South Africa P.I.G.: CORRECTONAL SERVICES

Showing posts with label CORRECTONAL SERVICES. Show all posts

Suspended officials costing taxpayer R1 million a month

SALARIES paid to suspended Department of Correctional Services officials are costing taxpayers R1 million a month. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh7MESSh3KGxY1kC8qUe2VzaJKS-TZV91_aldHTaHm8Qeyjj5pLq1BYocnoYYDJFmk1XiESCzM8U6ENt2mbhdp-dASsj5XZjODkY81HW7OKzI92CrYA8c36oS-wniVl0mgdmY1UDzseAw/s1600-h/corruption-theft.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403721800669347154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh7MESSh3KGxY1kC8qUe2VzaJKS-TZV91_aldHTaHm8Qeyjj5pLq1BYocnoYYDJFmk1XiESCzM8U6ENt2mbhdp-dASsj5XZjODkY81HW7OKzI92CrYA8c36oS-wniVl0mgdmY1UDzseAw/s320/corruption-theft.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 271px" /></a>Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has told MPs there were 117 officials suspended on full pay - and that some had been on suspension for more than two years. The department's suspended boss, Xoliswa Sibeko, will face a disciplinary hearing at the end of the month, Mapisa-Nqakula told the National Assembly's correctional services committee. But the minister warned of a "long battle" with Sibeko's lawyers, who are defending her against allegations that she rented a luxury home for R35 000 a month while an official residence was available. MPs told the minister and her deputy, Hlengiwe Mkhize, they were concerned that so much was being spent on the salaries of officials who remained on suspension for extended periods. Mapisa-Nqakula said the number had gone down from 142 suspended employees in April to 117 in September. However, in KwaZulu-Natal alone, nine officials had been suspended on full pay for more than two years, Mapisa-Nqakula said. The minister also revealed that there were eight cases that had not been finalised over a period of between a year and two years, while seven disciplinary hearings had not been concluded in a period of between seven and 12 months. The minister said officials found guilty usually appealed, and this caused delays. The department's chief deputy commissioner for corporate services, Alfred Tsetsane, said the responsibility for disciplinary hearings lay with regional commissioners. He said the department was in the process of aligning units in the department so that head office would be able to deal with matters from provinces. "Some of the cases are related to corruption, and some of them have a criminal element. Sometimes you get legal representatives delaying processes, and the unions are not available during the hearings. "Where you get the gaps is mainly in the regions," Tsetsane said. But ANC MP Nozibonelo Phaliso would have none of this, describing Tsetsane's explanation as "a technical answer". "We want to urge you to look at capacity in your legal unit. There's no progress," said Phaliso. She said it was clear the department did not have the capacity to expedite the cases. Nomakhaya Mdaka (ANC) said the duration of the suspensions was disconcerting in view of the amount paid in salaries to suspended officials. Committee chairman Vincent Smith (ANC) said it was evident that the department was flouting its own policy on disciplinary hearings. Sibeko's hearing would start on November 30 and last two days, Mapisa-Nqakula said. <a href="http://www.star.co.za/" target="_blank">The Star</a> 12/11/09

Suspended officials costing taxpayer R1 million a month

SALARIES paid to suspended Department of Correctional Services officials are costing taxpayers R1 million a month. Correctional Services Min...

