The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services yesterday. The Justice Minister Ronald Lamola provided the committee with political overviews of the 2022/23 annual reports of the departments of Justice and of Correctional Services.
The committee heard that the Justice department achieved an overall performance of 86% in the 2022/23 financial year. The department’s highest performance previously was 85%, achieved in the 2014/15 financial year. Meanwhile, the department’s strategic interventions achieved tremendous progress over the past four financial years, despite numerous challenges. This is evident in the improved performance.
The Minister further welcomed yesterday’s finding by the Western Cape High Court that the late Imam Abdulah Haroon was tortured to death and did not fall down steps, as the apartheid police had previously claimed. The law will now take its normal course and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will attend to the matter, along with the other Truth and Reconciliation matters before them. This case and other cases passing through the courts, such as the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, show that South Africa’s wheels of justice continue to turn.
The committee also heard from the Minister that the Justice department continues to develop online solutions in phases. This includes the progress achieved on Deceased Estates Online Solution. This system was piloted with the assistance of members of the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa, the Banking Association of South Africa and selected members of the public. “I am pleased to announce that the online system was officially launched today, the 10th of October 2023, and will be operational in five master offices, namely Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Thohoyandou,” said Minister Lamola.
The committee also heard that infrastructure maintenance has improved access to justice services. During the year under review, 69 courts were refurbished and upgraded through minor capital works. In addition, 70 courts were upgraded in line with minimum standards to provide reasonable accommodation and disability-centric support services.
In the fight to eliminate corruption, the committee heard that more than just prosecuting is required. A societal response and upstream interventions are needed to improve ethics and integrity, particularly in leadership positions, governance and collaboration with law enforcement partners.
Meanwhile, the NPA has collaborated with the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (Gi-TOC) to develop a focused organised crime strategy. The department recognises the importance of working with other stakeholders in the crime and justice arena, particularly the Department of Priority Crime Investigation, to combat organised crime. To rebuild the NPA and address the impact of state capture, the NPA has adopted a strategic approach.
The committee heard that the Special Investigating Unit and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research have taken positive steps towards fostering innovation and development in the fields of data science, information and cyber security, artificial intelligence and cyber infrastructure support.
The committee also heard that the Department of Correctional Services continues to reduce running costs at all correctional centres and has generated revenue by maximising production through offender labour.
Minister Lamola said: “1 277 offenders worked in production workshops daily in the last financial year and 3 352 inmates daily worked in our agricultural farms. Over the last three financial years, the DCS saved a total of R372 million through the Self Sufficiency Strategic Framework. We were 100% self-sufficient in terms of producing eggs for inmates.
“Other food items which were internally produced for inmates’ rations included the following: 9.4 million kilogrammes of vegetables; 482 thousand kilogrammes of fruit; 42 510 thousand kilogrammes of red meat; 1 million kilogrammes of chicken meat; 1.7 million kilogrammes of pork; 5.9 million litres of milk; and 4.6 million loaves of bread at a cost of R7, 02 per loaf.”
The department continued to implement its overcrowding reduction strategy to mitigate against rising levels of overcrowding.
The Justice department is expected to brief the committee today in detail on its annual report, while the Correctional Services department will brief the committee tomorrow.
Rajaa Azzakani
11 October 2023
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