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 kitchens serving all correctional centres.
The committee heard that the devolvement of functions without proportional budget allocation to fund this responsibility impacted the repair, refurbishment and maintenance of critical infrastructure such as kitchens.
Discussing specific kitchens, the committee was told around R1.2 million was required to replace the asbestos ceiling and extractor fan at Baviaanspoort Correctional Centre in Tshwane.
The DPWI had advertised a tender to upgrade the entire kitchen facility at Modderbee Correctional Centre in Ekurhuleni, but no award occurred, and the tender lapsed. Also, there had been no official feedback from the DPWI.
This prompted the DCS to start renovating the floor surface during October 2024, using its own resources. Repair costs amounted to R94,464 and were done by DCS officials and inmates. The kitchen was reopened on 4 March and an estimated R7 million was still required for the replacement of the required kitchen equipment.
At Westville Medium A in Durban, the kitchen was closed in February 2025, due to non-compliance. Food is being made in other kitchen in the Westville Management Area.
The committee heard that an estimated budget of R12 million was required to finalise the project, by replacing kitchen equipment, refurbishing the floor surface, tiling and painting.
Members raised concerns about a water leakage and flooding of basement areas at Johannesburg Correctional Centre. As an interim solution pending the implementation of the major repair and renovation project, the DCS frequently drains the flooded areas by means of mechanical discharge, repairing leaks and clearing of discharge systems.
The DCS needs R1.2 billion to refurbish the entire Johannesburg Correctional Centre management area. However, due to insufficient budget allocations over the Medium-Term Economic Framework period, the DCS will not be able to implement the repair and renovation project.
Ramolobeng said the committee was pleased that the DCS has started taking matters into its own hands.
“When we took over as this portfolio committee last year, this is something we have been emphasising. The state of the K-block at Modderbee can collapse at any time,” she said.
The committee also noted that one of the three bakeries in KwaZulu-Natal was operational.
“It would ease the cost of buying bread for daily use. We will monitor the remaining two bakeries,” Ramolobeng said.
She urged the department to continue using inmates for labour to ensure that costs were contained and skills were transferred.
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