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Department of Correctional
Services
October
27, 2011 Engineering News
The South African government has officially cancelled the much-delayed public-private
partnership (PPP) procurement process for four new prisons, which would have
added 3 000 additional bed spaces at the Paarl, East London, Nigel and
Klerksdorp correctional centres. The procurement process was initiated in
October 2003 when a transaction advisory team was appointed to study the
feasibility of delivering the facilities in partnership with the private
sector. The request for qualifications were released in October 2007 and the
final tender on September 30, 2008. The bids were submitted in May 2009.
However, Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who took
over the position in May 2009, instituted a policy and operational review,
during which the bids were "not opened or evaluated" and were kept
in a secure facility. Mapisa-Nqakula said the review highlighted a number of
financial and operational problems with the PPP model, including the fact
that it conflicted with policy stipulating that security and custodial
services of the State not be handed over the third parties. She acknowledged
that new prison capacity was still required, owing to ongoing overcrowding.
But also insisted that South Africa needed to find new solutions to dealing
with offenders beside incarceration. The department had, thus, issued a
tender for electronic tagging as one possible alternative and would be
seeking to promote the solution within the Justice and Security clusters.
May
25, 2011 Sunday Times
They gave the minister responsible for prisons, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, two
weeks to brief them in detail on the proposal. During a joint meeting of the
public works and correctional services portfolio committees, MPs of all
parties told officials that parliament would not support plans to build four
new correctional centres until they showed how the state would get value for
money from the initiative. MPs also said they did not understand why the
state was so keen to delegate its responsibility to provide security at
prisons to private firms. "This is the crux of our problem. We are
privatising a security facility, which to my mind in principle is wrong. A
security facility should be controlled by the state, not by a private entity
and that to my mind is not the route to go", said ANC MP Salam Abram.
The departments of correctional services and public works and the National
Treasury are considering bids from companies to build four new prisons to
cope with overcrowding. Companies would be paid to run such prisons for 25
years under public-private partnership rules and then ownership would pass to
the state. The government spends R786-million a year to run two existing
privately run prisons, in Bloemfontein and Louis Trichardt. MPs fear costs
may rocket. Vincent Smith, chairman of the correctional services committee,
said the state would have paid almost R16- billion by the time the
Bloemfontein and Louis-Trichardt 25-year contracts expired. Sasa Subban,
deputy director-general responsible for asset management in public works,
which maintains prison buildings, conceded privately run prisons were expensive.
But the state did not have enough money to build prisons on its own. Smith
said his committee would not support the project until it was convinced it
was cost-effective to enlist private firms to run prisons. "It is
interesting, Department of Public Works, that you say that the public-private
partnership model is generally considered to be an expensive model and for or
some reason [the] government is trying to force this thing through. Everybody
is kicking and therefore the question that was raised initially - whose
agenda are we pushing here? - becomes very critical for me," he said.
Correctional services officials could not say how much the department
expected to spend on the project, although the project was approved by the
National Treasury in 2008.
October
14, 2010 Times Live
The Correctional Services Department is reviewing its partnership with the
companies running two of the country's private prisons at a cost of
R700-million a year. This was revealed yesterday in Parliament by the
department's director-general, Tom Moyane. MPs yesterday lashed out at the
department for paying two companies a combined R700-million a year to run
jails for it - though it had spent the same amount to build a new prison in
Kimberley, in Northern Cape. The contracts between the department and the
owners of the private prisons are in force for the next 25 years.
"Twenty-five years of paying R700-million [a year]? I'm sure I can buy
facilities with that amount of money if I save the money," said Vincent
Smith, chairman of the parliamentary portfolio committee on prisons, and an
ANC MP . In response, Moyane admitted that the public-private partnerships
were not meeting the department's expectations. "The current
public-private partnerships, one in Mangaung and one in Limpopo, do not
address, fundamentally, the needs of the organisation," he said. He told
the committee that Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has
started a policy review of the partnerships with the aim of giving the
department full control of the private jails. The department is not involved
in their management.
