Cape Town - In the build-up to a national march to Union Buildings later this month, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) and supporters picketed outside the Department of Correctional Services offices in Monte Vista to raise a number of issues including a lack of adequate security at correctional centres.
The union also raised issues of a shortage of personnel, illegal shift patterns, and a lack of promotion policy.
Popcru provincial secretary Pat Raolane said the union was concerned about a low number of staff members in most prisons that look after thousands of inmates.
“We have a deadlock in terms of salary negotiations in the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC). It was a mandate from our members that they are not going to live through a two or three percent wage increase, so this is a build-up approach in terms of our national march (on) September 20.
“Our correctional services must have what we call a shift system like any other workplace, you can’t expect a worker who stays in Khayelitsha to start work at 2pm to 10pm and expects that particular worker to go back home when there is no public transport.
Our members must be provided with transport by correctional services,” said Raolane.
Cosatu provincial secretary Malvern de Bruyn said the justice department must invest more money to employ more staff and build more facilities.
“You would find a scenario where we have about 200 staff members that look after more than 2500 inmates and most of the time those staff members’ lives are at risk.
“The department is doing nothing to protect these workers.
“We also raised a question about the salary increase because our members have rejected the offer on the table.
“We have also raised the issue of overtime payment and we will come back here again because the provincial commissioner was not here to receive the memorandum,’ said de Bruyn.
Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said they were currently engaged in processes at the PSCBC and he believed that they would be able to find a solution.
“The staff that we have is not enough in terms of the ratio but the employees have always sacrificed and did their best to work under the current difficult circumstances and I do believe that (ourselves) and Popcru will find each other,” said Lamola.
Cape Times