In May last year Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour told Parliament the country’s two private prisons were too expensive.
He promised that the eight new generation prisons to be built would not be operated by private companies and argued for a new model where companies would only be asked to build and maintain prisons, with the department of correctional services running the operational side.
Three weeks ago, however, Balfour’s department invited interested parties to provide qualifications for the design, construction, finance, operation and maintenance of five new prisons on the same public-private partnership (PPP) model Balfour criticised 18 months ago.
This, commentators said this week, might be an indication that government admits that it has failed to operate prisons as efficiently as do specialised firms.
Currently the government is funding two private prisons — the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein is operated by GSL Solutions, a British affiliate, and Makhado’s Kutama-Sinthumule Correctional Centre is subcontracted to South African Custodial Management, an affiliate of the American GEO Group.
The five new-generation prisons will be built in Paarl, Port Shepstone, East London, Nigel and Klerksdorp.
Interest was shown at a briefing session in Pretoria last Friday attended by 135 individuals, who included international construction firms, Âengineers and financial institutions.
According to department insiders, it is unlikely that any one of the five contracts will be for less than R1-billion.
After the department has received qualifications from all interested parties, its transaction consultants and repreÂsentatives from the department of public works and treasury will short list three or four applicants to tender formally.
President Thabo Mbeki announced as early as 2002 in his state of the nation speech that four new prisons (Kimberley, Nigel, Klerksdorp and Leeuwkop in Midrand) would be built as part of government’s expanded public works programme.
Although the department started negotiating with interest groups, these projects did not get off the ground. The first contract was awarded last year when Grinaker-LTA won the tender to construct the 3 000-bed Kimberley prison. This facility is in the process of construction and will operate like a ‘normal†state prison.
Meanwhile, Mbeki added Paarl, Port Shepstone, East London and Polokwane to his list in the 2006 state of the nation address and Polokwane and Leeuwkop have been dropped.
It is unclear why Balfour eventually decided to opt for the PPP model. One source claims the transaction consultants advised the department that private prisons are cheaper, while another alleges treasury convinced Balfour to go the private route. Balfour’s spokesperson did not respond to the Mail & Guardian‘s questions.
Researcher Lukas Muntingh from the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative wants to know why Balfour suddenly changed his tune when he (Balfour) had warned against contracting out the department’s ‘care risk functionsâ€, which are the maintenance and care of the physical facilities.
‘After these prisons have been built, almost 20% of the country’s inmates would be kept in private facilities. The question begs: when will all facilities be run privately?†Muntingh asks.
According to him, there is a definite trend towards the country’s holding facilities being privatised. ‘This looks like an admission by government that they are not equipped to provide the same level of services.â€
The problem with the department is that employees are not being held responsible for poor performance, Muntingh says.
He also criticises the location of the five prisons, saying not one of them falls within an area that experiences serious overcrowding.