November
27, 2009 Business Journal
More upheavals are in store for the South African prisons service, and the
labour movement will be at the centre of them. But only some of these relate
to the tender-rigging scandal exposed in a briefing to Parliament last week
by Special Investigations Unit (SIU) head Willie Hofmeyr. Hofmeyr informed
parliamentarians about the results of an SIU investigation into bribery and
corruption involving close to R2 billion in tenders to the Department of
Correctional Services. Central to this is the politically well-connected and
controversial Bosasa Operations, one of the companies approached a year ago
to tender for the construction and management of four maximum security
prisons. Hofmeyr did not mention the tenders or the planned new
"private" prisons to be constructed in the Western Cape, Eastern
Cape and Gauteng. In fact, none of the union federations and neither of the
unions organising in the sector were aware this week that private sector
tenders had been sought and were being evaluated. Apart from Bosasa, three
other partnership companies "with BEE (black economic empowerment)
components" were invited to tender for the prisons to be built near
Paarl and in Nigel, Klerksdorp and East London. They are Geo Group of the US,
and two British-based prison operators, Kaylyx Services and the GSL
subsidiary of security company Group 4. According to a Correctional Services
Department source, the tenders closed on April 30 and construction is set to
start next May with completion in 18 months. This news has already started to
cause consternation throughout the labour movement, but it also comes at a
time when the trade unions in the sector are at their weakest for many years.
Problems that have festered for more than a decade have begun to surface,
some of them prompted by the SIU investigation, with its confirmation of
rumours of high-level corruption that have circulated for years.
November
22, 2009 Sunday Times
Bosasa Group, the company which allegedly paid kick-backs to correctional
services officials, sought to prevent parliament and the Special
Investigating Unit from releasing a report containing information about the
scandal. Minister of correctional services Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula allegedly
also sought to keep the report under wraps, sparking tension with Vincent
Smith, the chairman of parliament's portfolio committee on correctional
services. As a result, deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe had to intervene.
Smith confirmed that Bosasa had demanded that the report be kept
"confidential", but denied Mapisa-Nqakula's alleged role in the
attempted cover-up. The investigating unit confirmed that Bosasa's lawyers
wrote indicating "that they (Bosasa) believed the proposed presentation
was unlawful". In February the company also launched "legal
proceedings to stop the questioning of some witnesses and the investigation
itself. The SIU has agreed not to question witnesses until the finalisation
of the (court) proceedings." The unit's report details how Bosasa won
contracts from correctional services. Unit head Willie Hofmeyr released parts
of the report to the portfolio committee this week, including allegations
that Bosasa paid kick-backs to top government officials. One official
allegedly accepted a house, cars, an overseas trip for his daughter and rugby
season tickets to watch the Blue Bulls in exchange for awarding tenders. The
company, which was repeatedly defended by former correctional services
minister Ngconde Balfour, received tenders worth close to R2-billion for
services in IT, security and prison meals, and in some cases it allegedly
wrote tender specifications. Hofmeyr said the official, who is still to
appear in court and may not be named, was instrumental in awarding four
tenders worth hundreds of millions of rands to a single service provider and
its affiliates between 2004 and 2006. Smith said he took Bosasa's demand to
parliament's legal advisers, who advised him to reject it on the basis that
he did not have a copy of the unit's report. "I don't know whether by
the 'report' they meant information on the report or the report itself. They
said that because they had issues with the report, it must be kept
confidential," Smith said. "We said to them, in two paragraphs
crafted by the legal department of parliament, that it (their demand) does
not arise because we don't have the report." It is not clear how Bosasa
came to know about the pending release of the report to parliament. Smith, an
ANC MP, denied there were tensions between him and Mapisa-Nqakula, over the
unit's report. But government and parliamentary officials said that the
differences between the two were resolved at a meeting with Motlanthe, the
leader of government business in parliament. The meeting paved the way for
the portfolio committee to hear the unit's findings. Motlanthe's office
confirmed the meeting took place but denied that the report was discussed.
