Thank you very much House Chair. These baseline cuts do not only affect the Department of Correctional Services but may also affect court hours, if there are no reliable
vehicles to transport inmates to court. They also affect local municipalities who supply services to the department, if they are paid late.
We agree with the Minister that the Correctional Services Act requires a review. One of the pressing issues in that review should be the financial and operational independence of the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services. Rule 83 of the United Nations, UN, Mandela Rules provides for a two-fold system of regular inspections of correctional centres, one internal conducted by central administration of correctional services, and another one external, conducted by a body independent of the correctional services administration. Rule 83 further provides, that the objective of the inspections shall be to ensure that prisons are managed in accordance with existing laws, regulations, policies and procedures, with a view to bringing about the objectives of penal and corrections services, and that the rights of prisoners are protected.
We have to, as a country, develop a clear model of external inspections which provide for operational and financial independence of Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services, JICS. We would like to acknowledge the work of the Constitutional Court Justices on
prison visits. Since 2010, the Constitutional Court Justices have visited hundreds of correctional centres across the country, where they conduct inspections on conditions of incarceration and compile reports. These reports are made available in the Constitutional Court's website and sent to the Minister, JICS and the committee, with recommendations for intervention.
The last report was received last week from Justice Johan Froneman regarding his visit to St. Albans Correctional Centre in Port Elizabeth. The committee will soon consider this report and look at other reports sent by other justices of the Constitutional Court to come up with a clear oversight plan. As part of the measures to review the Correctional Services Act, there is also a need to review our parole system to comply with the recent judgement of the Constitutional Court in Phaahla versus Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and Another of 2019 to ensure that parolees are treated equitably.
Last year the DCS reported that it was developing a review paper on the parole system. During this financial year we will invite the Department of Correctional Services to brief the committee on this review paper. There is a strong need to improve procurement chain management in the Department of Correctional Services.
Investigations being conducted by the Special Investigations Unit, relating to the Electronic Monitoring System, the Integrated Inmate Management System, IIMS, and Fencing have stalled the implementation of these very important projects. The IIMS is key in ensuring the management of offender information across all the 243 correctional centres, linking such information with the courts and the police. We expect that appropriate action will be taken against those involved in any wrongdoing, when these investigations are finalised.
In its report, the committee has also noted that the department incurred irregular expenditure of R1,8 billion in 2017-18. The committee urges the Minister to heighten his oversight on the governance and internal control environment of the Department of Correctional Services, to ensure that audit action plans and the Auditor General's remedial measures are implemented.
The committee has further recommended that the department considers developing some measurable performance indicators, and targets for the assurance services subprogramme, as this could assist the Department of Correctional Services to implement its audit action plans and to achieve clean audits in the future.
Lastly, I would like to, on behalf of the committee, acknowledge the hard work of all the committed Department of Correctional Services employees across all the 243 correctional and remand detention facilities. We acknowledge their dedication under very difficult conditions. We welcome and support the department's plans and budget for 2019-20. Thank you very much.