Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Ronald Lamola says his department will be acting against senior management who fail to deal effectively with security breaches and corruption in the country’s correctional centres.
Briefing the media in Cape Town, Lamola says investigations into recent security breaches in some correctional centres such as the Durban Westville Prison in KwaZulu-Natal have revealed a lack of management accountability.
“There has been a number of irregular and unacceptable episodes where a number of security breaches that have attracted not only negative publicity to the department, but also have questioned operations and security systems at the centre facilities.
“It is the fact that some of these problems could have been avoided, if accountability and consequence management has to be effected within the department of Correctional Services. So we are dealing with the perception of impunity or errant behaviours, being inmates, officials or contractors and members of the community who frequent our facilities,” Lamola insists.
