Correctional services deputy minister Lindiwe Ntshalintshali said heads must roll after an oversight visit by MPs to East London prisons on Wednesday.
Ntshalintshali said she had been left depressed by the dilapidated infrastructure of the facilities, which made them hazardous for both prison staff and inmates.
Officials and correctional services portfolio committee members visited the East London Maximum and Female prisons, including kitchens, workshops, classrooms, clinics and pharmacies.
The state of East London Maximum, which holds some of the province’s most dangerous criminals, was strongly criticised by the parliamentary delegation led by portfolio committee chair Kgomotso Ramolobeng.
She was concerned by its lack of infrastructure maintenance and continued failure to uphold food safety and health standards.
The Dispatch team followed the delegates, who were told the facilities, which catered for 3,604 inmates, including those housed in the Mdantsane correctional centre, did not have the necessary food safety certificates because of “inadequate” cooking conditions.
The female prison, which received its last kitchen compliance certificate 24 years ago, has been continually flagged by the Buffalo City Metro for its filthy roof.
Correctional services national commissioner Makgothi Samuel Thobakgale said small maintenance issues that had not been addressed had now become “capital infrastructure problems”.
“We could have done better on these issues and I include myself. We need to point out these maintenance issues in time and not wait until they become a problem. I’m sure the team will deal with the matter.”
In the maximum centre, the delegation was met by six inmates who were using their laptops in the corridors to study because there was no classroom space available.
The inmates, all serving life sentences for various offences, complained of a lack of study material as well as the cold.
Five are studying law through Unisa, while the sixth is a mechatronics student.
Ntshalintshali told the delegation she was uncomfortable about the number of inmates in the corridors.
“This is an issue we need to deal with. I’ve seen so many offenders in the corridors — like it is normal.
“Your passages are always busy, and I was hoping nothing happens as we were walking by because everything was casual.
“The more I walk in this facility, the more depressed I become. I wonder about those who work here 24/7.”
But Ntshalinsthali said the department had developed an action plan to fix the issues at all the facilities in the province.
Deputy correctional services commissioner Dr Riaan Botha said the R6m budget for the day-to-day maintenance of the Eastern Cape’s 45 prisons meant it was difficult to fix these issues.
Botha said R1.4m of the budget went to the East London correctional centres.
The department had put out a security systems tender in 2022, which included fencing, for a budget of R190m.
The tender, which was later withdrawn, would have run for three years, ending in February this year.
“The cheapest bid in the tender came in at R360m. It was a mistake from our side in terms of the scoping because we wanted to cluster everything into one contract. It became a lesson for us and we retracted that tender.
“What we are going to do now is to break these clusters, we need to go back to the drawing board.”
Botha said the correctional services centres in East London had not been designed to have classrooms and the department would have to try to use available space to build them.
“I cannot spin our facilities issue — we should take that one on the chin and develop a plan.”
Public works senior official Tshepiso Ramufhi said the maintenance issues at East London prisons were the result of budget constraints.
During a debriefing session after the oversight visit, it was revealed that East London’s remand correctional centre, which has bed space for 477 inmates, accommodated 1,035, a 217% occupancy rate far in excess of the acceptable norm of 150%.
This is followed by Mdantsane’s correctional centre with a 170% occupancy rate.
Ramolobeng said she was devastated by what MPs had seen in the province’s prisons.
Daily Dispatch
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