jali process, which began when the commission was appointed five years ago, has already yielded important results. Many prisons employees have already been charged with corruption and other offences and the commission's investigations have helped to open up the secretive prison system, highlighting the need to tackle abuses.
Balfour said last week that 60% of the commission's recommendations were already being implemented. We need to know a lot more about what he is doing to tackle the mess. Where nothing is being done, we want to know why. What goes on in SA's prisons ultimately affects all citizens, and government must be called to account for a system that is not only a blight on society but is undermining efforts to fight crime.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2006 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