His office said Motlanthe met the two after questions were raised about
Mapisa-Nqakula's "relationships" with the portfolio committee. It
did not specify the nature of the relationships that led to the hastily
convened meeting. "The report was not a subject of discussion at this
meeting, but the functioning of the committee as a consequence (of)
relationships," Motlanthe's office said. Smith said the meeting
discussed the need for Mapisa-Nqakula to attend ANC portfolio committee
caucuses. Mapisa-Nqakula denied harbouring concerns over the handling of the
report. She declined to answer questions about the meeting with Motlanthe,
nor would she confirm whether it had taken place. Her spokesman, Sonwabo
Mbananga, said the minister " has never lost a night's sleep" over
the report and "has never and still does not harbour concerns with
regard to processes that are unfolding ..." Sources said Mapisa-Nqakula
had stunned ANC MPs when she disclosed that she had attended a function
sponsored by Bosasa at an East London prison a week before the Special
Investigating Unit briefed the portfolio committee about the company's
alleged shady deals. "The ministerial team only found out in the vote of
thanks that one of the sponsors was Bosasa," Mbananga said. Bosasa
spokesman Papa Leshabane questioned the report's findings because the company
had not seen the report and had not been afforded an opportunity to respond.
September
28, 2009 Sunday Independent
Damning evidence of corruption and rigging of prisons tenders worth close
to R2 billion has been uncovered by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU),
with bidders drafting their own specifications. Current and former
Correctional Services officials could be prosecuted. The Star can reveal that
the unit was due to tell MPs last week that it had found evidence of
collusion between Correctional Service Department officials and suppliers. It
also found evidence that the bidders which won the multibillion-rand
contracts - which include providing prison kitchen and security services -
had drafted their own tender specifications. The SIU has since 2006
investigated a security company with close links to ANC politicians and top
government officials. The company, known to The Star, won prisons contracts
worth more than R1.6 bn. The SIU said it had referred its report to the
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) "for (a) decision regarding
prosecution". NPA spokeswoman Bulelwa Makeke said the relevant
prosecutions staff had not yet seen the report. A copy of the report, which
recommends disciplinary action against 22 officials, also went to
Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula earlier this month. It
is understood that the report could also implicate top ruling party
politicians and government officials, hence the sensitivity. Mapisa-Nqakula
failed to renew the unit's contract when it expired in April. The department
has contracted the SIU since 2002 after a judicial commission uncovered
large-scale corruption in prisons. The SIU reported in its submission that
R6.9 million has already been recovered through its investigation into the
200 most expensive contracts in the department, while assets of R12m were
under restraint and a R4.8m saving had been made. It also said "further
asset seizures (are) pending". SIU head Willie Hofmeyr said last night
he did not want to comment at this stage. DA MP and shadow minister of
correctional services James Selfe said that, given the extent of corruption
and malpractices that were uncovered by the SIU, he would like to ask
Mapisa-Nqakula why investigative unit's contract had not been renewed.
"The SIU is obviously a very cost-effective way of uncovering corruption
in the department, which appears to be widespread," he said.
July
24, 2009 Bua News
A final report on the investigation into tenders amounting to over R1.6
billion will be submitted to the Department of Correctional Services in
August. This was revealed during a meeting between Special Investigating Unit
(SIU) head Willie Hofmeyer and Acting National Commissioner of Correctional
Services, Jennifer Schreiner, to update her on progress made in the
investigation. The investigation was commissioned by Correctional Services in
March 2006. It covers major tenders entered into by the department for
nutrition services, CCTV security, fencing and television monitors. In 2005,
government approved a R436 million contract to install high perimeter fences
with detectors and close circuit television systems at all correctional
centres in the country. The department also approved the implementation of an
R88 million security system at 66 correctional centres, including 36 centres
of excellence and 30 other high-risk prisons. This was an attempt by the
department to curb prison escapes. The SIU is also probing a deal between the
department and a company known as Bosasa Operations to provide food for South
Africa's main prisons. Since 2004 Bosasa Operations and its subsidiaries have
been awarded tenders totalling more than R1 billion. The investigation
further covers contracts authorised during the tenure of former Commissioner
of Correctional Services Linda Mti. The meeting between Mr Hofmeyer and Ms
Schreiner also reflected on a number of critical elements of the fight
against fraud and corruption, including disciplinary actions and criminal
investigations against officials who had been fingered in the probe.
Meanwhile, in a further effort to stamp out corruption within the department,
Correctional Services Minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, last week announced
the suspension of Commissioner Xoliswa Sibeko. The department, in conjunction
with the Department of Public Service and Administration, is investigating
the conduct of Ms Sibeko who was said to have been renting an expensive
residence at the expense of the tax payer. A report in that regard is
expected in two weeks time.
