Concern over Correctional Services staffing
CORRECTIONAL Service organisations are worried about the delay in the employment of about 2 000 trainee correctional service officials after they had competently concluded their learnership training programmes.
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said the union had, since October 2020, learned about the non-renewal of the contracts for the learners (correctional officials in waiting).
Mamabolo said the union met with the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) in December last year to talk about the employment of the trainees, given the staff shortages experienced in the department.
SA Sentenced and Awaiting Trial Prisoners Organisation (Sasapo) chairperson Phindile Zweni said there were huge problems of corruption within the DCS, and that even their own members and officials were complaining about the maladministration and corruption in their senior ranks.
DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said the absorption of learners was a top priority for the department, which would be done in phases instead of a once-off approach, given the shrinking purse in the public service.
Nxumalo said the absorption process was scheduled to start in May and would continue as vacancies became available.
He said learnership contracts were youth developmental programme contracts.
“This is stipulated by the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council (GPSSBC) Resolution 2 of 2009, of which Clause 12.1 states that learnership contracts must terminate once the contract has ended.
“The last learnership contracts ended in December 2020. This nullifies the dumping of learners that some have been talking about,” said Nxumalo.
SA Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights president Miles Bhudu said the organisation was not surprised, neither shocked nor outraged, about the DCS for dragging their heels or having changed their minds on absorbing the learners.
Bhudu said the organisation would not be surprised if the department were to say they were broke, and were insolvent, and if the latter speculation was anything to go by, they could apply for a bailout and the government wouldn’t think twice about complying.