Ndebele hails monitoring tool

CORRECTIONAL Services Minister Sbu Ndebele says electronic monitoring of prisoners and awaiting-trial prisoners has the potential to reduce the huge costs of keeping them in custody.

CAPE TOWN — Correctional Services Minister Sbu Ndebele said yesterday electronic monitoring of prisoners and awaitingtrial prisoners has the potential to reduce the huge costs of keeping them in custody.

Introducing his budget vote in the National Assembly, he urged that members of the judiciary, both judges and magistrates, consider the use of electronic monitoring rather than keeping parolees and awaiting-trial prisoners in prison.

“On average, 15% to 20% of the 45,043 awaiting-trial detainees are in custody because they cannot afford bail. This has resulted in the poorest of the poor being removed from their families, with related socio- economic implications.

“The electronic monitoring pilot project has proven to be economical, effective, efficient and relevant to the broader goals of Department of Correctional Services and the justice, crime prevention and security cluster. Electronic monitoring is now available to the courts, particularly for remand detainees, noncustodial sentencing and parolees.

“It costs the taxpayer R9,876.35 per month for each inmate presently, whilst electronic monitoring costs R3,379.

“Electronic monitoring enables offenders to be monitored within metres 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Alerts are immediately generated and transmitted should an offender commit any violation. Interference with the equipment, including tampering or failing to charge the receiver, is electronically relayed to the control room,” Mr Ndebele said.

African National Congress chairman of Parliament’s correctional services committee Vincent Smith said: “We believe that offenders sentenced to a term of 24 months or less should be considered as candidates for correctional supervision and not incarceration.

To date the judiciary and the prosecuting authority have been reluctant to go this route, citing their doubts about the Department of Correctional Services’ ability to monitor the offenders whereabouts if not incarcerated or (the department’s) ability to monitor whether, in fact, the offender is participating in the community corrections programme.

“That concern by the judiciary and the prosecuting authority can now be addressed by the roll-out of the electronic monitoring mechanisms that the department has acquired. The effect on the inmate population will be reduced immediately by 8,668 (statistics as at December 31 2012) if the alternative sentence option is applied as an option to qualifying offenders.”