Commissioner Subashini Moodley says the region has the second-lowest Covid-19 infection rate among the offender population of the DCS in the country. She has, however, revealed that the Free State has the highest number of positive cases amongst DCS officials with 970 cumulative confirmed cases, 898 recoveries, 16 deaths and 56 active cases. Moodley says the Department of Health has been an incredible key stakeholder to work with during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have put in fervent measures of Covid-19 protocols and our standard operating procedures are very stringent and awareness is taking place. So in the Free State and Northern Cape accumulatively, in terms of officials - because you know the third wave hit us hard in the Northern Cape and came down to the Free State - so currently, our numbers in the Free State are a little bit higher and we don’t have any positive inmate in the Northern Cape [at this stage],” she adds.

A total of 4 068 officials in the Free State are to be vaccinated, which accounts for about 67%.

Moodley says the DCS in the Free State has four management areas, which also include Goedemoed, Kroonstad, Groenpunt, and Grootvlei, with 13 720 inmates, which include sentenced and remanded detainees. Moodley has also thanked organised labour for working hand in hand with the department to make sure that officials and inmates were kept safe in the DCS centres.

Officials, including those from the private security company, G4S, from the Mangaung Prison Centre, are also being vaccinated.  

On Tuesday the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Minister Ronald Lamola, launched the vaccination programme. The department has set up 90 approved vaccination sites at Correctional Centres across the country.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi and Lucky Nkuyane