Prisoner tracking application off court roll
Dept continues with tag removal
An urgent application by a company that provides tracking devices used to monitor the movements of more than 500 paroled prisoners has been removed from the roll.
This follows a request by the special investigating unit (SIU) that it wants to apply to intervene in the court application by Engineered System Solutions (ESS) against the Department of Correctional Services.
ESS attorney Gert van der Merwe said yesterday the company decided to wait for the SIU to file its application‚ and decided to remove the matter from the North Gauteng High Court roll in Pretoria.
President Jacob Zuma signed a proclamation last year authorising the SIU to investigate allegations of irregularities in the procurement of the five-year contract that was signed in July 2014.
The department indicated yesterday that the removal of the tags to 562 parolees was continuing‚ despite the court challenge.
It also said a system was in place to ensure a seamless transition from the condition of electronic monitoring to normal physical monitoring that 70 500 other parolees were subjected to.
ESS wants an interim interdict preventing the department from enforcing the cancellation.
Department spokesman Logan Maistry said following irregular findings pertaining to the contract‚ the department in March took a decision to terminate the contract.
He said the department issued ESS with a three-month notice‚ effective April 1 to June 30 2017‚ in line with clause 19 of the service level agreement.