POLITICS - Some social media enthusiasts, black and white, want Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald as the next president of South Africa after a job well done in his department.

This view is shared by a top expert, who says the minister is a model to emulate.

Political analyst Prof Lesiba Teffo identified Groenewald as the best-performing minister in the government of national unity.

Social media praise grows as analysts hail Groenewald’s reforms

“His performance has been outstanding. Don’t judge the man by his skin colour or political affiliation, assess him on performance.

“He found correctional service farms lying fallow and resolved to resuscitate them. Today, prisoners are producing potatoes and baking bread. In 12 months in office, the minister has saved the government R29 million because of the food produced by the prisoners,” Teffo said.

He said Groenewald had also resuscitated the artisan training facilities and prisoners were being trained in bricklaying, building, electrical and plumbing work.

This is how prisoners were trained in the past and it is also an international practice that enables inmates to contribute to community development. The prisoners also use their new skills to make a living once they are released from jail.

“No politician in the past 30 years in correctional services had the brain, the capacity and the thought to do what this man is doing. If we don’t work together as black and white, we will perish together as fools.

Expert labels Groenewald top GNU performer

“Groenewald is a model to emulate,” Teffo said.

In recent weeks, several X followers from across the political and race spectrum also commended Groenewald for having turned around correctional centres countrywide by reviving the old-style skills development and training, and implemented agricultural projects for prisoners.

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The food projects involve inmates’ participating in gardening using materials supplied by the department to produce their own food.

He received more praise from the public for introducing strict measures to ban the use of cellphones by prisoners and for his concerted campaign to combat corruption in the department.

Officials had allegedly been bribed by inmates to let them escape or commit crimes inside or outside prison.

Minister identified shortcomings

The minister also identified shortcomings, such as many remand detainees remaining in custody awaiting trial for more than 10 years without being brought to court.

Recently, he expressed concern that the country had a total of 26 000 prisoners, which contributed to overcrowding and huge costs to the state. The department is working on a plan to deport foreign prisoners.

Since he took office, Groenewald has hit the ground running. His reforms were the outcomes of several consultation meetings with department staff, to hear their concerns and understand the situation in the department.

Some officials commended him for reaching out to them, while some voiced concerns about prison conditions and their safety at work. He undertook to change the situation, including banning the use of cellphones by prisoners, a move that caused a uproar from many inmates.

Some civil society groups and individuals have now launched the “Groenewald for President” petition to test public views about whether the politician should be rewarded for his initiatives.

“Groenewald for President’ petition

One of the X followers posted a picture of Groenewald carrying a South African flag with the message: “I am black and I want Groenewald to save South Africa from becoming another failed African state.”

Artisanal training died out in the new democratic system. Teffo said the main reason other ministers failed to revive skills training was the tender system, which encouraged patronage and corruption because it gave state work to the politically connected and the elite. But Groenewald wanted to develop the country.

Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen

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