May
3, 2009 The Times
Public safety is under “serious threat” after delays by the Department of
Correctional Services in implementing a back-up plan to replace hundreds of
private security staff at prisons. Sondolo IT, which has provided electronic
security at 66 prisons around the country since 2006, withdrew staff who had
been manning 72 control rooms at 6am on Friday morning, when its contract
with the department officially ended. Sondolo IT, which runs the surveillance
systems at among others, Pretoria Central Prison, Johannesburg Prison, Cape
Town’s Pollsmoor Prison and Durban-Westville Prison, on Tuesday submitted a
comprehensive risk assessment report to the department ahead of its
withdrawal. It warned that prison security could be breached and not detected
as all prison-based control centres, five regional ones and one national
system would no longer be staffed. Furthermore this could: Require an already
burdened correctional services to deploy more staff in problem areas; Result
in mass escapes as prisoners took advantage of the lack of surveillance; and
Lead to collusion between warders and inmates, especially with regard to the
smuggling of contraband as the parties became aware that they were no longer
being monitored. Correctional services spokesman Manelisi Wolela yesterday
admitted that the department had failed to put in place adequate
alternatives. “We do acknowledge that we could have managed this contract
better so that by the end of it we could have put our own internal capacity
(in place),” Wolela said. But he added that the electronic system was but one
security measure and that other security systems were in place. Sondolo IT
spokesman Papa Leshabane said there had not been any response from the
department to the risk assessment report that it had provided. “It is a
serious security threat,” he said, adding that the lack of an efficient
surveillance system would lead to “ security breaches, such as escapes and
the movement of contraband”. Sondolo IT was awarded the tender to supply an
integrated security system, which includes 96km of fencing and 1200 detectors
in 47 prisons. The company had been in charge of monitoring 1850 cameras, 850
biometric readers, and handling 600 metal detectors and 640 access control
systems. Leshabane said the staff handling the equipment required training
which could take between three and six months. To date, the company has only
“appraised” about 500 correctional services employees — mainly senior
managers — about the system. No training had been done, but they had been
given an “overview” of the system functions, Leshabane said. Wolela said the
department was now relying on stepping up personal security as a contingency
plan. “In some regions we are getting people who have got capacity or
potential to learn to manage the control centres,” he said. He added that the
department had advertised more than 600 posts for the management of the
control centres and was hoping to conclude the recruitment drive by June.
Kutama Sinthumule
Correctional Centre
Makhado, Limpopo
GEO Group (formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections)
October
14, 2010 Times Live
The Correctional Services Department is reviewing its partnership with the
companies running two of the country's private prisons at a cost of
R700-million a year. This was revealed yesterday in Parliament by the
department's director-general, Tom Moyane. MPs yesterday lashed out at the
department for paying two companies a combined R700-million a year to run
jails for it - though it had spent the same amount to build a new prison in
Kimberley, in Northern Cape. The contracts between the department and the
owners of the private prisons are in force for the next 25 years.
"Twenty-five years of paying R700-million [a year]? I'm sure I can buy
facilities with that amount of money if I save the money," said Vincent
Smith, chairman of the parliamentary portfolio committee on prisons, and an
ANC MP . In response, Moyane admitted that the public-private partnerships
were not meeting the department's expectations. "The current
public-private partnerships, one in Mangaung and one in Limpopo, do not
address, fundamentally, the needs of the organisation," he said. He told
the committee that Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has
started a policy review of the partnerships with the aim of giving the
department full control of the private jails. The department is not involved
in their management.