2:26 AM

Arms deal scandal part II : Here we go again

<div align="center">Another arms deal scandal which could cost South Africans R47 billion.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieNZKwMF7pNpNW5OBcGPCZx6bmaUe5J5eRFJkfxb-mv3UWR-ac2tnV7QH-Q8GILOlm_1ezSGpgtAQ9M1K_w98um6Pxg1GtEpBQCUVfQ8tcbktVZIVizEOWaXU52_2VeehvZFsnmltRu84/s1600-h/airbus+A400M.jpg"></a><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394035490258383874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPAFS6Ut7sTr1sqdXWWa8fLSTTmnX5jgjoFEx7OIV6lvI9HF5bjFCxrBb_vYnDLQZ28YNtuMjYW71wR16APz4xsjTXwKzfQNYrx4yjAV31NtEozWadPERY0mWb8phmF0FNhOiLXJzFm4/s400/airbus+A400M.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 191px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />A serving cabinet minister and a retired South African National Defence Force (SANDF) major-general stand to make millions from a deal with Airbus that can bankrupt the SANDF. At R47 billion the Airbus jets will consume the entire SAAF budget for at least three years. Yesterday The Citizen established that among those set to make a killing from the deal are a serving cabinet minister and a retired SANDF general and the widow of controversial Defence Minister Joe Modise. On April 28, 2005 South Africa signed a deal with Airbus for the delivery of eight jets capable of ferrying heavy equipment such as armoured vehicles and large helicopters as well as combat troops thousands of kilometres. The deal was inexplicable as the SAAF already owned a fleet of 12 C130 transport aircraft that had been extensively modernised and upgraded by Marshall Aviation in Britain and Thales in France. Only months after the deal was signed, Major-General Jackie Sedibe was made a director of Aerosud, a South African company which is the local business partner of Airbus. Aerosud stand to make millions from the deal. At the time Sedibe joined the board she was still a serving SANDF officer. Department of defence spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya told The Citizen that officers of Sedibe’s rank were allowed to hold business interests, providing they had the permission of the Minister of Defence. It is not clear if Sedibe had this permission at the time she joined Aerosud, which holds a number of contracts with the SANDF and department of defence. Another director of Aerosud is Deputy Minister of Correctional Services Hlengiwe Mkhize. Mkhize became a director of Aerosud in 2000. Sisulu 'knew about arms deal for months' The Democratic Alliance on Friday called on Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to reveal the Airbus A400M military transport aircraft acquisition details. Information about the dodgy Airbus A400M arms deal should be made public and investigated by a special multiparty ad hoc committee of Parliament, DA spokesman David Maynier said. On Thursday, Sisulu stated information about the deal should not have been made public because it was embarrassing and compromised diplomatic relations. "But it now emerges that the minister was briefed and informed about the Airbus A400M deal. "The fact is that the minister was informed and has known about the risk posed by the Airbus A400M arms deal for months. "The minister appears to be reverting to her default position which is to cover up rather than to open up," Maynier said. The key question was why, if the minister knew about the massive risk posed by the deal, was the parliamentary portfolio committee on defence and military veterans not informed, he said. The latest revelations about the deal raised even more questions including whose interests were really served with revelations that Deputy Correctional Services Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize and former Major-General Jackie Sedibe were directors of Aerosud, a local company with an interest in the Airbus A400M arms deal. <ul><li>What was the real cost of the eight transport aircraft, given the Airbus claim that the R47 billion price tag was exaggerated? </li><li>Why was there a failure to provide for maintenance costs of the transport aircraft,</li><li>why in the first place was there no tender process for the acquisition of the aircraft, </li></ul>"The public has a right to know not only how we got into the Airbus A400M mess, but also how we are going to dig ourselves out of the Airbus A400M mess.

Arms deal scandal part II : Here we go again

Another arms deal scandal which could cost South Africans R47 billion. A serving cabinet minister and a retired South African National Defen...

12:48 PM

South African society producing young people who commit serious crimes

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPQpsC1MljINAzCbr3xJYcwqdcCopr0yaV-779xlmlljQnnZof-_fRtf2xAKjbc37WwFhd1zAfAqffmRCoVqDI8AG93ukyYeZHOcgPaK8SGHQTGb5jZ4dDkcXLH7eELh4MW1izYg22dQ/s1600-h/prisons-sa-youth.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361704042897991410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPQpsC1MljINAzCbr3xJYcwqdcCopr0yaV-779xlmlljQnnZof-_fRtf2xAKjbc37WwFhd1zAfAqffmRCoVqDI8AG93ukyYeZHOcgPaK8SGHQTGb5jZ4dDkcXLH7eELh4MW1izYg22dQ/s400/prisons-sa-youth.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 290px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 211px" /></a>THE growing number of young people in already overcrowded South African prisons was a cause for concern, said the new Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula yesterday. Mapisa-Nqakula, accompanied by her deputy Hlengiwe Mkhize, was visiting the Boksburg Correctional Centre on the fourth leg of their regional visits to familiarise themselves with correctional services. She was shocked to find a number of young people, some aged 15, being held in the Boksburg prison for serious crimes. Boksburg houses 554 juveniles, most of them serious offenders serving long sentences, including life terms. In a statement issued by the DCS shortly after the visit, Mapisa-Nqakula said she was becoming aware of the reality of a South African society which produced young people who committed serious crimes. The minister also met with the correctional services area commissioners for Johannesburg, Krugersdorp, Baviaanspoort, Modderbee, Zonderwater, Pretoria and Leeuwkop. They made presentations about their facilities to a delegation which included acting national commissioner Jennifer Schreiner. They outlined their achievements and challenges, such as overcrowding, with a 65 percent rate of overcrowding at the Krugersdorp Correctional Centre and 100 percent at Johannesburg. Other issues raised were gangsterism, the plight of babies with their incarcerated mothers and HIV/Aids. Mapisa- Nqakula heard that of 16000 awaiting-trial prisoners in Gauteng, only 3000 got bail. Her department saw this as a demonstration of the seriousness of their offences. Mapisa- Nqakula said the magnitude of the prisons problem was beyond correctional services. It required society to take responsibility for rehabilitation. Boksburg impressed the DCS delegation with rehabilitation workshops producing furniture, clothes, steelworks and bread to the value of R22 million a year for government departments. Mapisa-Nqakula said her department was working closely with the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster and adopting international best practice to address overcrowding in prisons. She called for more non-custodial sentences where offenders did not pose a threat to society. She pointed out that at the Qalakabusha Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, a task team had been established to manage people charged with minor or petty crimes. The minister and her delegation are still to visit prisons in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Free State and the Northern Cape.

