Sundaytimes - Online
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
The full 3,500 pages of the Jali Commission's report into corruption in the prison system has become available on department of correctional services' website.
"There is nothing to hide. We need every official and every member of the public to know what we have been progressively dealing with and succeeding with in the department," Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour said in a statement about the release of the report.
He was however initially reluctant to release the report and in October only released a edited version of the executive summary.
Only after pressure from parliament and the head of the commission, former high court judge Thabani Jali, did he release the full summary in October.
On Monday the full report became available on the government website www.gov.za and on www.dcs.gov.za, the department of correctional services website.
The Jali Commission was set up by President Thabo Mbeki in 2001 to probe corruption in the public service especially departments such as correctional services.
The report contained dozens of turnaround strategies for correctional services such as recruitment being outsourced or conducted under close supervision of the Public Service Commission.
The commission further recommended management prerogatives and discipline be reasserted, security be improved in various ways, a three-meal a day system, and retraining officials on human rights.
Regarding sexual violence among offenders, the commission recommended training staff to deal with homophobia, rehabilitation of perpetrators and the protection of victims.
Recommendations on the parole process included establishing independent correctional supervision and parole boards, a parole review board, and empowering offenders to appeal.
An audit of potential cases suitable for conversion in line with the Criminal Procedure Act was also recommended, as were the establishment of an independent prison ombudsman to address issues of corruption and the introduction of an internal witness protection system.
Other recommendations included the introduction of a seven-day working week for officials to eliminate overtime payment, and the establishment of an internal audit function to evaluate control systems, reconcile goods or products and invoices, and effectively control stock in workshops, kitchens and hospitals.
"There is clear evidence that the character of the department the Jali Commission of Inquiry was set up to investigate in 2001 was significantly different by the conclusion of its work in December 2005," Balfour said.
He said more than 60 percent of the recommendations had already been put into effect.
It included partly outsourcing the staff-recruitment process, signing memoranda of understanding with the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) and the Public Service Association, and adopting an anti-corruption strategy.
The department was also establishing independent correctional-supervision parole boards and a parole review board for hearing appeals, and instituting a comprehensive health-care system that included primary health care and an HIV and Aids comprehensive management programme.
Outstanding issues included developing an anti-gang and rape strategy, accelerating interventions aimed at reducing overcrowding, improving offender disciplinary processes to ensure humane and corrective discipline, and expediting the process of addressing parole and sentence conversion backlogs, Balfour said. Sapa