Mission
Placing rehabilitation at the centre of all Departmental activities in partnerships with external stakeholders, through:
- The integrated application and direction of all Departmental resources to focus on the correction of offending behaviour, the promotion of social responsibility and the overall development of the person under correction
- The cost effective provision of correctional facilities that will promote efficient security, corrections, care and Development services within an enabling human rights environment
- Progressive and ethical management and staff practices within which every correctional official performs an effective correcting and encouraging role.
Vision
To be one of the best in the world in delivering correctional services with integrity and commitment to excellence.
Our Departmental Core Values:
Department
- Enablement and empowerment
- Faith in the potential of people
- Providing opportunities and facilities for growth
Integrity
- Honesty
- Disassociating yourself from all forms of corruption and unethical conduct
- Sound business practices
Recognition of human dignity
- Accepting people for who they are
- Humane treatment of prisoners
- Recognizing the inherent human rights of all people
Efficiency
- Productivity
- The best work methods, procedure and system to achieve set goals
- Excellent services
Accountability
- Desire to perform well
- Accepting accountability for your behaviour
- Commitment
Justice
- Fair treatment
- Justice for all
- Fairness and equality before the law
Security
- Safety of employees, offenders and the community
Equity
- Non-discrimination
- Affirmative Action
- Gender equality
- Integration of disability issues
Our Role: What we do
The purpose of the correctional system is to contribute to maintaining and protecting a just peaceful and safe society by:
- enforcing sentences of the courts in the manner prescribed by the Act;
- detaining all prisoners in safe custody whilst ensuring their human dignity; and
- promoting the social responsibility and human development of all prisoners and persons subject to community corrections.
- The White Paper
What we don’t do
- sentence offenders;
- determine the guilt or innocence of a person;
- The DCS’s involvement in the criminal justice process begins when an offender is sentenced to terms of incarceration.