[Music] honorable Minister honorable Deputy Minister let me start my task by acknowledging the presence of the officials of the Department of Correctional Services from head office Minister let me then H proceed to introduce the our Deputy Minister uh Deputy Minister Nal jali to officials of the Department of Correctional Services our Deputy Minister hails from balanga she held two executive positions in balanga this is a it's an occasion where our Minister um has um instructed us to gather the minister is the first Minister under the government of national Unity with the Department having its own Ministry I would like to then request the minister to come address US minister we are here to serve the the government of South Africa under your leadership thank you Minister dumal uh good afternoon all right thank you thank you that we can have an opportunity to see each other eye to eye it is important for a couple of years I think it's 10 years there was no Ministry for Correctional Services when the president founded me and uh he said that I want to offer you the ministry for correctional services and I want you to come and build a new ministry specifically for correctional services and I think that is the right thing The Honorable president did that if you look at the task the huge responsibility on Correctional Services I do believe that Correctional Services deserves to have a Ministry on its own we must talk to each other so that we are all on the same page moving forward and I want to start to say why are we Correctional Services what does that mean it means that we deliver a service to who do we deliver that service to the people of South Africa the commissioner has referred to it saying that we are here here to serve South Africa so we must say to each other that it is not about a political party yes I am the leader of the freedom front plus but I also do understand that when we talk about Correctional Services it is a service to all the people in South Africa that we must always remember and I want to start to share with you my views my priorities I've already shared it with the national commissioner that if I do not share it with you then we cannot be successful you must also know how do we see the future in terms of Correctional Services because we can only have success if we take hands it's not only for a minister on its own or a deputy minister or a national commissioner that can obtain these goals on their own we can only obtain the goals if we take hands now where do we start I said one very important matter is corruption not only Inc Correctional Services all over the country there's as far as I'm concerned no one Department that does not have corruption in their midst and we must ensure that there is zero tolerance when it comes to corruption there's no doubt in my mind that far farther majority of the employees of Correctional Serv services are hardworking honest people with Integrity because that's what we need for the future to save South Africa Integrity hardworking and we must build that trust and all of us must ensure that we get rid of the bad apples because it's the bad apples that is actually also giving all of us a bad name we cannot allow impunity there must be consequence management and we must take hands we must ensure that we become proud how do you become proud you become proud when for instance if you walk in the street and you wear your uniform that the people of South Africa will come to you and say wow you're from Correctional Services look at your attitude and I've watched when the national anthem was sung how certain people standed out attention make sure that the way you act is a way of proudness a way to say that I'm here to serve because that actually reflects your attitude and I've used the expression in Africans I said that is the what does that mean yeah that actually means that you may think it's some insignificant sort of incidence that not really matters but that's where we make our mistake it is those things that we think is insignificant that can bring change I want to bring back to our facilities a competition to see which facility in terms of certain categories have the best and the be most beautiful garden that is what we must do [Applause] if you visit your facility you must be proud to say wow look at our garden it's beautiful and I'm already in certain discussions with certain companies not no names no PCT at the moment to sponsor us with those sort of competitions so that we can make our people proud that is what it is but when we talk about to be proud I as Minister when I walk in the streets and I see members in uniform I also want to feel proud and vice versa if you see me walking in the streets I am sure that you also want to say well look at the attitude look the way he walks he is proud and that will make you proud so it's one hand washes the other hand that is what we must say to each other we must uplift the morale of our people and yes we will attend to certain issues I am informed that not not all our employees are issued with a uniform I know that some of them have uniforms but they were not issued with the correct shoes that's aak shoes Yak but we must ensure that those uniforms full uniforms are available to our people that's Our obligation we must look at all our employees he to ensure that they are working in conditions in such a manner that they will be happy employees and why do I say that Correctional Services is quite different from all the other departments it's easy to be with home Affairs or International Affairs but we we deal with with the most dangerous people in South Africa the other day I said at the meeting with the where the president was present and we spoke about the criminal justice system because we must look at the criminal justice system in South Africa because our people law-abiding citizens are more and more becoming victims of crime and there are certain plans and I said yes I listen what all my colleagues say and we must improve it my only problem is it's a bit of a contradictive for me because in the end my department or my ministry will deal with all the results of a better Criminal Justice System and I am aware of the circumstances under which some of our people really work which are really