The Department of Correctional Services has deployed an R88 million security system that uses biometric technology in prisons countrywide.
The installation of the new security system from Sandolo Consortium started in June 2005 in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. It has now been installed in 66 prisons and all prisons will have the system by March next year.
The system controls and monitors access to correctional centres.
"If a person visits the centre, an official has to be present to allow them in or out. The official will use their fingerprint instead of a card for entry and exit to the individual centres," says Manelisi Wolela, deputy commissioner of communication for the department.
The system includes parcel scanners, metal detectors and a turnstile gate, which is a print-reading facility used to monitor access in the centres, he adds.
"This is the best identification system that we have installed. It has integrated use within the individual centre and a number of screens for the officials to view who comes in and out. To ensure the success of the inspection, a central checkpoint is set up by individual centres."
Correctional services minister Ngconde Balfour says the security system is expected to improve safety and security in centres, and enhance the department`s fight against fraud, corruption and unethical behaviour of officials, members of the public and offenders.
"The system is designed to help officials to focus more on the rehabilitation of offenders with improved safety and security," he says.
Though minimising the escape rate in correctional centres is a central factor to the installation of this system, Wolela says: "The system hasn`t been around for a long time, so we can`t expect to see measurable results as to the number of escapes. The fact remains that there are still escapes and we don`t want that."
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