A tender has not yet been issued for the parolee tracking system that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) was supposed to roll out this year.
This is despite tender discussions starting almost a year ago.
During her budget speech yesterday, minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said overcrowding in prisons is a priority for the department, so it will focus on a phased fast-tracking implementation of electronic monitoring of parolees and probationers.
The system will see inmates receive bracelets that are connected to satellite signals, allowing correctional officers to monitor where these inmates are at all times. The aim is to allow the department to responsibly release those held on small bail and fines.
Tender delay
Democratic Alliance shadow minister of correctional services James Selfe says the project will not see a rollout in 2011.
This is despite previous indication by the department that the project would be built into the expenditure framework for this year.
Deputy commissioner of communications at the DCS Manelisi Wolela said in May last year that the department was in discussions to issue a tender. However, speaking to ITWeb this morning, he said no tender has as yet been granted.
US example
Selfe says at one point last year it looked as if everything was on track for deployment in 2011.
Selfe says the trip to the US happened towards the end of last year and the report is still being studied by the department and Cabinet.
He adds that the minister, responding to a question at the budget vote speech yesterday, said the department is committed to the project and will present it to Cabinet.
“Hopefully, they will get the funds now, but rollout will not happen this year. With supply chain management procedures, we will maybe see a rollout next year,” adds the shadow minister.
Cost saver
If the tracking bracelets are tampered with by parolees they set off an alarm.
Selfe says some 15 000 offenders were readmitted for breaking parole conditions, that were not crime-related, in 2008/9. This project is an efficient way to ensure parolees do not break their parole conditions once released.
“The savings would be enormous. People are incarcerated at a cost of R200 a day and now they can be let out into the community at very little cost.”
IT education
The minister said in her speech yesterday that IT will play a major role in helping the department achieve its strategic objectives.
“We have now approved the creation of the IT branch to be headed by the DDG [deputy director-general]: GITO [Government IT Office] to oversee the work of the branch and to provide support for IT business requirements in the department.”
Mapisa-Nqakula added that a diagnosis of the department's IT challenges has been conducted and a report has been compiled.
“Based on this diagnosis, a lot of planning is currently under way for using IT to increase the security of our processes, controls and the way our facilities are operated. We are going to use the best internationally adopted security standards to improve our old computing and network infrastructure.”
The minister said the secured network will be in place by the end of this financial year.
“It will allow us to provide state-of-the-art channels for delivering education and related programmes to offenders and to improve communication during times of emergencies. The new network will be scalable to accommodate the network data from the surveillance system that is currently running outside our department.”
The DCS will also supply new technology-based search equipment, such as body scanning machines, in identified key centres around the country.
The minister said the DCS will, during this year, finalise its discussions with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), to partner in the identification database of offenders through the utilisation of the DHA's Automated Fingerprint Identification System.
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