The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services will conduct oversight visits to correctional centres in KwaZulu-Natal this week to assess service delivery, rehabilitation programmes, and infrastructure challenges. The visits aim to evaluate skills development, self-sufficiency, and social reintegration initiatives, while also following up on concerns raised in previous oversight engagements. Additionally, the committee will examine the impact of overcrowding and infrastructure conditions on offender rehabilitation.
These visits form part of the committee’s ongoing oversight programme, which seeks to provide members with first-hand insight into the conditions of correctional facilities and facilitate direct engagement with correctional officials on the ground.
As part of the programme, the committee will also meet with various stakeholders, including the National Efficiency Enhancement Committee, which works to improve case-flow management between the police, courts, and correctional centres. Strengthening this process is expected to enhance the management of remand detainees, ultimately contributing to a reduction in inmate populations.
Committee Chairperson Kgomotso Ramolobeng emphasized the importance of the visits, noting that they follow recent briefings from the Department of Correctional Services on critical issues such as inmate-to-official ratios, infrastructure conditions, escape prevention, and inmate statistics.
“We are embarking on this oversight visit with the firm intention of fulfilling our role in addressing the challenges facing correctional facilities,” said Ms. Ramolobeng.
The committee will visit the following correctional centres:
- Ebongweni Correctional Centre
- Durban Westville Correctional Centre
- Qalakabusha Correctional Centre
- Eshowe Correctional Centre
The findings from these visits will inform future legislative and policy interventions, ensuring that correctional facilities operate efficiently, humanely, and in line with rehabilitation objectives.