South African society producing young people who commit serious crimes

THE growing number of young people in already overcrowded South African prisons was a cause for concern, said the new Department of Correcti...

10:06 AM

Criminal justice shame

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvT2vMQY47uYJo31iCY_EdI7x_jlmkvUcXb-D2PoKQRXZzmnEkaFNStnk1EuLsP02H8aKS35p59bdwIcDLjzKqZf-e3hde1V7mJE0IWQscFpbjME_9WGQm-uCpNU7fbuJCL09piWo1pRI/s1600-h/prison-bunks21.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356933905024474722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvT2vMQY47uYJo31iCY_EdI7x_jlmkvUcXb-D2PoKQRXZzmnEkaFNStnk1EuLsP02H8aKS35p59bdwIcDLjzKqZf-e3hde1V7mJE0IWQscFpbjME_9WGQm-uCpNU7fbuJCL09piWo1pRI/s400/prison-bunks21.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 264px" /></a>One in four prisoners - 40 000 people - should not be behind bars, according to South Africa's monitor of prisons. This emerged in a searing indictment of the criminal justice system by Judge Deon van Zyl of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, who was briefing a parliamentary portfolio committee on Wednesday. He painted an ugly picture of the state of awaiting-trial prisoners and a police inability to conclude cases, prolonging the detention period of inmates - some facing minor charges. Given the high number of awaiting-trial suspects, it seemed police measured their success on the number of arrests, and not convictions, Van Zyl said. Van Zyl told the multiparty committee he was certain that out of the 50 000 awaiting-trial prisoners, 40 000 would be released because of lack of evidence. The judge said out of the prison population of 165 000 inmates, 50 000 were awaiting trial. "There are too many people awaiting trial," the judge stated. He accused police officers of not properly investigating cases, and postponing matters in the courts for months and even years, resulting in some inmates succumbing to illnesses. "You don't postpone the matter until you know there is a bona fide investigation going on. Why are our magistrates allowing matters to be postponed?" asked Van Zyl. The judge said he would like to see the number of unsentenced prisoners halved as soon as possible to reduce overcrowding in prisons. This could be done through releasing detainees who posed no threat to society. He said he would for the next three years focus his energies in correcting this defect: "I don't want to be a watchdog. I want to play a role in the review of the criminal justice system," Van Zyl said. Lukas Muntingh of the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative said last night that research into three court districts had shown that about half of the cases against awaiting-trial detainees were later dropped. "Why do the police arrest someone in the first case if there is no good case against him? That amounts to arbitrary detention," he said. Muntingh added that people who had been arrested should be offered the option of a plea bargain in the first few hours after their arrest. This could help avoid unnecessary detention and keep prison numbers down. "About half of the awaiting-trial detainees have been in detention for three or four months," he said. He added that he recently heard of a detainee in Pretoria Central prison who had been waiting for nine years for his case to be concluded. On deaths in prison, Van Zyl said 500 prisoners had died in the past six months. Van Zyl told MPs that a number of inmates were raped and sexually assaulted, with some contracting sexually transmitted diseases. There were instances where police arrested a healthy individual who died later of natural causes while awaiting trial. "What is worrying us is that in the first six months (of this year) we have had 500 deaths. We are told those are natural deaths. I would like to see every single death followed by a post-mortem or inquiry. "Why was that person subjected to rape (or) sexual assault on the first day of his arrival, as a result six months later he is dead?" asked Van Zyl. In a previous report, the inspectorate's statistics showed that 37 percent of prisoners who died in custody did so within the first 12 months of custody, and 62 percent had occurred within the first three years.

