Duane Petrus – 105 People who were employed at a private prison in Bloemfontein will soon lose their jobs.
They were employed shortly after the company, G4S, dismissed 326 employees last year for participating in an illegal strike.
The Department of Correctional Services’ Teboho Mokoena said yesterday the rectrenchments have to take place to avoid overstaffing.
G4S regained control over the management of the Mangaung Correctional Centre this month after DCS had run it for 10 months.
They also reinstated the the employees who who dismissed last year. Mokoena said employees who will be retrenched have undergone some training, but they had not obtained operational experience.
“The understanding that we have in the collective agreement is that those individuals, because they have been trained, will be absorbed into the system as and when we need them. The challenge is not as big as it is presented to be,” Mokoena said.
He added, though, that there might still be hope for them because DCS had taken control over the facility.
The Minister of Correctional Services, Michael Masutha, visited both the Mangaung Correctional Centre and the Grootvlei prison to inspect the way they carry our operations.
