A largely proprietary biometrics, surveillance and business continuity solution, run by Sondolo IT, has helped eliminate corruption and escapes from the 66 prisons involved in the R88 million scheme. SA has about 240 prisons.
The system consists of biometric access control, turnstile gates, metal detectors, scanners and closed-circuit television.
Sondolo is part of the unlisted Bosasa group of black empowerment companies. "When we got the contract, we were told that in prison kitchens, frozen chickens fly," says Retief van der Merwe, Sondolo IT national operations co-ordinator.
Theft and fraud in kitchens, as well as prison escapes, have for decades, been a lucrative sideline for corrupt prison staff and contractors.
Correctional services minister Ngconde Balfour contracted Bosasa in 2005 to put a stop to these problems, after four dangerous criminals tried to escape from the Zonderwater prison, east of Pretoria.
Balfour said the security system was expected to improve safety and security in prisons and would also bolster Correctional Services' fight against fraud, corruption and unethical behaviour on the part of officials, the public and offenders.
Remote shut-down
Van der Merwe says it has largely done this through multiple layers of supervision and remote data monitoring from a series of regional and national control rooms staffed by Sondolo. This is backed by a business continuity centre at Bosasa's Krugersdorp head office.
The turnstile biometric gates, scanners and search areas are staffed by prison guards, and monitored by Bosasa staff. In addition to watching the guards on CCTV streamed over the Internet, they have access to the raw data the detectors and scanners collect. They can also shut down a prison remotely in the case of a riot or hostage situation and cancel kidnapped staff members' IT access levels. In addition, real-time statistics can be obtained of traffic through turnstiles.
Sondolo IT MD Trevor Mathenjwa says the biometric system has had other advantages as well, as it controls staff, visitor and contractor access. "The saving to the taxpayer is inestimable," says Mathenjwa.
Tracking food
On the kitchen side, Bosasa is able to accurately and in real-time track all orders and deliveries, check menus, nutritional value and the number of prisoners fed per meal per day.
Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi says this tight control means that, despite double-digit food inflation, the company has not had to ask the department for a cent more for its food budget in two years. Agrizzi adds the software responsible for the savings was developed in-house - as was the tamper-proof biometric readers fitted to the turnstiles.
The company is a month away from opening its own laboratory to test software and prisoner-proof hardware before roll-out.
Bosasa, Agrizzi says, has an annual turnover of R1.6 billion and is a holding company for about 60 entities, including call centres, an IT-driven fleet management company and the much-maligned Lindela illegal immigrant repatriation centre.
Related stories:
Busy year ahead for IT
Slyly, secretly, tenderly
Mbeki's advisor in IT tender scandal
Share