Criminal justice shame

One in four prisoners - 40 000 people - should not be behind bars, according to South Africa's monitor of prisons. This emerged in a sea...

1:03 PM

A golden handshaik?

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHzw-OpYw1usSIFk7abBYOfykoDTJcjqkSsdaWTEOwEdM0rv3Bw_JJdOcA60xdGTf7PPPZmrohpYySIB_hc8D8oktx6omLT42er7SK69y7GdstKRMXQfotv2wsUZ9bygipbm6GTbDN9k/s1600-h/hand_shaik.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311680149803903154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSHzw-OpYw1usSIFk7abBYOfykoDTJcjqkSsdaWTEOwEdM0rv3Bw_JJdOcA60xdGTf7PPPZmrohpYySIB_hc8D8oktx6omLT42er7SK69y7GdstKRMXQfotv2wsUZ9bygipbm6GTbDN9k/s400/hand_shaik.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a>Schabir Shaik's release on medical parole has sent me into a bit of a panic. My mother suffers from hypertension; I have a friend who struggles with depression; and I occasionally get chest pains. Are we all about to die? I'd hate to trivialise a dying man's suffering, but that is all we, the public, have been told about Shaik's condition. High blood pressure is a controllable chronic disorder; depression is a treatable mood disorder; and chest pains could be an indication of a heart problem, but they could just as easily be an indication of indigestion. I'm willing to bet a month's salary (admittedly not very much) that if you subjected all the inmates at C-Max or Pollsmoor to a medical examination, you would find that the majority of them suffer from hypertension, depression and the occasional chest pain. They are, after all, incarcerated under unpleasant conditions. You would probably also find a fairly high number of individuals who were HIV positive. Some would even be close to death. If the stats given out by the SA Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights are anything to go by, approximately 2500 inmates died in South African prisons last year. Only 25 people have been granted medical parole since April 2008. So, how did a guy with high blood pressure, depression and chest pains crack the list? That, for the record, was a rhetorical question. The Correctional Services Act is pretty clear about who qualifies for medical parole: you need to be in the "final phase of any terminal disease or condition". And the purpose of the parole is not so that you can convalesce from the comfort of your luxury home, but rather so that you can "die a consolatory and dignified death". If Schabir Shaik dies within the next three months, I will unreservedly apologise for callously questioning his integrity and that of those responsible for his release. I will admit that serving only two years and fours months of a 15-year sentence is acceptable when you only have two years and seven months to live. However, if he doesn't die, those responsible for his early release should be held accountable. The three medical practitioners who provided the medical expertise on Shaik's terminal condition should be hauled before the medical council and, if found guilty of malpractice, should be stripped of their medical licences. They should also face a court of law for providing false testimony which led to the illegal release of a convicted criminal. The members of the Parole Board who sanctioned the parole should be investigated and, if found to have benefited in any way from the decision, should face legal action. Finally, if anyone (no names mentioned) has tried to influence the duration of Shaik's stay in prison, they too should be dragged before a court of law. Schabir Shaik is entitled to confidentiality regarding the nature of his illness, but the public is also entitled to a reasonable explanation for his early release. Without it, it is impossible to shake the impression that this is a travesty of justice. Without it, the people of South Africa will lose any faith they may have had in the justice system. Without it, the doctors, the parole board, the Shaiks and the ANC look guilty as hell.

A golden handshaik?

Schabir Shaik's release on medical parole has sent me into a bit of a panic. My mother suffers from hypertension; I have a friend who st...

