The rising tide of contraband in correctional facilities is so alarming that the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services has urged the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) to immediately implement existing strategies to stem the influx. The department provided the committee with a briefing on the issue and the measures in place to address the problem.
The committee heard that to date more than 41 000 cellphones and well over R200 000 in proceeds from illicit drug sales have been confiscated, while 64 correctional services officials have been implicated in these illegal acts. Of these officials, 16 were dismissed and 11 criminally charged and their cases were handed over to South African Police Services, while 37 are still under investigation. The remainder could not be found guilty or charged due to a lack of evidence directly implicating them in any illegality.
Members of the committee took turns to enquire about the department’s consequence management interventions to mitigate and arrest this sorry trend. Regarding inmates’ illegal access to cellphones, Mr Mzwandile Sokopo, a member of the committee, asked why cellphone jammers are not used to counter the use of cellphones in prisons. He also mentioned that inmates run extortion rackets from inside prisons using these illegal cellphones.
The National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Mr Makgothi Thabakgale, replied that when the department tried to introduce signal jammers in prisons it was informed by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa that because the Correctional Services department is no longer classified as part of the security cluster of government departments, it no longer has the authority to make such a request. The request must be made via the South African Police Service or the Department of Justice. “We are now looking into that but there is also an attempt to reclassify us as part of the security cluster,” Commissioner Thabakgale explained.
Meanwhile, another committee member, Ms Betty Diale, asked what happens to the confiscated cellphones. Commissioner Thabakgale replied that they are handed over to the police because they are the ones with the expertise to analyse the phones and to follow up on the information gathered in this way to uncover the criminal networks operating in the correctional facilities.
In reply to committee member Mr Musawenkosi Gasa’s enquiry about lifestyle audits as a useful accountability measure to uproot corrupt individuals from the correctional services system, the committee heard that 38 000 lifestyle audits have been conducted. Commissioner Thabakgale explained that in terms of the Correctional Services Act, the heads of correctional centres have the authority to deal with any corruption and illegal activity among their staff and they must be held accountable for any inaction on their part in this matter.
To demonstrate the magnitude of the contraband problem, the portfolio committee Chairperson, Ms Kgomotso Ramolobeng, pointed out that the quantity of illegal cellphones circulating in prisons outnumbers the inmates. “These alarming numbers of contrabands could be related to the fact that visitors caught trafficking contrabands in these centres are not arrested immediately and are instead banned from visiting prisons for a certain period of time. This creates a circle of repeat offenders due to this policy that has not stringent consequences,” she claimed.
She also wanted to know what happened to the confiscated proceeds of the illicit drug sales and why officials found in possession of illicit drugs are not arrested and fired on the spot for breaking the law.
Commissioner Thabakgale replied that the proceeds from contraband often become part of the Department of Justice’s resources used to fund crime-fighting operations. However, he also admitted that the amount confiscated is only a drop in the ocean of illicit operations that occur on e-commerce platforms in prisons and which remains unaccounted for. He also noted that it can be difficult to prosecute officials for possession of drugs, as it is difficult to prove that the drugs are not for personal use, as they often claim. “For now, we find this aspect tricky,” he said.
Committee Chairperson Ramolobeng also noted with dismay that out of the 243 correctional centres in South Africa, only 14 have body scanners. “The department needs to reprioritise its budget in spite of fiscal cuts to ensure that there is incremental roll-out of body scanner because they are critical for the safety of officials and inmates as well,” she said.
She also urged the department to ensure that disciplinary proceedings are completed timeously and that its consequence management tools are efficient and effective, as this will instill discipline and curb illegal activities on the part of officials. She also noted that while the department is waiting to be classified as part of the security cluster, the facilities with the highest number of criminal activities should be the ones targeted to receive cellphone jammers. “The department has to reprioritise its strategies in this regard” and become constructive rather than reactivity when dealing with systemic problems, she advised.
Abel Mputing
19 February 2025
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