By Staff Reporter
The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services is demanding action from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure Development (DPWI) after hearing about the state of disrepair of the country’s prisons.
It was told that the department had been paid R842 million for maintenance work under the user charges allocation during 2024/25. However, the DPWI has since relinquished most of its maintenance responsibilities to the DCS, despite these payments.
“What is the process of requesting a refund? We cannot keep on paying DPWI when service ought to be done but nothing happens whilst we are sitting with correctional facilities that are highly dilapidated, on the verge of collapse,” said committee chairperson Kgomotoso Ramolobeng.
The matter was discussed during a DCS briefing on the state of kitchens in correctional centres in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng following oversight visits by committee members.
The DCS said it has a total of 217
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