1:48 PM

Popcru: Balfour must resign

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocbieElpVC1CDJSu_jLY_S81AWjKjZXdwmJwhyphenhyphenYfG1gJ_aKhoCZN5sDdXPQNdZaLzoygE3MRIn_z6ihlWUYGMvSCgBk6UBvGn9yli4G2YzGxjVnGetWX_UIfevJI7gBWBlwxJ1DWt1Gk/s1600-h/balfour-correctional-services.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297807345287407538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocbieElpVC1CDJSu_jLY_S81AWjKjZXdwmJwhyphenhyphenYfG1gJ_aKhoCZN5sDdXPQNdZaLzoygE3MRIn_z6ihlWUYGMvSCgBk6UBvGn9yli4G2YzGxjVnGetWX_UIfevJI7gBWBlwxJ1DWt1Gk/s400/balfour-correctional-services.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 229px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 332px" /></a>The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), which represents about 80% of the country’s 45 000 prison workers, on Friday asked for the immediate resignation of Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour. This comes after the Mail & Guardian revealed high-level conniving with regards to multimillion-rand tenders between the department and controversial facilities management group Bosasa. Union spokesperson Benzi Ka-Soko said Popcru welcomed the M&G’s revelations. “Popcru is on record as saying that minister Balfour and his sycophantic senior management have corrupted this department on a shockingly massive scale. The unprecedented removal of former national commissioner Mr Vernie Petersen was aimed at frustrating corruption-busting that he was strongly implementing in the department. We view this exposed facts of corruption as a vindication for Mr Petersen.” According to Popcru, Balfour and all those implicated should immediately resign “in the light of this hard-hitting and other damning information”. Popcru’s comments follow the M&G’s publication of detailed correspondence between the department’s former chief financial officer Patrick Gillingham and Bosasa’s operations coordinator Angelo Agrizzi that proves Bosasa had confidential documents leaked to it by Gillingham; that the company had access to tender documents for major prison projects before they were publicly advertised, and that senior correctional services employees were spied on during a 2006 workshop. Bosasa is headed by Eastern Cape businessman Gavin Watson, whose family had close ties with the Eastern Cape African National Congress (ANC) during the struggle years, when the Watson brothers became famous for refusing to play rugby for a whites-only Springbok team. The group also runs the controversial Lindela repatriation camp for the Department of Home Affairs and has large contracts with the South African Post Office, Airports Company of South Africa and the departments of justice and transport. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been probing Bosasa since 2006 and raided its offices in December. Three weeks after the raid the company was re-awarded the massive prisons catering contract it landed in 2004. Former prisons commissioner Vernie Petersen suspended Gillingham in September after receiving a preliminary SIU report. Petersen was later transferred to the sports department in what was widely seen as a reprisal for his opposition to Balfour’s attempts to extend the 2004 contract. Balfour also wanted Gillingham to head the tender committee awarding the new contract, while Petersen insisted that Gillingham not be involved. Update 6 Feb 2009 - <a href="http://www.mg.co.za/section/article/2009-02-06-linda-mtis-bosasa-bonanza">Linda Mti's Bosasa bonanza</a>

Popcru: Balfour must resign

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), which represents about 80% of the country’s 45 000 prison workers, on Friday asked for t...

