The Department of Correctional Services says it is constantly reviewing contracts to ensure it always gets the lowest food prices.
On Tuesday, the department briefed parliament on progress in the review of prices for perishable contracts.
Minister Pieter Groenewald said the department had already begun reviewing the contracts in the 2024/25 financial year when complaints about them began to come in. However, he said, MPs needed to understand he could not interfere with these contracts during the awarding process.
“I want to put it very clear that the PFMA, the Public Finance Management Act, is very strict and it prohibits any political office bearer from being involved in any tender process,” explained Groenewald.
“So as a minister, and all ministers, are restricted so that they cannot interfere with processes in terms of tenders. Only after the process has been completed, then of course we can start asking questions, and that is what we are doing now.”
Food prices
What blew the lid off the food contracts was the complaints about bread contracts. In previous contracts, the department paid R24.50 for a loaf of bread.
“I then said exactly what members are saying now. That’s totally unacceptable. If you go to any supermarket, that is the top price you will pay for bread. And then there was a review. And the review, in the end, we’re now paying around about R15 for a loaf of bread,” said Groenewald.
“But let me say this on the bread issue, and it also links up with the self-sufficiency issue. At the moment, we are about 96.4% self-sufficient in the delivery of bread. We hope that by the end of 2028, that we will have seven more bakeries operational. And the idea is that we will be 100% self-sufficient in bread, saving millions of rands for taxpayers.”
Groenewald stressed the importance of a thorough investigation into the food contracts, as prices had been high before the department decided to renegotiate them.
“I cannot account, unfortunately, for the prices before my time. But let me put it very clearly. I started the process and there are already results. When we have the total picture, then if it is necessary, I will go to the Special Investigating Unit.
“If it is necessary for a forensics investigation, we will do it. But we must also say that when it comes to the forensic auditing process, it is very, very expensive. But we will look at that.”
Self-sufficiency
There were calls for the department to be self-sufficient where possible, with vegetables such as cauliflower being highlighted.
“We should produce enough cauliflower for ourselves because it’s an agricultural product and we have the land and we can produce that,” said Groenewald.
“We, at this moment, produce cabbage, and so we can also produce cauliflower. But again, and I don’t want to use finances as an excuse every time. But the fact of the matter is, if you want to farm, it costs money.
“It’s a million rand for a tractor. So, to farm and to ensure that we are self-sufficient costs quite a lot of money. But I agree, in the end, we will save more money by producing that and we will keep on trying to produce more and more of our own products to become more self-sufficient.”
Expensive items
Parliament also discussed the price of paw paws, prompting MPs to question what was “so special” about the fruit and why it was important to prisoners.
However, Correctional Services Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale explained that expensive food items such as paw paws were not consumed by all prisoners.
“Those are line items that fall under a special diet that would have been recommended by the nutritionist. Now, this is a struggle we continue to wage, either with or against nutritionists, in trying to revise the meal plan.
“But then the question, as the honourable members have actually asked, is there no alternative to an item like paw paws, as the honourable members indicated? If there is an alternative, why are we not going for that, given that this one is expensive?
“So, I just want to confirm, honourable chairperson, that those are the processes that we continue to engage ourselves in, in trying to make it a point that we comply with legislation with regards to what we’re supposed to give to offenders that the nutritionist will also approve, but at the same time, we ensure that we save government or we are on the side of efficiency with regards to the budget.”
