Correctional Services committee says privately-run prisons should not carry on beyond contracts
The Correctional Services portfolio committee isn't in favour of privately-run prisons being in operation beyond their current contracts.
CAPE TOWN - The Correctional Services portfolio committee isn't in favour of privately-run prisons being in operation beyond their current contracts.
It said the department should take over operations.
This follows Thabo Bester's escape from the privately-run Mangaung prison three years ago.
The committee also wants more details from the Department of Correctional Services on its plans to address the future of private prisons as well as the protection of corruption whistleblowers.
The department was briefing Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday on its implementation of the public protector's remedial action after it found "undue delay" in probing Bester's escape.
Prison officials told MPs that they had managed to meet all the public protector's requirements in her remedial action.
This followed Bester's escape from Mangaung prison.
But committee chairperson, Anthea Ramolobeng, said that public-private partnerships should not carry on beyond their current contracts.
"We again support the decision to not extend contracts of PPP when they come to an end in 2026 and 2027 and they must find the department ready to take over."
Deputy Minister Lindiwe Ntshalintshali told the committee that the department had managed to meet all the remedial actions set out by the public protector, like an escape prevention strategy as well as an anti-corruption hotline.