Dear Editor
During an oversight visit to Qalakabusha Correctional Centre in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, on 14 August 2025, the DA found that the prison’s bakery — built with the facility’s own labour and resources — remains idle despite assurances earlier this year that it would be operational. View images here, here, here and here. View video here.
The DA calls on the Minister of Correctional Services, Dr Pieter Groenewald, to prioritise the immediate installation of bakery equipment at Qalakabusha; provide an implementation timeline for making the bakery fully operational; and conduct a site visit to see firsthand the consequences of his Department’s neglect.
The findings of the oversight are particularly troubling given the Minister’s recent pronouncements about the need for correctional facilities to become self-sustaining, with a specific emphasis on bakeries and food production.
The DA will submit parliamentary questions to the Minister to determine the progress of self-sustainability at all correctional facilities.
At Qalakabusha, the bakery has a trained team of staff and inmates ready to begin operations. However, the facility has only one mixer and none of the additional equipment required to make the bakery functional.
This represents a lost opportunity to:
- Cut costs significantly on bread and food provision;
- Provide skills training and rehabilitation for inmates; and
- Advance the Department’s own stated goals of self-sufficiency.
The Minister must personally visit Qalakabusha to see the gap between policy pronouncements and on-the-ground realities. It is unacceptable that a bakery capable of saving taxpayers millions of rand, while simultaneously contributing to rehabilitation, stands unused due to departmental inaction.
While there are many infrastructure challenges at Qalakabusha — including non-functional laundry machines, widespread plumbing failures, and broken access control equipment — the bakery is a clear example of how lack of follow-through directly undermines the Department’s strategic objectives.
The Department speaks of sustainability, but at Qalakabusha the reality is wasted opportunity. The Minister must act, not just talk.
Regards
Jahno Engelbrecht MP
DA Spokesperson on Correctional Services