8/13/2019 Head of Prison Legal Oversight Body Under a Cloud

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KUTLWANO OLIFANT

kutlwano.olifant@inl.co.za

L IKE any mineworker,Thabo joined thousandsof striking NationalUnion of Mineworkers (NUM)members hoping for a betterwage increase.

But the father-of-two isntconvinced the amountdemanded by the union will beoffered by the employer.

Thabo (not his real name)said the employers had in thepast failed to meet theirdemands, fearing they wouldsimply strike again the nexttime around.

We want a double-digitincrease, but we are not sure if well get it. The employershave always refused to give into us and nothing can stopthem from doing (this) again,he said.

Thabo is an undergroundminer who earns R5500 andalso receives a living-outallowance of R1640 a month.

His monthly deductions are just under R1 000. Aside fromhis wife and two children,Thabo also looks after hissister and her children, wholive in a backyard room of hismunicipal house on the WestRand.

Thabo said his wage wasnot enough to support hisfamily and to travel daily towork.

He is one of almost 90000NUM members in the goldsector who downed tools onTuesday night.

Even though he failed toarrive for work yesterday,Thabo said he felt that thewage dispute should have beenresolved through a negotiatedsettlement.

Some of us want to work,but we fear for our lives. Weare not sure if our demandswill be met, he said.

He said he feared being dis-missed while striking.

We are currently on awarning after a dismissal lastyear during the nationalstrike. It was because of thestrikes that we ended up beingdismissed and then later askedto sign a warning form, hesaid.

What if they kill me forcoming to work? The strike isa waste of time at the end of the day. Its a no-work, no-paysituation.

At the end of the day, Ihave a family to feed and theyexpect me to deliver.

The man said even thoughthey had qualifications, theywere not being taken seriouslyin the indust ry.

We are being exposed to

dangerous situations in themines. Our lives are not safe atall, Thabo said.

He also claimed that someof the miners were forced totake part in the strike.

Thabo said people were

attacked yesterday morningwhile going to work, but theNUM had denied it.

NUM spokesman LesibaSeshoka claimed the strikewas peaceful.

See Business Report

THE VIOLENCE against ordinaryworkers allegedly by striking civilengineering contractors has beenslammed as deplorable.

In numerous places acrossgreater Cape Town yesterday,workers were intimidated,prevented from leaving theirsuburbs for work and, in somecases, violently assaulted.

Michael Bagraim, chairman ofthe human capital portfoliocommittee at the Cape Chamberof Commerce and Industry,reported that many of thesevictims had nothing whatsoeverto do with the civil engineering orconstruction industries, and werestill being targeted.

This is deplorable, and mustbe a first. People are being accusedof being scab labour when theyhave nothing whatsoever to do

with this strike or this industry.Asked about the impact of the

strike on business, Bagraim saidcompanies were losing money inlost working hours, and thesedelays came on top of delays fromthe recent severe winter weather.

But despite low turnoutsby workers in some cases,construction was continuing onmany sites.

Various sources told The Starssister paper, the Cape Argus, there

were simply too many civilengineering construction sites forthe strikers to man.

The real cost is to the ordinarypeople who are prevented fromearning a living, Bagraim said.

The strike involved two unions,the National Union ofMineworkers (NUM) and theBuilding Construction and AlliedWorkers Union (Bcawu).

Bcawu struck a deal with theSA Federation of Civil EngineeringContractors (Safcec) on Monday,which will remain operationaluntil August 31, 2016.

In addition, severancebenefits for the industry were alsoimproved, Safcec reported.

This suggested the ongoingviolence has been linked to theongoing strike by NUM members,sources said. Staff Reporter

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Child shocked with taser and punchedBOTHO MOLOSANKWEbotho.molosankwe@inl.co.zaA THREE-year-old was slapped,punched and hit with a woodenplank before being shockedwith a taser allegedly by hismother, stepfather and uncle.

The abuse is alleged to havetaken place over a six-monthperiod and at least three of theincidents were allegedly re-corded by a relative.

Yesterday, his 19-year-oldmother, her 18-year-old brotherand her 27-year-old boyfriend none of them can be namedas that would possibly identifythe child appeared briefly inthe Vanderbijlpark Magis-trates Court on a charge of assault.

The boys mother and herbrother were released on bail,while the boyfriend remains incustody.

As the mother stood incourt, she kept clenching andunclenching her hands. On her

left was her tall brother withhis spiky hair fashioned into amohawk. Next to him was herboyfriend with long jet-blackhair, a black leather jacket anddirty blue jeans.

The lovers hardly glanced ator greeted each other.

According to sources closeto the investigation, threerecordings of the assaults weremade and form part of thepolice investigation.

In each of the recordings,the boy is said to be cryinghelplessly while the three seemunfazed by his pain.

The child has been taken toa place of safety, while his 16-month-old sister is in the careof a guardian who has takencare of the toddler since shewas two months old, allegedlybecause her mother could notafford to do so.

The matter was postponedto September 11, when the boy-friend is expected to apply forbail.

The mother left court weep-ing and sat on a bench in thecourt passage, where sheburied her face in her handsand wailed. A relative whiskedher away.

The childs grandmother,who was also in the court,said the stress of what hap-pened was too much for herand that she nearly had a heartattack.

RUTH HOPKINS

THE chief executive of theJudicial Inspectorate for Cor-rectional Services (Jics), AdamCarelse, has been placed onspecial leave amid allegationsof misconduct, possibly includ-ing sexual harassment.