June
10, 2010 Sowetan
MORE THAN 3000 prisoners at the privately owned Kutama-Sinthumule Maximum
Prison in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, were left hungry yesterday after a
wildcat strike by warders. The 300 strikers forced prison management to flee
the premises, while an estimated 3500 inmates did not receive their food. The
warders allegedly demanded that the prison management implement occupation
specific dispensation (OSD). The strike also raised concerns about prisoners
living with HIV-Aids because they allegedly could not get their medication
and food yesterday. “The sick prisoners are suffering,” Golden Miles-Bhudu,
president of the South African Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights said
yesterday. “This is very sad. Prisoners should not suffer because of
differences between employees and management. The strike will compromise the
immune systems of those suffering from HIV-Aids because they need food and
medication on a regular basis.” The strikers, mainly members of the Police
and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), went on a wildcat strike after
accusing management of delaying the implementation of OSD. The union said it
wanted management to implement a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and
Arbitration (CCMA) resolution, which dictated that workers be paid according
to the OSD agreement. Popcru claimed the union was never consulted before
members received their salaries. Popcru spokesperson Norman Mampane said
prison management had failed to act in terms of the recommendations of the
OSD and that was why members had gone on strike. Mampane said the union had
negotiated in good faith but management had undermined them by dragging its
feed and not honouring the agreement. “We negotiated in good faith but when
it came to implementation management acted in bad faith. This is a clear
demonstration of abuse of power by management. They have provoked the
workers,” Mampane said. Popcru provincial secretary Morris Sithole said they
were unhappy about management’s failure to properly implement OSD. He said
the union was equally not impressed by members forcing prison authorities off
the premises. “We are going to engage prison management so that they can
recalculate the figures and pay the workers on an acceptable scale. We also
appeal to workers to return to work,” Sithole said.
December
17, 2009 Sowetan
THE management of the Sinthumule-Kutama Private Prison in Louis Trichardt
is in the spotlight over the escape of two dangerous prisoners. The police
said the two prisoners escaped on Tuesday morning and no valid explanation of
how they escaped has been given. The two, Johannes Khoza, 30, and Esho Naibe,
24, both from Zimbabwe, were convicted of different crimes ranging from
murder, rape, robbery and housebreaking to indecent assault. Makhado police
spokesperson Captain Maano Sadike said they had launched a manhunt while
investigating the escape of the two prisoners. Khoza was convicted of murder
and robbery in April 2006, while Naibe was serving a jail term for rape,
housebreaking and indecent assault. It is alleged that the two used a saw to
cut through the burglar bars and escape through the electric and barbed wire
fence. The prison authorities said they suspected the escapees used a saw but
also indicated they were still waiting for the surveillance report from
camera operators. Head of prison security Nyiko Mathebula denied allegations
that the security system in the prison was weak since they failed to detect
the escape. “We hope the report will detail what really happened ,” he said.
The police said their manhunt was still under way and they appealed to those
who know the suspects to help them.
December
16, 2009 The Zimdiaspora
A 40-year-old Zimbabwean man is one of two prisoners who escaped from
South Africa’s Kutama Sinthumule Correctional Centre Tuesday morning, the
department of Correctional Services revealed today. Manelisi Wolela, the
department’s spokesperson, said in a statement released this morning that
Chico Naibe, a Zimbabwean national and Johannes Antonnio Khoza (29) were the
two “dangerous criminals” that escaped from Correctional Centre during the
early hours of Tuesday morning, adding that a massive manhunt was already
underway to nab the duo, who were serving life sentences. “The two were
serving life sentences for a range of violent crimes including murder, armed
robbery and rape,” said Wolela. The management of the prison, which is
located in South Africa’s northern province of Limpopo, reported that the
offenders apparently sew burglar bars and used clothing to jump over the high
perimeter fence. “The Department of Correctional Services is appealing to
members of the public to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in efforts
to bring the escapees back to lawful custody,” added Wolela. “Members of the
public are however warned not to try to apprehend the fugitives as they are
considered extremely dangerous. “The public should contact the SAPS's
emergency number 10111 or contact the police's lead investigator on this
matter, Captain Sudiki 082 565 8233.” Wolela said that the Department of
Correctional Services had instituted an urgent investigation that must be
concluded within two weeks to establish circumstances that led to the escape.
“Subject to the findings, the Department may institute penalties in line with
the contractual obligations on contractors managing privately run
correctional centres. The penalties are aimed at discouraging security lapses
in the privately run correctional centres.”
May
24, 2006 Cape Times
Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour wants another remission of
sentence for petty criminals, but says a decision is ultimately the
president's prerogative. A presidential decree in 2005 saw 30 000 prisoners
released from jails countrywide. But he was also critical about
public/private prisons which he accused of being run "as if they are
fiefdoms". The proposed public finance model prisons was a better option
than the public private prisons which Balfour said racked up huge costs to run.
