It can't be an admission of failure, really. I think that the Office of the Inspecting Judge, Mr Van Zyl, is quite vibrant and very active, and he is keeping all of us on our toes. That is the first thing.
The second issue of overcrowding is a matter which is under discussion and one which has actually become a matter of public debate on how we can best deal with the issue of overcrowding. I think that it wouldn't be too embarrassing or shameful for heads of centres to acknowledge that there is a problem of overcrowding.
In fact, in a number of instances, we have come up with statistics as to the number of bed spaces we have and what number of occupants we have. So it is the bed space as against the number of people incarcerated at the centres.
We know that in many instances we are way above the numbers we should be having at our centres. In some cases, overcrowding is at the level of 200% or even more. I don't think that that is embarrassing; maybe the police are doing a good job.
What is needed is for us to get the courts to appreciate that custodial sentences are not necessarily the best. There are alternative ways of dealing with crime. The issue of conversion of custodial sentences to correctional supervision comes up.
It applies to ATDs, and people should understand that to send a girl child who is 15 or 16 years old to prison for shoplifting to await trial for over a year is inhumane and unconstitutional. A lot of work needs to be done by mainly the judiciary to appreciate that prison or correctional centres cannot be the only answer to the ills of society. Thank you.
Request for particulars of any arms deal approved by the NCACC in the past financial year
5. Mr D J Maynier (DA) asked the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development:
(1) Whether the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) has approved any arms deal in the past financial year; if so, (a) to which country, (b) what weapon system, (c) what are the names of the persons who approved the deal and (d) on what date was the deal approved;
(2) whether the committee had a quorum when the deal was approved; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?