This according to Minister Pieter Groenewald, who presented the department’s Budget Vote in Parliament, on Tuesday.

“I can declare that in the past year, 466 raids have been conducted. I have also conducted numerous unannounced visits to numerous facilities. These unannounced visits and raids will increase in the coming year,” he said.

More than 33 000 cell phones, 20 577 sharpened objects, some 122 407 items related to alcohol and other substances, 232.16kg of drugs and over R394 000 worth of money had been confiscated during these raids.

Groenewald said officials have also been subjected to disciplinary action where necessary.

“In the last year, 515 officials have received final written warnings; 181 were suspended without pay and 146 dismissed.

“When it comes to discipline, I can only say that we can only address our problems if we recognise their true extent,” he said.

Protecting communities 

The Minister said when he took office last year, there was a backlog of some 495 life imprisonment profiles. A further 584 life imprisonment profiles have landed on his desk since.

“Of this total of 1 079 profiles considered, I approved 29 parole applications and granted three cases of day parole. Five individuals serving life sentences have been granted parole and are subject to deportation.

“Thirty-eight individuals’ parole has been revoked, two cancelled and one withdrawn. Unfortunately, I have also had to utilise the powers granted to me to refer three parole placements to the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board.

“The CSPRB is tasked with reviewing the original decisions made by parole boards and must confirm or replace it with its own decision. In all three cases, parole was withdrawn. We are in the process of reviewing the whole parole system,” he said.

Groenewald explained that the department is tasked with ensuring that inmates, who may reoffend, are not allowed back into society.

“The department has the important task to safeguard communities against convicted criminals whilst providing rehabilitation of offenders in order to ensure safe reintegration into society. When parole becomes a loophole for further terror and criminality, it is not merely a policy failure, it is a failure of justice.

“I am very strict on that and I want to put it on record again: it doesn’t matter whether an applicant went through all the courses and the rehabilitation programmes in our facilities but when I receive a psychological reports…and the risk of reoffending is medium to high, I will not approve any parole for that specific case,” he emphasised.

Self-sufficiency

The Minister said the department will have a budget of some R29 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, rising to just over R30 billion for 2026/27 and reaching some R31.9 billion for 2027/28.

He highlighted that the department’s budget has undergone some cuts as a result of fiscal constraints.

“The cuts in our budget translate to the provision of security being compromised, capital investment in skills cuts, the budget for nutritional services had to be cut, capital works projects will be on hold and the monitoring of parolees could be negatively impacted.

“[We] face real and pressing financial and operational constraints. The capital budget shortfall of R222 million undermines our ability to conduct infrastructure upgrades and critical maintenance. The escalating cost of food, fuelled by inflation and the growing number of inmates, including a sharp increase in foreign nationals, adds another layer of financial strain,” he said.

However, the department is doing its best to “explore alternative revenue streams so that we are not solely reliant on the fiscus”.

“We have registered commendable progress in the construction of correctional centre-based bakeries and pharmacies. The number of operational bakeries has increased from nine to 11, with Standerton and Pietermaritzburg recently coming online.

“In the past financial year, we have produced just over five million loaves of bread, which translates to estimated savings of R27 197 251.20. Farm production has also yielded R130 491 122.81 estimated savings in food provisioning.

“This is but a step in the direction of becoming entirely self-sufficient. The amendments to the 12-day cycle meal plan are expected to generate estimated savings of over R200 million per annum. These figures reflect our commitment to responsible spending of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money,” Groenewald said.

In his written remarks, the Minister acknowledged that although the department has taken a step in the right direction, more still needs to be done to create a corruption-free correctional service that contributes to South Africa’s safety.

“Our mission is to [do] the best – doing more with less. More savings of taxpayers’ money, more raids, greater discipline, bigger efforts to uproot corruption, more implementation of creative solutions, a bigger, happier workforce and ultimately, greater public trust.

“Together, we will continue to strengthen our department, affirm our constitutional commitments, and ensure that justice prevails in South Africa.

“Let us reaffirm our commitment to a correctional system that serves the people, one rooted in integrity, accountability, and safety. Only then can we truly begin to restore hope, rebuild faith in the system, and move toward the safer South Africa we all deserve,” Groenewald said.

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Responding to a parliamentary question posed by the Inkatha Freedom Party’s Busaphi Eleonor Machi, Dr Groenewald stated that Ebongweni’s achievements are largely attributed to the strategic integration of physical infrastructure with modern technological systems, supported by rigorous operational procedures. He emphasised that the Correctional Centre’s design is specifically tailored to meet the demands of a Super Maximum classification, which inherently requires higher standards of security and control.

“The Ebongweni Super Max Correctional Centre is unique due to its architectural and engineering design, which allows for enhanced security management,” Dr Groenewald explained. “One of the critical lessons learned is that effective Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) must be reinforced by adequate staffing, well-maintained infrastructure, and fully integrated security systems to achieve the desired outcomes.”

When questioned about the possibility of implementing Ebongweni’s operational strategies in other correctional facilities across the country, Dr Groenewald noted that most existing prisons were built prior to 1994. These older facilities were not designed in line with modern unit management principles, which makes it impractical to directly adopt Ebongweni’s methods across the broader correctional system.