April
5, 2006 SABC News
About 12 nursing staff of the Kutama-Sinthumule private prison in Limpopo are
staying away from work saying they don't feel safe in the prison. They have
joined about 200 striking warders in the labour action. The labour withdrawal
by the nurses comes as the Provincial Parliament Portfolio Committee on
Safety and Security meets to discuss the safety of prisoners. The striking
warders are continuing to protest 500m away from the prison. A minimum number
of warders resumed for duty this morning after an appeal by management for
them to come back to work. The other striking warders say they will continue
their stoppage until their demands are addressed. The Parliament Portfolio
Committee on Safety and Security is still locked in a meeting with prison
management in a bid to ensure safety of prisoners and the surrounding
community.
March
31, 2006 SABC News
More than 200 striking prison warders at the Kutama Sinthumule private
prison outside Makhado in Limpopo say they won't return to work until they
receive outstanding salary allowances. The protest follows yesterday's
resolutions between the workers union, Police and Prison Civil Rights Union
(Popcru), and management. Late yesterday, the parties agreed that workers
would resume their duties pending the arbitration process. The workers are
unhappy about their housing and danger allowances. They say these have not
been paid to them since 2002. They say management must pay them these
allowances before they can resume their duties.
March
1, 2006 Mail & Guardian
Order has returned to the privately owned Kutama Sinthumule Correctional
Centre in Makhado, Limpopo, a spokesperson said on Wednesday -- this after a
strike by prison officials led to the death of a 37-year-old inmate and the
injury of another. South African Custodial Management MD Stephen Korabie said
the Department of Correctional Services and the police were called in on
Tuesday night to help manage the situation. Limpopo police spokesperson
Superintendent Ailwei Mushavhanamadi said prisoners also went on strike and
rubber bullets were fired to stop them running away at 9.45pm.
"Extensive damage was caused to one of the four units of the centre that
accommodates approximately 1 152 maximum-category offenders," said
Korabie. He said plans were being made to find alternative accommodation for
about 800 prisoners while the damaged unit was being restored. Korabie said
the Department of Correctional Services had loaned the centre some staff to
help provide basic custodial and security functions, pending the settlement
of the dispute with the warders.
Mangaung Maximum
Security Prison
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Group 4
October
14, 2010 Times Live
The Correctional Services Department is reviewing its partnership with the
companies running two of the country's private prisons at a cost of
R700-million a year. This was revealed yesterday in Parliament by the
department's director-general, Tom Moyane. MPs yesterday lashed out at the
department for paying two companies a combined R700-million a year to run
jails for it - though it had spent the same amount to build a new prison in
Kimberley, in Northern Cape. The contracts between the department and the
owners of the private prisons are in force for the next 25 years.
"Twenty-five years of paying R700-million [a year]? I'm sure I can buy
facilities with that amount of money if I save the money," said Vincent
Smith, chairman of the parliamentary portfolio committee on prisons, and an
ANC MP . In response, Moyane admitted that the public-private partnerships
were not meeting the department's expectations. "The current
public-private partnerships, one in Mangaung and one in Limpopo, do not
address, fundamentally, the needs of the organisation," he said. He told
the committee that Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has
started a policy review of the partnerships with the aim of giving the
department full control of the private jails. The department is not involved
in their management.
January
20, 2010 Sowetan
AUTHORITIES at the Mangaung Private Prison outside Bloemfontein have sent
samples of food for forensic testing after five prisoners landed in hospital
with food poisoning. The prisoners who were admitted to the local hospital
have since being discharged. The incident happened last week when four
prisoners reported ill after lunch, according to Mangaung Correctional Centre
deputy controller MC Motsapi. Motsapi said 281 inmates were treated for runny
stomachs. “Five out of 281 prisoners were admitted to hospital but their
condition was stable. No new cases have so far been reported,” Motsapi said.
The prison is one of three private prisons in the country. The contract to
run Mangaung Private Prison was granted to GS4 Care and Justice Service. GS4
spokesperson Leana Goosen confirmed the incident but said things had returned
to normal. She said the food consignment of the day was being tested.
September
25, 2009 IOL
Nine prisoners at the Mangaung maximum security prison in Bloemfontein
damaged furniture and a building on Friday for unknown reasons, police said.
