Parliament, Saturday, 1 March 2025 – In wrapping up its week-long oversight visit yesterday to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), where it assessed the impact of overcrowding, influx of contraband, state of infrastructure, and the living conditions of inmates at the selected correctional centres, the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services asked the Department of Correctional Services to come up with a detailed action plan meant to address the anomalies it encountered at various centres.
In its last visit to Durban Westville Correctional Centre, the committee received a report outlining the timeframes and nature of interventions the national department will implement to ameliorate some of the dire challenges in these correctional entries.
After listening to this report and welcoming its commitments, the Chairperson of the Committee, Ms Kgomotso Ramolobeng, felt obliged to proclaim that the kitchen of the Durban Westville Correctional Centre should be closed. “I have seen kitchens in a bad state in various correctional centres across the country. This is the worst one I have seen. It must be shut. It can’t be allowed to be operational as it is,” said the Chairperson.
She urged the centre to come up with contingency measures to see how it will feed its inmates when the kitchen is shut down. The report also alluded to how the KZN regions will combat the influx of contraband in their centres. The Chairperson implored the management of these centres to attend to the lagging perimeter fences at these centres as a means to curb the inflow of contraband into their cells.
“When there’s no functional perimeter fence, it would be easy for visitors, officials and contractors to walk in with contraband in these centres.” She said that a functional perimeter fence is the first defence against contraband. In its absence, contraband will continue to flood them.
Ms Ramolobeng said that the committee saw many good initiatives, such as the skills training programmes for inmates and well-run schools that have registered impressive academic feats, but sadly, the many shortcomings they witnessed overshadowed them.
The committee was encouraged by the centre’s action plan, as the commitments outlined were concrete with specific timeframes, and their efficacy could be evaluated and monitored. “We will devise ways of monitoring your adherence to these commitments to ensure that these centres adhere to their mandates,” Ms Ramolobeng said.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, MS KGOMOTSO RAMOLOBENG.
For media inquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the Committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Abel Mputing (Mr)
Cell: 081 705 5521
E-mail: amputing@parliament.gov.za
Arrange a tour