Nevertheless, the Department of Correctional Services is actively engaged in projects aimed at upgrading, repairing, and maintaining security systems in other facilities. These initiatives are intended to support enhanced security operations, with the ultimate objective of achieving a contraband-free environment and raising security standards throughout the prison system.

Addressing the issue of expanding best practices from Ebongweni to other high-risk facilities, Dr Groenewald clarified that while elements of Ebongweni’s success can inform broader improvements, the centre’s specific operational strategies are closely linked to its bespoke infrastructure and high-risk classification. Consequently, full replication of its model is not feasible for the majority of other correctional centres.

“The unique infrastructure and technological integration at Ebongweni serve as an important example for the Department,” Dr Groenewald said. “However, due to the specialised nature of the facility, its exact operational strategies cannot simply be duplicated elsewhere.”

The Minister reaffirmed the Department’s commitment to ongoing improvements in security and management practices across all correctional centres, inspired by lessons learned from the flagship facility at Ebongweni.

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This revelation came in response to a Parliamentary question posed by Patriotic Alliance (PA) National Assembly (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Marlon Daniel who inquired into measures meant to address issues relating to overcrowding in prisons.

“This requires the construction of 100 new Correctional Centres with a bed space capacity of 500 each, or alternatively 50 new Correctional Centres with a bed space of 1000 each,” noted Groenewald.

On the positive side, the Minister revealed that during the  period from September 2023 to July 2024, the department saw bed space capacity increase by 2 788.

Further, Groenewald stated that new prisons will cost the South African taxpayer an estimated R36 billion. This comes from a costing which has it that a 1000 inmate bed space medium correctional centre comes to between R680 000 and R725 000 per bed space. Alternatively, a 500 inmate facility comes in at between R725 000 and R810 000 per bed space. For high/maximum security centres the bed space cost starts at R1 080 000 and can rise to R1 400 000.

Groenewald moted however that “the current fiscal environment is not accommodative of this requirement.”

Currently, the department has 69 infrastructure projects registered, comprised of maintenance and capital projects. However, to deal with over crowding, two new build projects are underway. One is at Burgersdorp in Eastern Cape, where a project for the construction of a 500-bed Correctional Centre was awarded during April 2022, and it is expected to be finalised during 2026. The second project, at Parys in Free State, “the construction contract was terminated during February 2023, due to poor performance of the contractor.” Fortunately, the Minister added that “the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) appointed a replacement contractor during December 2023,” and the site is also expected to be completed in 2026.

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These new staff members are considered to be under probation until they complete a period of 12 months for them to be under a full performance assessment.

This is according to the Minister of Correctional Services, Dr Pieter Groenewald, who was answering a parliamentary question posed by Busaphi Eleonor Machi of the Inkatha Freedom Party. He said there is a “Monitoring and Evaluation Framework” in place, which intends to track the performance of newly appointed officials. Phase One, the “Orientation and Induction into the Correctional Environment,” is in line with “the five core programmes of the DCS upon commencement of duties.” These are Administration, Rehabilitation, Care, Incarceration and Social integration.

This is followed by “Phase two, Provision of Job Description and Workplan,” which outlines key responsibility areas for each official in their respective position. “The new employee enters into a written agreement with his/her supervisee.”

Phase three, the “Compiling and signing of the Personal Development Plan,” identifies areas of training the newly appointed official requires, with the training needs registered in their respective “Personal Development Plan and submitted to Human Resource Department for scheduling of training to ensure continuous and regular improvements and developments.”

Tracking performance is through formal mid-term assessments, aimed at the “monitoring of performance after the newly appointed official has been working in their position for a period of 6 months. The employee is assessed according to their key performance areas and awarded a score reflecting partially effective, fully effective and highly effective.”

In scenarios where newly appointed officials are underperforming, “measures are implemented to address the [underperformance].” Phase four commences with an improved plan “implemented to address underperformance of an official and is done within 6 months which ensures continuous tracking of performance.”

Phase five sees the “final assessment at the end of the financial year, of an official’s performance in relation to their key responsibility areas is conducted after 12 months, whereby any areas identified during the mid-term that require improvement are assessed utilising the improvement plan developed during mid-term.”

Dr Groenewald further noted officials are awarded a final assessment score based on “their level of effectiveness (partially, fully and highly).”

By ensuring a return in investment, “employees are required to sign a personal development plan (PDP) as part of their performance agreement which serves to identify any performance output shortfall in the work of the employee, either historical or anticipated.”

The PDP includes intervention strategies relating to technical and occupational “hard skills “of the job, through appropriate training, on-the-job training or an expanded job exposure. All this is to ensure their training “yields positive outcomes for the department’s objectives.”

“Prior to the placement of the 1 003 newly appointed officials an analysis by centre management of vacant critical positions within the correctional environment was conducted to ensure the effective utilization of newly appointed officials,” noted Dr Groenewald.

Critical security and corrections posts which were vacant, were then prioritised to address staff shortages, with the intent to “yield the full benefit of the additional staff to ensure achievement of strategic outcomes of the department.”

“Newly appointed officials function in positions in relation to the core focus areas of the DCS which includes case management, case officers, custodial/security officials, internal and external security which aims to enhance security and rehabilitation within the correctional environment,” said Groenewald.

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