Inspector Harry Nagel said the group of men locked themselves in a
"school building" on the grounds and started to break and damage
chairs, tables, computers and the building's bulletproof windows. "The
building also sustained water and smoke damage." Nagel said the
prisoners were armed with picks, spades, garden forks and screwdrivers.
Police were called in and they negotiated with the men to come out. "As
the men started to surrender they were handed to the private prison authorities,"
said Nagel. Police said one of the prisoners was apparently slightly injured.
Nagel said the reason for the incident was not immediately known. It started
around 1pm and lasted for three hours.
August
18, 2003
South Africa's private prisons and maximum security prisons have turned out
to be an enormous waste of money, energy and time. These are some of
the findings made by University of the Western Cape Professor Julia
Sloth-Nielsen, whose overview of policy developments in the Department of
Correctional Services was published recently as part of the Civil Society
Prison Reform Initiative's series of research papers. Sloth-Nielsen has
called for an investigation similar to that into the arms deal regarding the
tender process for existing private prisons. "The reason for
prison privatisation was mainly cost based," she said.
Privatisation, however, was costing the Department of Correctional Services
much more than it had bargained for. In 2001/2002 it was projected that
by 2004/2005 the existing projects (those deemed viable by a prisons task
team) would cost the department R538-million - up from projections of
R143-million in 2001/2002. "The department agreed that the
decision had been unwise, and that Treasury had at the time advised against
the transaction. "The decision to undertake the private prisons
projects was, however, a political one, according to the departmental
spokesperson." The official position currently appeared to be that
no more private prisons would be contemplated because of the inordinate and
unforeseen expense. Sloth-Nielsen said the concept of C-Max prisons was
introduced at a time when the Department of Correctional Services was
characterised by the influence of American ideas in the penal sphere.
The intention was originally to create more of these facilities, she said,
but this was put on the backburner during 2001 because it had turned out to
be "a cost-intensive exercise". According to Sloth-Nielsen,
the new prison for "bad eggs", Supermax near Kokstad, was an even
more lasting testimony to the influence of American penal philosophy and
practice. "No impact analysis or land survey was done, which
explains why the facility has been built without a kitchen - the site is too
steep to transport food in the normal manner. "It cost
R360-million to build - 155% more than budgeted for." Supermax -
reserved for high-risk prisoners - was a "veritable Robben Island on
land" in terms of its inaccessibility for family visits. In
addition, the department had not been able to find enough "bad
eggs" to fill the prison. Now the department envisaged a series of
"new generation prisons" for medium and low-risk prisoners.
Four would be built within the next two years. Construction would rely on
local resources; empowerment and security would be people centred and not
technology based, Sloth-Nielsen added. They would be strategically
placed in areas most affected by overcrowding. The focus would be on
rehabilitation. (The Star)
August 4, 2003
A PROFESSOR of law has called for an arms deal-like investigation into the
awarding of contracts for private prisons. Professor Julia
Sloth-Nielsen of the University of the Western Cape said that the Department
of Correctional Services had admitted "impropriety" in the
privatisation process yet nothing had been done about it. She made
these claims in a research document presented at a seminar in Cape Town on
Thursday. "If this matter is not being taken up by any other
investigative authority . . . this should be a priority of the [Parliamentary
Portfolio] Committee in the same way as the arms investigation has been dealt
with," she said. In the document Sloth-Nielsen says:
Initially seven contracts for private prisons were announced, but only two
have been constructed, Mangaung Maximum Security Prison in Bloemfontein,
contracted to a UK-based consortium, and the maximum security prison in Louis
Trichardt in Limpopo; The process of awarding these contracts was hasty, with
the first five tenders awarded months before the legislation was tabled in Parliament;
and The Department of Correctional Services itself had noted, "with some
acrimony", that the people involved in the project design,
contract-drafting and negotiations, had upped and left soon afterwards - to
take up senior positions in the companies that had won the tenders.
