The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, during its oversight visit to the Thohoyandou management area, flagged a significant concern regarding the ratio between offenders and officials, noting it as a “worrying factor” that poses a “serious risk to officials”.

The portfolio committee began its first oversight visit of the year on Tuesday, starting with several correctional centres in Limpopo. The programme commenced at the Thohoyandou Correctional Centre.

Committee Chairperson Kgomotso Ramolobeng said their oversight started in the Thohoyandou management area, which houses Medium A, Medium B, Female, and Juvenile facilities with mother and baby. 

Joining the committee were delegations from the departments of Correctional Services and Public Works, and the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services.  

“The challenges identified in this facility include non-operational laundry machines. All three laundry machines are not operational. 

“The second one, there was an R&R (repairs and renovations) project, which was meant to kickstart in 2024,” Ramolobeng said. 

“Also, an alarming problem is the ratio between offenders and officials, which is a worrying factor that the portfolio committee would have flagged because that would pose a serious risk to officials. However, we received assurance that learners currently in training will be transferred.”

Ramolobeng added that governance is in place, and overall, the facility is clean. 

Department of Correctional Services Deputy Chief Commissioner: Strategic Management Joseph Katanga noted that the programme is vital because it ensures their accountability to both the legislature and society. 

“The infrastructure project around the kitchen has been delayed between the Department of Public Works and us. That position will have to be ascertained so that we can give firm dates as to when the kitchen will become operational. The other area was the laundry as well. We would have to find a way of reprioritising to ensure that the laundry equipment becomes functional,” Katanga said. 

“We do have learners who are coming out of the college, who will be coming into the entry-level posts to address the shortage of staff. That should balance out the offender-to-official ratio.” 

Katanga said the department continues to work towards achieving its mandate. 

“We are happy with how this first day has gone. And we are looking forward to further interactions over the rest of this week,” Katanga said. 

The portfolio committee resolved to conduct many oversight visits to correctional facilities during the 7th Parliament. So far, the committee has conducted these visits in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and the Western Cape. 

The committee’s Limpopo visit will involve an assessment of various components of the correctional system. This includes inspecting facilities that house both sentenced male and female offenders — among the latter are mothers with infants —  and those holding remand detainees.

Key focus areas include detention conditions for remand and sentenced inmates, correctional centre infrastructure, offender rehabilitation and skills development, and the treatment and conditions of female offenders, including mothers and babies. The committee will also follow up on previous oversight visit matters.

thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za

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