Correctional Services
Contrary to the misinformative claims of the current government, violent crime of all types are shown to be on the increase. This includes murder, rape, attempted murder, assault, and robbery.
   Such increase is as a result of a weak approach to punishment and to the processes in the prisons service.
   The deterrent of the death penalty must be reintroduced as a matter of urgency in South African society. A national referendum on capital punishment is immediately required.
   The bad state of affairs in prison management is due, among other things, to the demilitarisation process started in the early 1990s. The exigencies of the system require unwavering commitment, discipline and execution of duties by prison staff, and this can only be achieved by a military-style of management and cooperation. Thus, remilitarisation of the entire Correctional Services Department is a pressing prerequisite to its future effective functioning. This will also help to stamp out corruption which plagues the weakened department.
   Each prison needs to be organised as a village around a market-driven industry / business. The private sector should be invited to be involved in this process. Inmates live in the fenced village and work at the office / factory. Discipline and behaviour is premised upon the authoritative principle of management, with consensual or authoritarian styles being alternative responses to positive or negative feedback from worker-prisoners.
   In this manner, prisons will provide a normal, constructive, market-driven contribution to the economy, making the probability of successful rehabilitation of inmates much higher and the likelihood of recidivism (return to crime once released) much lower.