The Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) has found that repeat offenders whose parole was previously revoked are considered for parole on new sentences, and remand detainees do not participate in rehabilitation programmes.
The AGSA also found that offenders sentenced to less than 24 months lack Correctional Services Professionals (CSPs) to assist them, and that some offenders began participating in rehabilitation programmes closer to their parole placement.
Also of concern at the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) was that some offenders with sexually related offences did not have the required mandatory psychological services as part of their CSPs. The AGSA Budget Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR) was presented to the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services by the AGSA on Friday.
Theunis Eloff, senior manager at the AGSA, said they found that irregular expenditure decreased from R9.2 million in the 2023/24 financial year to R7.7 million in the 2024/25 financial year. However, fruitless and wasteful expenditure was R13.87 million.
The AGSA report also stated that remand detainees make up 35% (58,401) of the inmate population of 166,008.
The AGSA recommended:
- Compliance with the infrastructure plan and engagement with the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster to enhance the criminal justice process, particularly the issues regarding the identity of inmates.
- Deficiencies within the Integrated Inmate Management System (IIMS) must be addressed to enable the system to generate credible information.
Eloff acknowledged that the implemented controls ensured officials behaved ethically, complied with legislation, and acted in the department’s best interest, resulting in a decrease in irregular expenditure and the backlog of investigations.
The AGSA found non-compliance with some supply chain management (SCM) prescripts, resulting in irregular expenditure disclosed where the DCS awarded contracts to bidders based on evaluation/adjudication criteria that differed from those stipulated in the original tender documentation.
“The AGSA was also concerned that the information technology (IT) projects are behind schedule, which delays incorporation into the Integrated Justice System (IJS), preventing the department from being an impactful role player,” Eloff said.
Causes of irregular expenditure incurred were awards made to suppliers who were not tax compliant or who failed to meet the Construction Industry Development Board requirements.
Eloff said the DCS appointed a panel of service providers to supply and deliver nutrition products.
The AGSA identified the deficiencies in the awarding of some of the suppliers, as some contracts were awarded using an evaluation/adjudication criterion different from those in the original bid invitation.
The AGSA found that the overall vacancy rate at year-end increased from 12.5% in the previous year to 13.5% in the current year. Eloff said that the senior management vacancy rate stood at 30.7%. Sixty-one positions in senior management were vacant for more than 12 months.
Eloff said the AGSA observed that the DCS system lacks a unique identifier. Concern was that the ID number fields are not completed within the IIMS system, and there is the use of aliases. These factors remain a concern as the department would not know the true identification and citizenship of an inmate.
Carl Niehaus, EFF MP, said that unauthorised expenditure should be taken seriously, and also expressed concern about the IT management system.
“Shocking to think that you can sentence someone, and you don’t know who you are sentencing. I cannot for the life of me imagine how we can have a justice system where we do not know who we arrest. It has very serious implications. It addresses our ability to identify and deal with criminals. We cannot run an effective justice system if the department’s database is not linked,” he said.
