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The Public Servants Association (PSA) is extremely concerned about a video circulating on social media, depicting an inmate at Goodwood Correctional Centre in the Western Cape flaunting a comfortable life in prison.
 
The video in question is the direct result of a lack of adequate prison warders with the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) being severely understaffed. The PSA urges the Minister of Correctional Services to prioritise the recruitment of additional prison warders to alleviate pressure on current employees and bolster security measures. Warders are overburdened and underpaid, compromising efficiency and safety at correctional facilities.

The DCS needs to be capacitated to implement stringent measures and put adequate security measures in place to prevent inmates’ easy access to contraband, cell phones, and other unauthorised items. There is an urgent need to stop the undermining of the authority of prison management and misrepresenting the purpose of correctional facilities.
 
The PSA, in addition, is dismayed by the prolonged contractual dispute between the DCS and G4S Security in respect of the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein. The PSA demands expedited resolution of this issue to redirect funds currently allocated to private security services towards essential upgrades in DCS facility security and staffing.
 
The situation at the DCS further underscores the fact that the entire Public Service is understaffed that dispels the myth of a bloated public service.
 
Despite challenges, PSA members at the DCS remain steadfast in their commitment to ensuring the safe custody and rehabilitation of inmates at Correctional Centres nationwide.

Issued by Public Servants Association