January 22, 2009
15/06/2004 13:14 - (SA)
Cape Town - Newly appointed Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour committed himself on Tuesday to a "radical" transformation of the correctional system with the emphasis on rehabilitation.
Introducing debate on his budget vote in an extended public committee of the National Assembly, he also mooted the possibility of making rehabilitation programmes for offenders compulsory.
Balfour said he was convinced correction and rehabilitation was the only way to insulate society against the cycle of crime. "No high walls will do this. It is only a conversion on the part of all of us to embracing and promoting the correcting of offending behaviour that will bring about a positive change in the cycle of crime that we have to endure," he said.
A "mind-shift" in the approach to dealing with offenders was required. The dualistic paradigm of crime and punishment alone could not achieve a nation free of crime and at peace with itself. The belief that humans deserved opportunities to repay society for wrongs they had committed and a second chance to claim their place as good citizens should inform the approach to criminal justice.
"There was a tremendous amount of anger within communities directed at inmates. At various times, this anger was also directed at the government with accusations that offenders had more rights than victims of crime; that offenders were provided with free board and lodging including three meals a day that millions of other law-abiding South Africans did not have access to," Balfour said.
"There is the argument that offenders forfeit their human rights and protection under the Constitution once they have been found guilty of crimes and there is often also the perception that offenders remain contemptuous of the rule of law," Balfour said.
"It remains the responsibility of correctional services to convince the public through our actions that offenders sentenced by the courts, come to prison as punishment, not for punishment and further, that correction and rehabilitation do not translate into treating offenders with kidgloves."
On the contrary, correction and rehabilitation were aimed at protecting the safety and security of the public. It served no purpose to release angry young people into society who had had no benefit of correction and rehabilitation.
"All we do is to provide them with an excuse to unleash even further hardships on our communities through repeat offending. Surely, we can distinguish between those who can be described as incorrigible and those who are in need of correction and rehabilitation.
"While I will not use the iron fist in giving effect to the core business of correctional services, I will also not hesitate to protect society against those offenders who refuse to be rehabilitated," he said.
In this regard, a review of the policy of intervention programmes was needed. "I am not convinced that programmes of rehabilitation should be voluntary, especially for young offenders and juveniles," said Balfour said. |
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Posted by Memory Grace.
January 22, 2009
29/06/2004 13:52 - (SA)
Cape Town - Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour said on Tuesday he was concerned about the increasing number of young people committing crimes.
Introducing debate on his budget vote in the national council of provinces, he said more than 73 000 young people in the "prime of their lives" were in prisons, with 26 781 between the ages of 18 to 25 years awaiting trial.
"Some may indeed be there due to the lack of alternative facilities for children awaitin... | Continue reading...
Posted by Memory Grace.
January 22, 2009
06/07/2004 08:35 - (SA)
Cape Town - Inspecting Judge of Prisons Hannes Fagan has painted a bleak picture of South Africa's jails and claims that four out of every 1 000 people are behind bars.
In a report released on Monday, Fagan said: "Our prisons are bursting at the seams. There is room for 114 787 prisoners, but 187 640 are squashed inside."
He said the overcrowding, at best, was problems with food, health, exercise, stress levels and rehabilitation.
"At worst, prisoners are dehuman... | Continue reading...
Posted by Memory Grace.
January 22, 2009
06/07/2004 08:35 - (SA) Cape Town - Inspecting Judge of Prisons Hannes Fagan has painted a bleak picture of South Africa's jails and claims that four out of every 1 000 people are behind bars. In a report released on Monday, Fagan said: "Our prisons are bursting at the seams. There is room for 114 787 prisoners, but 187 640 are squashed inside." He said the overcrowding, at best, was problems with food, health, exercise, stress levels and rehabilitation. "At worst, prisoners are dehumanised, ... Continue reading...
Posted by Memory Grace.
January 22, 2009
04/08/2004 12:55 - (SA) Cape Town - For over three months, some 25 000 accused have been in prison in South Africa awaiting trial, and some have been there since 1996. "Part of the Bill of Rights contained in the Constitution says that there should be no undue delay in concluding criminal trials. However, the reality is that these unsentenced prisoners often spend 23 hours of the day in a cell, with no rehabilitation, no work and no recreation," said Gideon Morris, a director of the Judicial ... Continue reading...
Posted by Memory Grace.
January 22, 2009
02/08/2005 10:09 - (SA)
Pittsburgh - A man who spent 19 years behind bars for a rape he didn't commit was released from prison after new tests of DNA evidence cleared him.
Friends and family broke into applause on Monday when a county judge dismissed charges against Thomas A Doswell. About 30 minutes later, Doswell walked out of the county jail a free man - expressing thanks, not bitterness.
"I'm thankful to be home," he told The Associated Press from his mother's house. "I'm thankful j... | Continue reading...
Posted by Memory Grace.
January 22, 2009
2005 SA Johannesburg - The department of health acknowledges in a new national policy document that it has failed victims of sexual offences. This includes shortcomings in the provision of antiretroviral medicine (ARM) to rape victims, incompetent doctors and the lack of long-term psychological support for all victims of sexual offences. "We are sorry about this," Siyani Marima, a director in the department's directorate for children's and women's health, said on Wednesday in Johannesburg. Mar... Continue reading...
Posted by Memory Grace.
January 22, 2009
11/08/2005 10:21 - (SA) Johannesburg - There are many male rape victims, but stereotyping often prevents them from reporting these offences to the police. Luke Lamprecht of the Teddy Bear Clinic made this statement on Wednesday on the first day of a mini-conference about the amendment bill on sexual offences, which has been dragging on for the past seven years. In terms of the present Sexual Offences Act, men cannot be raped. Offenders who sodomise men against their will are at present charge... Continue reading...
Posted by Memory Grace.
January 22, 2009
29/11/2005 16:50 - (SA)
Cape Town - The government must change the definition of rape to recognise the male-on-male version, said the Democratic Alliance on Tuesday.
"It is an absolute disgrace that a Swiss citizen has got away with a virtual tap on the wrist for raping a South African boy, simply because the definition of rape does not include male-on-male rape," said DA MP Mike Waters.
In 1999, the law commission argued for a gender-neutral definition of rape, but six years on it has ... | Continue reading...
Posted by Memory Grace.
January 22, 2009
25/07/2006 17:34 - (SA)
Pretoria - The present common law definition of rape is "archaic" and has resulted in inadequate protection for victims of sodomy and discriminatory sentences, a Pretoria High Court judge says.
Judge Natvarial Ranchod on Tuesday declared the common law definition of rape unconstitutional as it currently stood and extended the definition of rape to include anal penetration.
His ruling also brings male rape into the ambit of rape.
Ranchod was asked to rule on the c... | Continue reading...
Posted by Memory Grace.
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