JOHANNESBURG, April 11 (ANA) – Prison officials and prisoners at the St. Albans Correctional Centre, in the Eastern Cape should minimise tension, and improve relations to ensure safe custody and to enhance rehabilitation, Deputy Justice and Correctional Services Minister Thabang Makwetla said on Tuesday.
“As the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services, together with the senior management of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), St. Albans Correctional Centre is a top priority for us,” Makwetla said.
“With St. Albans being amongst the so-called Big Five correctional centres in the country, what happens here unavoidably has the effect of introducing ripple effects across South Africa’s other 242 correctional facilities. The challenges encountered here are just not a St. Albans thing. We cannot allow incidents like what happened here on 26 December 2016 to prevail”.
Makwetla addressed officials and prisioners at St. Albans on Tuesday as part of his third visit to the centre after a violent clash which left three inmates dead on December 26.
He said that correctional officials should not be undermined and said that they have an additional challenge to try and rehabilitate those who “wronged society”.
“As DCS, we need to be the first line of defence to deal with the stink that comes from those behind bars particularly, gangsterism in our facilities,” Makwetla said.
“For offenders to undermine government by killing correctional officials, something is fundamentally wrong. The conflict between officials and offenders is totally unacceptable, and is a misplaced cause. There is no reason for a perpetual feud between officials and inmates,” he said.
“As correctional officials, we have a responsibility to ensure incarceration under safe, and humane, conditions. We must make a concerted effort to bring an end to this tension and conflictual relationships. The possibility of a win-win situation is there, but this challenges our mindsets and the manner in which we do things.”
He was accompanied by DCS National Commissioner Zach Modise.
– African News Agency (ANA)
