Minister Ronald Lamola announced the escalation of the Department’s three-pronged prevention, containment and treatment plan, to minimize the impact of Covid-19 in Correctional Services, during his visit yesterday (Wednesday, 08 April 2020) to Johannesburg Management Area. These three strategic pillars underpin the Department’s comprehensive plan to mitigate against the potential risk of an outbreak in the correctional environment. Flanked by the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, Gauteng MEC of Health, Dr Bandile Masuku, and the Mayor of Johannesburg, CIIr Geoff Makhubo, Minister Lamola said that Correctional Services is scaling up Covid-19 preventative measures throughout its facilities across the country.
The Minister indicated that the second pillar of the strategy, which is containment, has been activated following an official at East London Correctional Centre testing positive for Covid-19, after coming into contact with people who had previously travelled abroad. He reported that at least 94 officials and 286 offenders at the centre have been tested by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and their results are still pending.
He said that Department is working closely with the Department of Health and the NICD to ensure compliance with prescribed health norms and standards. “Ongoing screenings are continuing throughout all correctional centres in the country, aimed at mitigating the spread of the coronavirus,” Minister said. Minister Lamola said the launch of the mass screening campaign is aimed at intensifying measures to avert transmission of the virus in our centres and to protect both officials and offenders.
National Commissioner Arthur Fraser assured Minister and the nation that the Department has adopted a proactive approach to mitigate against the risk of the virus entering and spreading in correctional facilities. He said the overarching plan of the Department is largely anchored on prevention.
Following a declaration of the national state of disaster by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Department has implemented a number of stringent measures to protect its officials and inmates. In this regard, Minister Lamola highlighted some of the important directions gazetted to further this objective, including:
- Suspending sittings of correctional supervision and parole boards during the lockdown period, except under exceptional circumstances;
- Suspending the granting of day parole to sentenced offenders during the lockdown period;
- Limiting the transfer of inmates;
- Limiting the movement of inmates by utilizing the Audio Visual Remand Technology available in 43 of our correctional centres in the country, for postponement of cases; and
- Suspending visits to correctional centres for a period of 30 days.
The Minister also indicated that the Department will ramp up health education which will primarily be targeted at officials and inmates.
Deputy Minister Phaahla said the visit to the correctional centre will help Government to identify potential risks and map out mitigating strategies to minimize the threat posed by this pandemic to inmates and officials.
MEC Masuku flagged correctional centres as a high risk environment because they are densely populated and accommodates vulnerable categories of inmates with underlying health conditions such as HIV, tuberculosis and pregnant women.
Minister Lamola and his distinguished guests embarked on a tour of a number of correctional centres in the Management Area to see first-hand and evaluate the Department’s state of readiness to implement prescribed health precautions and its preparedness to roll out mass screenings across the country.
A number of offenders commended the Department for the measures it has put in place to safeguard their health and wellness. Vuyo Ngaba (37) who has been at the centre for 18 years said the department is screening inmates and providing them with sanitizers. He indicated that the biggest challenge is overcrowding in communal cells, which makes it difficult to practice social distancing.