Jics is a legal oversight bodythat monitors and reports onprisons and inmates rightsthrougho ut the country.

On Monday, two high-levelofficials of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS)visited the Cape Town headoffice of the inspectorate for ameeting with Carelse.

They then called all staff tothe boardroom and told themthat Carelse was being placedon special leave following alle-gations of misconduct by staff members. No further informa-tion was provided.

Jics directorMike Masondohas since been appointed act-ing chief executive.

The simmering conflict firstcame to light when the parlia-mentary portfolio committeefor correctional services vis-ited Jicss offices in April.Several staff members sharedtheir concerns with the MPs.

Committee chairman Vin-cent Smith said: We heardvery serious allegations, rang-ing from sexual harassment toemployment conditions. Weadvised the employees to speakto their superiors and tosubmit letters of complaint tothe relevant authorities.

The employees asked for aprivate meeting with the

portfolio committee members.This took place on May 8.

The portfolio committeethen sent a letter detailing theallegations to Vuka Tshabal-ala, the inspecting judge forCorrectional Services, whoheads the inspectorate. PublicProtector Thuli Madonsela wasalso informed of the situation.

The inspecting judge thenbriefed the national commis-sioner for correctional ser-vices, Tom Moyane, as isrequired by law.

Moyane dispatched the twoofficials, one of whom wasTeboho Mokoena, the chief deputy commissioner forhuman resources at the DCS.

We first had a consultationwith Mr Carelse. He wasshocked, but he took the matter(seriously), and he understoodand respected the request fromthe national commissioner thathe (Carelse) take special leaveuntil the investigation into theallegations has been finalised.

Mokoena said a person

would be appointed to carryout the investigation, but it isnot clear if that will be some-one from within the DCS or anexternal person.

It is critical we get to thebottom of this. At the momentwe are unable to confirm theallegations related to sexualharassment. Mr Carelse, there-fore, remains innocent until wefinalise this investigation.

The Public Protector hasgiven the DCS 60 days torespond to the allegations.

The prison oversight bodyand the department it is sup-posed to monitor have beenembroiled in a dispute abouttheir mandate for severalmonths. At the heart of thematter is the independence, orlack thereof, of the inspec-torate.

Jics is entirely financed byCorrectional Services and fallsunder the DCSs humanresources and disciplinary pro-cedures. But the entity is alsosupposed to monitor and report

on any wrongdoings at DCSprisons.

The Detention JusticeForum, a collective of NGOsworking in the field of criminal

justice, referred to this uneasypower relationship in a mediarelease it issued following thenews of Carelses special leave.

Jics is a crucial part of theDCS accountability system andwas established as an institu-tion that is meant to be oper-ated separately and independ-ently from DCS.

Calls to amend the legisla-tion in this field have mostlygone unheard.

On May 22, Judge Tshabal-ala and Carelse complainedbefore the portfolio committeeon correctional services thatthe DCS had blatantly ignoredJicss reports about prisonriots, deaths and torture inprisons.

Mention was also made of severe accommodation andfunding problems for Jics. TheDurban office, for example,does not even have a fax or net-work printer, while the DCShas underspent R894million inthe 2011/2012 financial year.

There are no links betweenthis healthy discussion and theallegations of misconductagainst Mr Carelse. If you wantto address Jicss independence,then the law has to be amendedfirst. As it stands, we have cor-rectly followed the disciplinaryprocedure set out in the Correc-tional Services Act, Mokoenasaid. Ruth Hopkins is a journalistfor the Wits Justice Project

FORCEFUL: The National Union of Mineworkers held a protest in the Cape Town CBD yesterday, targeting construction sites. Approaching several sites, they startedprotesting and insisted that work stop immediately pending a rise in general wages. PICTURE: WILLEM LAW

Miner fears strike wont succeed, could end in job lossSTRIKE WATCH

SAA Engineers andtechnicians affiliated tothe SA Transport and

Allied Workers Union(Satawu) continue to picket. Satawu has rejected the6.5% SAAoffered.Solidarity and the AviationUnion of SA accepted the deal. Negotiations continue with Satawurepresentatives and SAA management.

MOTOR INDUSTRY The KwaZulu-NatalNational Union ofMetalworkers of South

Africa (Numsa) has calledoff its march in Durban today. The strike is now in its third week. Employers have offered a10%increase,which the union has rejected.

GOLD MINERSSTRIKE Two gold producers

have reached a settle-ment with the National

Union of Mineworkers and the UnitedAssociation of South Africa. The Evander and Tau Lekoa minesreached a settlement where the basicwage of lower-paid employees willincrease by8%. Higher-paid employees will get a7.5% increase.

CONSTRUCTION

STRIKE The National Unionof Mineworkers

continues its strike in theconstruction sector, demanding a13%wage increase for this year and14%for 2014. This after the Building, Constructionand Allied Workers Union accepted awage offer of a10% increase forlower-paid jobs and an8% increasefor higher grades.

ORDEAL: A relative helps the mother of a three-year-old abused boyoutside court yesterday. PICTURE : ITUMELENG ENGLISH

Head of prisonslegal oversight body

under a cloud

EXCLUSIVE

EASY DOES IT: Miners from Sibanye gold mine in Carletonville tooka more leisurely view to striking. PICTURE : BOXER NGWENYA

Workers unfairly targeted

Ordinary peopleare prevented from

earning a living

Negotiatedsettlementpreferred,

says worker

Only thepoor to getfree waterin future

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