1:29 AM

Troubled Bosasa gets huge prisons' contract -- again

Three weeks after being raided by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) during a massive tender-fraud investigation, controversial facilities management company Bosasa Operations was awarded another multimillion-rand contract by the Department of Correctional Services. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294629921498188882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht50sPbY4TsIHU-YL_osCe4k7RYu_HCXfnE8yy-OLGaBTqQaur_lVqp6vGaQbE51IqMazTpjUJR9DRIzcXft1uqCNLTxiIpYcAURstu8VPxMqM54eBKQa9gw7n0JhEFDQ6FTjz3-jcD_w/s400/CORRECTIONAL+SERVICES.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />The prisons department has now awarded contracts worth more than R2,5-billion to companies in the Bosasa group in the past five years. Bosasa's latest treasure is the sought-after catering contract to provide thousands of prisoners in 31 of South Africa's largest prisons with food. The government's tender bulletin specifies that the contract was awarded at "±R279-million" a year for three years. The 31 prisons fall within seven management areas. Bosasa previously held this contract, which was awarded for the first time in 2004. Before 2004 prison staff and inmates ran the kitchens in correctional facilities. The Mail & Guardian reported in late 2007 on the SIU's investigation into tender rigging in the department, which includes massive tenders awarded to the Bosasa group. A dispute about the extension of Bosasa's 2004 catering contract also led to the souring of relationships between Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour and former prisons boss Vernie Petersen, who refused to grant a further extension of Bosasa's contract. Petersen eventually succeeded in putting the catering contract out to tender, but soon thereafter -- in November last year -- was removed from his position. This week a senior member of Parliament's portfolio committee on correctional services told the M&G: "It is now clear why Petersen was removed [because of his opposition to an extension of the Bosasa contract]. That was the motive." The re-awarding of the catering tender to Bosasa this week led to a chorus of disapproval from unsuccessful catering companies, which accused the prisons department of uncompetitive behaviour. Their fury was further stoked by unconfirmed reports that the department's adjudication committee originally awarded two management areas (Johannesburg and Krugersdorp) to two other catering companies and the rest to Bosasa. This recommendation was allegedly changed at a "high level". Bosasa spokesperson Papa Leshabane said he was unaware of this, "but we would be more than happy to respond to facts". At least three unsuccessful tenderers are seeking legal advice on the matter. Adding to their suspicion is a letter dated December 15 that was sent to all tenderers on behalf of Director General Xoliswa Sibeko. The M&G is in possession of the document, which states: "A possibility exists that the bid, of which particulars appear below, may not be disposed of before expiry of the current validity period." Companies are then asked whether they are willing to "hold" their bids for a further period of time. Amendments may be made to bids, but the department reserves its right to "ignore your bid". The M&G believes four companies -- Bosasa Operations, C3 Catering, Independent Site Services and Ukweza Catering -- were shortlisted and requested to present their proposals to the department at the beginning of November. None of the country's major catering firms, including Fedics, the Compass group and Royal Sechaba, made the cut. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmC0P9OHNwgLBJDsGiDU9aS5_5J7A0TDAnAqsduXHYyTh2tdwXVHngYor5kyDZkiwjhkFGOuf0eJCGL8uTFecTxC8712kO9BVqwEZNEi-5lSxAUiM2-ZsGg2pMIl6E8wnQ1x9MaDtLdA/s1600-h/Cameroon.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294629651754279058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmC0P9OHNwgLBJDsGiDU9aS5_5J7A0TDAnAqsduXHYyTh2tdwXVHngYor5kyDZkiwjhkFGOuf0eJCGL8uTFecTxC8712kO9BVqwEZNEi-5lSxAUiM2-ZsGg2pMIl6E8wnQ1x9MaDtLdA/s400/Cameroon.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 100px" /></a>Another oddity in the case is Balfour's presence at the opening of the tender box in late September after he was re-appointed minister by President Kgalema Motlanthe. According to two sources who attended the gathering Balfour said: "I'm the new minister in this department. I was gone for two days. I got reappointed. This is my department and I decide what happens in my department." The M&G was reliably told that the SIU executed search and seizure operations at Bosasa's Krugersdorp premises in early December and also raided the Centurion home of the suspended regional commissioner for North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, Patrick Gillingham, towards the end of year. Gillingham is the department's former chief financial officer and is seen as a close ally of Balfour. He was moved to a position of regional commissioner in 2007 after Beeld revealed that he was managing the department's annual R9-billion budget with only a matric certificate. Petersen suspended Gillingham in September last year after receiving a preliminary report from the SIU implicating Gillingham as a "key role player" in "serious tender irregularities". But Petersen was swapped with Sibeko, then director general of sport, two months later, after Deputy President Baleka Mbete signed a presidential minute giving effect to the change. Petersen's removal from the prisons department was slammed by NGOs working in the sector and opposition parties who hailed him as a corruption-buster and inspirational leader. The re-awarding of the catering tender to Bosasa threatens to lead to a massive standoff between Balfour and Parliament's portfolio committee, which, according to committee chair Dennis Bloem (ANC), will discuss the contract "as a matter of urgency". DA spokesperson on correctional services James Selfe last year released documentation that showed Bosasa was not the lowest bidder for the catering contract in 2004. Royal Sechaba tendered for R205-million a year, while Bosasa got the contract on their bid of R240-million a year. The department's spokesperson, Manelisi Wolela, defended the tender process, saying it was handled "clinically and appropriately ... in terms of the constitutional principles of fairness and competitiveness".

Troubled Bosasa gets huge prisons' contract -- again

Three weeks after being raided by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) during a massive tender-fraud investigation, controversial facilities...

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