"Again, this gave rise to considerable suspicion about the integrity of
the process itself," said Sloth-Nielsen. A task team, consisting
of representatives of Correctional Services and the Treasury, presented a
report to Parliament in November last year about the financial arrangements
of private prisons. "For a start, the official view appears to be
that the contracts were awarded without proper homework having been
done," she said. The actual cost per prisoner a day at the
Bloemfontein private prison is R132.20, compared with R93.67 a day for
prisoners in state prisons. "A debate about the morality of
housing 6 000 prisoners in the undeniable [comparative] luxury of uncrowded
new facilities, while 182 000 remaining prisoners are left to languish in
cells where sleeping by rote is the order of the day, is also required,"
said Sloth-Nielsen. "If indeed state officials (or former state
officials) benefited materially from the privatisation processes, this must
be exposed." Department of Correctional Services spokesman Russel
Mamabolo said on Friday they needed more time to study the 58-page document
before they would comment. (Johannesburg)
March
4, 2003
The chairman of the South African Human Rights Commission visited the privately-run
Mangaung Maximum Security Prison outside Bloemfontein on Tuesday to
investigate alleged violations of prisoners' rights. SAHRC spokeswoman Phumla
Mthala said Jody Kollapen would interview individual prisoners and meet with
prison authorities on Tuesday morning. Mthala said the investigation followed
several complaints by prisoners to the SAHRC's Free State office about, among
other things, detention conditions at the prison. The first complaints were
received last year. The aim of the investigation was to look at detention
conditions and verify the authenticity of the alleged human rights
violations, Mthala said. Earlier on Tuesday Dr Motsoko Pheko, deputy
president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and Member of Parliament, told
Sapa that he planned to ask Correctional Services Minister Ben Skosana in
Parliament about alleged gang violence in Mangaung Prison. Pheko said he had
received complaints from inmates who feared for their lives due to gang
violence in the prison. "When people are punished and sent to prison by
court, they should be allowed to serve their sentences without putting their
lives at risk," Pheko said. According to Pheko, the murder of a Mangaung
Prison inmate last week by a fellow inmate was gang-related. Mangaung Prison
is one of two private prisons in South Africa run by the British based
company Group 4. It has approximately 2928 inmates. (South African
Press Association)
February
27, 2003
An inmate of the privately-run Mangaung Maximum Security Prison outside
Bloemfontein died after an alleged assault by a fellow prisoner, the prison
confirmed on Thursday. The prison's managing director, Frikkie Venter, said
the deceased was allegedly assaulted in the prison late on Wednesday
afternoon. No weapon was used in the attack. The injured prisoner was
taken to the prison hospital where he died while in a doctor's care. Venter
said a team was already investigating the incident. He was waiting for a
report with full details. Captain Ernest Mayiki spokesman for the Free
State police confirmed that police were investigating a case of murder.
Venter expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased. Mangaung
Maximum Security, belonging to the company Group Four, is one of two
privately-managed correctional institutions in South Africa. It is situated
adjacent to the Department of Correctional Services' Grootvlei Prison near
Bloemfontein. Two convicts escaped from the prison on New Year's Day.
(South African Press Association)
January
1, 2003
Two reportedly dangerous convicts are at large after the first escape from a
privately-managed prison in South Africa on Wednesday. The prisoners
made their daring escape around 1 pm while working out in the gym of the
Maung Maximum Correctional Facility near Bloemfontein, Department of Correctional
Services spokesman Russel Mamabolo told Sapa. Both men were regarded as
dangerous. Mamabolo said his department would conduct a thorough
investigation into the escape and expected a full report from the management
company that runs Maung Maximum, Group 4. Maung Maximum is one of only
two privately-managed correctional institutions in South Africa. The
other is near Louis Trichardt in limpopo. (South African Press
Association)
May
2001
A youngster caught stealing three mangoes out of hunger, recently spent four
months awaiting trial in a Johannesburg prison due to bungling by justice
officials, the country's top independent prisons' inspector revealed on
Friday. "This boy was prepared to plead guilty. It is
obvious the magistrate and prosecutor were not doing their job
properly," Judge Johannes Fagan told guests visiting the new Mangaung
Maximum Security Prison outside Bloemfontein. He blamed prison
overcrowding on inept justice officials who fail to process cases
speedily. According to statistics from the Department of Correctional
Services, the country's 236 prisons, with an accommodation capacity of 102,
048 was housing about 170,168 inmates by the end of February. Nearly a
third of these, or about 64,000 individuals, were awaiting trial, Fagan
said. (News 24, South Africa)
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