As part of our commitment to rehabilitation of offenders, the ...

Strategies Outputs
Strategy A.2.2:
Provision of
legal support to
management for
decision making
and efficient
handling of
litigation.
Legal advice /
opinion provided
to management
and litigation
efficiently handled
in the interest of
the Department.
Service delivery
indicators
Legal advice and
opinion provided
to management
when requested.
Policies & procedures
of the Department
certified
to be in line with
existing legislation
and policies of
government.
Quarterly reports
on advice to
management
on litigation,
arbitration cases
and prominent
legal issues
impacting on, inter
alia, Departmental
policies.
Reduced litigation
risk based on
utilisation of
litigation trend
analysis.
Workshops
with managers
in Head Office
and all Regional
Offices on specific
legal subject to
be identified,
conducted.
•
•
Actual performance
67 Matters of legal advice and / or opinions provided
to the Department. These include the legal opinion on
the interpretation of Resolution 1 of 2007 with regard
to payment of overtime and the legal advice provided
on the implementation of recommendations made
on the investigation into the death of an inmate at
Mangaung Correctional Centre.
Legal advice / assistance was given in seven (7)
agreements entered into with the DCS.
17 policies of the Department were scrutinized and advice
given before they could be legally certified.
•
•
•
•
•
•
27 motion applications, 55 arbitrations and 38 claims
were handled. Litigation cases handled include the
high profile case of the Minister of Correctional Services
v. Dr. P.A. Theron; the defamation case which
resulted in a settlement which was made an order of
court. The second case also involved Dr. Theron who
sought relief from the Court against both the Department
of Correctional Services and the Department of
Health (DOH) in order not to be transferred back to
the DOH. This case was also settled out of court and
Dr. Theron is back with the DOH.
The other high profile case is the RMR Commodity
Enterprise v. Minister of Finance and others wherein
the DCS was cited as the 4th Respondent. Other
departments such as the Department of Finance
were also respondents in this matter. Following failure
to secure a tender for the provision of blankets to the
DCS’ correctional centres, the Applicant sought a
court order to stop the Respondents from proceeding
with the procurement of blankets for correctional
centres from the successful bidder. Judgement was
given in favour of Government at the Durban High
Court.
The half-yearly trend analysis report for the period
1 April – 30 September 2007 revealed that a large
number of claims emanate from motor vehicle accidents,
and that motion applications relate to parole issues.
The second half-yearly report is being finalized.
Prominent issues identified are addressed through
road shows / workshops in order to minimize litigation.
Seven road shows / workshops were held at six
Regional Offices and Head Office. The following
issues were addressed inter alia: forfeiture of state
cover; failure to give reasons and prescriptions
Road shows raise awareness on legal issues and
equip decision-makers for taking legally correct
actions. They are interventions to minimize the risk of
litigation against the Department.
DCS Annual Report 2007/08 23