Sihlalo, ngivumele nami ngibhonge emswaneni ngomama uFlora Nyanda, obekade esebenza nathi ngokukhulu ukuzikhandla, ukuzimisela kanye nangokwethembeka kuleli komidi lokuLungiswa kweziMilo - ngithi makalale ngoxolo. Ngivumele futhi ngisho kumama, uMfundisi Motlalepula Chabaku ngithi nakuyena lala ngoxolo.
Sihlalo, ukwaphulelwa isigwebo kanye nohlelo lokubuyiselwa kweziboshwa emphakathini kusalokhu namanje kuludaba olusondelene kakhulu nenhliziyo yami. Angeke-ke silivimbele iqiniso elithi labo abayiziboshwa ngesinye isikhathi kuyomele babuyele emphakathini. Ngakho-ke kumele iziboshwa kanye nemiphakathi bakwazi ukusilungiselela lesi simo. UMnyango kumele ukwazi ukwenza konke ngomgomo wePhepha loMthetho oHlongozwayo [White Paper] kanye nazo zonke izingxenye zoMthetho WokuHlunyeleliswa kweziMilo ongunombolo 111 we-1998 ukulungiselela isimo sokuphindiselwa kweziboshwa emphakathini.
Sihlalo, kumele sisho ukuthi ziseningi izingqinamba ezibhekene neziboshwa ngaphakathi ezikhungweni kanye nasemphakathini ezibuyela kuwona. Ngaphakathi ezikhungweni ezinye iziboshwa zibhekene nezinkinga ezithintana neKomidi lokuPhathwa kwamaCala [Case Management Committee] namaBhodi okwaPhulwa kweziGwebo, kanye nokungatholakali kwezinhlelo zokulungiswa kwezimilo kulabo abasuke begwetshwe isikhathi esingaphansi kwezinyanga ezingamashumi amabili nane. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Ms W NGWENYA: Chairperson, please allow me to mourn the death of Mrs Flora Nyanda and also to pay tribute to her. She worked very hard with us in the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services. She was very dedicated and reliable in the performance of her duties. May she rest in peace. Please allow me to also pay tribute to Ms Motlalepula Chabaku, who was a reverend. May she also rest in peace.
Chairperson, granting parole to prisoners and their rehabilitation programme have always been close to my heart. We cannot prevent their reassimilation into society. Therefore, prisoners themselves and society in general must be prepared for this eventuality. The Department must be able to do all this in accordance with the policy set out in the relevant White Paper and all aspects of the Correctional Services Act, No 111 of 1998. This must be done to facilitate the process of assimilating prisoners into society.
We have to state that prisoners still face many problems in correctional centres and the communities they go back to. In correctional centres they have to deal with problems pertaining to the case management committee and parole boards. Another hurdle is the lack of correctional facilities for those serving sentences shorter than 24 months.]
Chairperson, we are aware that a number of case management committee members in our facilities are not trained for those positions, hence some of their decisions frustrate offenders and are questionable. On our oversight visit, offenders informed us about how they were being chased from pillar to post by the case management committee. We hope the department will look into this as a matter of urgency. I must also say I am glad that the Minister also raised this point in our interaction with her in our portfolio committee meeting on 25 April 2012.
Chairperson, let me talk about the parole boards again. During our oversight visit to different correctional facilities across the country, we got complaints from offenders about the inconsistency in the application of parole by different parole boards. We heard of cases where offenders requested transfers to other centres simply because the parole boards at those centres were more lenient or flexible than the parole board where they were incarcerated.
Chairperson, our country witnessed an example of some of the anomalies I am referring to when two of the Waterkloof Four were released to serve the remainder of their sentences under correctional supervision while the other two still languished in prison. I would like to encourage the department to look into the inconsistencies of the parole boards as a matter of urgency.
I am also pleased that the Minister has made it her priority to ensure that a comprehensive performance monitoring system for the parole boards is put in place to ensure accountability and to identify and address problems experienced with incompetence in practice in a timely manner, especially such problems as was experienced in the Waterkloof Four case.
As indicated earlier on, the majority of those behind bars will be released at some stage in their lifetime. As we heard on Freedom Day, President Jacob Zuma announced a special remission of sentence of six months for all offenders, including probationers, parolees and day parolees, as well as an additional 12 months' remission for certain categories of offenders, probationers, parolees and day parolees.
On Thursday last week, 10 May 2012, we witnessed the first group of prisoners to benefit from special remission being released from the Johannesburg female prison in Gauteng. Those are young women - daughters and sisters - who fell foul of the law. We hope they will use the skills they have learned during their incarceration to better themselves outside and contribute positively to society. I would like to encourage our communities to support and nurture these women in their reintegration back into society. The question that must be answered is: Do we expect these people to make any meaningful contribution to their communities when they are released from prison?
Victims of crime are an important stakeholder in the administration of the criminal justice system in our country. They should be consulted and afforded an opportunity to make representations during the parole hearings of those who offended against them. It cannot be business as usual when the majority of the victims, because of circumstances beyond their control, are not afforded the opportunity to make representations during the parole applications of offenders.
As I indicated in my previous budget speech, as a country we need to move away from a position of treating victims just as state witnesses or as a source of information. More needs to be done to educate our communities about the important right afforded to victims of various crimes to make representations during parole hearings of offenders.
As we go on with this campaign to educate our communities about victims' rights, we also need to educate our communities about parole and the supervision of parolees in our communities. We also need to educate our communities about the importance of restorative justice and the acceptance of offenders back into our communities. Sihlalo, ngiyabonga. [Chairperson, thank you.] The ANC supports the budget. [Applause.]