There should be no doubt about the commitment of the Department of Correctional Services in carrying out the recommendations of the Jali Commission, Minister of Correctional Services Ben Skosana said in a report released on Thursday.
”As a department we are sensitive to the public’s frustration regarding the perceived slow pace of delivery in implementing the commission’s recommendations; we are therefore doing everything we can to speed up the process,” Skosana said in a status report to the inter-ministerial security committee, dated January 21.
The Jali Commission was appointed by President Thabo Mbeki to investigate alleged corruption and maladministration in the country’s prisons.
According to the report 17 corrupt departmental officials had already been dismissed in accordance with the Jali Commission’s recommendations.
One of them had worked as a senior manager at the Durban-Westville prison and the remainder had been warders at the Grootvlei prison outside Bloemfontein.
Regarding qualification fraud among officials in KwaZulu-Natal, nine of the implicated 28 employees had been dismissed to date. One of the 28 resigned and another absconded. The remaining 17 cases were being investigated and verified.
One of the 22 implicated warders at Grootvlei had since died of natural causes; another had been dismissed for other misconduct; and a third resigned after disciplinary steps were initiated against him. The disciplinary hearings against 12 were currently taking place.
Disciplinary hearings had also started for a further six employees, including a director, at Durban-Westville. Two of seven Grootvlei prisoners recommended by the Jali Commission to be considered for remission of sentence were already on day parole. These seven prisoners assisted the commission and authorities with information about corruption.
The Jali Commission has already produced six interim reports with recommendations for the department to implement. The commission was currently in recess and would resume its work in February, Skosana’s report stated. – Sapa