dangerous I understand that so I want to say to you the most important asset for correctional services are you the employees and the success will depend on all of us another priority is we will have to look at self-sufficiency and I know there are some people you very glad to hear that we will have to expand yes we have bakeries we produce food uh we have workshops my furniture in head office is completely manufactured by Correctional Services we are in the process where we can get other state departments to say don't go to the private sector come to Correctional Services we we can give it for a cheaper price with sometimes higher quality and better Furniture so that is what we must look at so that is a priority and I see these projects of self-sufficiency also as part of Rehabilitation I'm very fond of gardening I hear the national commissioner is also very fond of gardening so maybe you understand why you're going to have a competition but my experience is if you get an inmate that puts something in the ground look at it Ure that there's water and see that there's coming out of the ground something it's growing in the end it is produced as food in one of our facilities that will give some new meaning in life therefore Rehabilitation is also a priority I always say to people say for instance you have a prisoner who received a 10e sentence after 10 years that prisoner is going back into our society whether you like it or not I think there's some confusion among some people of the public they think we are the justice department because they want us to change the sentences we cannot after 10 years that person is going back and therefore we have the responsibility to ensure that there is proper integration when it comes to that I also want to say that we will have to look at overcrowding of our facilities are already started to have talks with other departments we will have to look at the reform of the sentencing process in South Africa I mean it's totally unacceptable to have a person who cannot afford a 100 Grand bail but it's costing the taxpayer 400 Grand a day to be in all facilities we cannot afford that a person who come to our facilities for a minor offense go out of the facilities a hardened criminal it cannot be tolerated we cannot allow that because then we dis serve South Africa and its people and therefore these matters are very important and I share it with you so that you can understand how I see the future I know normally ministers are only there for five years then there's change it is in the hands of the president the president can after maybe you heard this speech said I disagree with you and I think I'm going to replace you but I don't think you will do it so because we are on the same page therefore from my side please come forward if you have problems talk and by that I don't mean that you can bypass your managers and together we can solve the problem of course there will some problems we will not be able to solve immediately and I said many times the solutions when it comes to that there are no quick fixes it's not a quick fix we must say to each other yes there's an elephant in the room corruption all that sort of things and how do we eat the elephant you eat it piece by piece and in the end we will win by eating that elephant maybe not in my time but when I'm looking back or when I going to look back I want to say at least we tried we have ensured that the principles are there we ensure that the foundation has been set and we are lucky some of those foundations are there already not new because I'm a new Minister but because of the Department's hard work hard work of the national commissioner and you as the team we're not going to reinvent the wheel we look at those principles and they are good principles but we must ensure that we expand on that I've mentioned for instance self-sufficiency our Farms uh I've already been contacted by various organizations to see how we can expand it uh get private Partners part of the priorities from the government of national Unity is to say that we have an obligation the results of the election set whoever the government is going to be we now the government of national Unity we want to create a better South Africa and how do you create it the number one priority is to ensure that the economy grow so that we can ensure that we employ more and more people and that brings me to the situation where you are an employee now there are some people that think that you have the right to have a job no you don't have a right it's a privilege to have a job today in South Africa if you look at our unemployment rates and you will hear that I put very much emphasis on to be to feel proud how can a person who must provide for his or her family be proud if they don't have a job no and that's part why we get more and more people in our facilities and now we are part of building that economy because the moment the world and business people see but correctional services are there to Stamp Out corruption that they are are proud people with enthusiasm to work for a better future they will invest more in South Africa so don't think that Correctional Services does not play a role in building and enhancing the economic growth in South Africa each and every Department must play their role and we will play our row so from my side as I said let's take hands let's work hard if the time to start is qu 7 you don't go to job or to your work at 10:00 why not why do you wait till 10:00 if you have to report at Cora 7 ensure that you're punctual that is the way it should be because that also reflects your attitude towards your job I mean I used when I worked in a factory we had a clocking machine if you were one minute late by the end of that month you get one minute less payment that's the environment I worked before I became a member of parliament so I don't don't say these things to say that these are all the mistakes I say these things to show to you I'm not blind when it comes to the CL yakis we must address those yakis and if my message for this afternoon can stick with you in terms of we are here to serve we must be proud to serve and we will deal with those clain yakes then we will become winners for Correctional Services I thank you very much [Applause]