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Roll-Out of Operation Hira to Attract Scarce and Critical Skills in Correctional Centres

November 18, 2015 • News, Traffic

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has made a call for persons with critical, and scarce, skills to converge at various sites nationally for an unprecedented on-the-spot recruitment drive scheduled to kick-off tomorrow (19 November 2015).

The special campaign, code named Operation Hira, was announced by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Adv. Michael Masutha, during his budget vote speech earlier this year, and launched on 21 September 2015 during Corrections Week.

Advertisements, carried in a series of newspapers across the country, list doctors, clinical psychologists, professional nurses, pharmacists, artisans, construction project managers, social workers, educationalists, engineers, IT specialists, state accountants, supply chain management specialists, technicians, internal auditors, legal admin officers, as well as occupational directed education and training development officers as some of the requisite skills required.

Welcoming this initiative, the National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Mr. Zach Modise, said the special recruitment drive is intended to address high vacancy rates in the scarce skills categories of the department’s workforce and will assist in the department’s efforts to re-invent itself and strengthen the rehabilitation and social reintegration of offenders. Mr. Modise added that, through this special campaign, Correctional Services is also contributing in ensuring that jobs are offered to qualifying potential employees to help reduce levels of unemployment in the country, while also helping to speed up the professionalisation of corrections in South Africa.

Commissioner Modise said, although the Department has an overall vacancy rate of 8.43%, that is lower than the government-wide vacancy level threshold of 10%, it experiences higher vacancy rates in the scarce and critical skills categories and has set itself an ambitious target of a 2% vacancy level. He said the Operation Hira campaign seeks to turn on its head the current long turn-around times in the recruitment of employees by over 80%. The qualifying potential employees will be expected to submit their applications on site, with shortlisting done the same day and interviews conducted on the second day of each roadshow across all six regions of DCS. The schedule of the regional Job Fairs, which will commence at 08h00 and conclude at 17h00 on both days, is as follows:

REGION VENUE DATE MEDIA CONTACT
Western

Cape

Cape Town: Goodwood Correctional Centre Hall in Montaque Avenue 19-20 November 2015 Mr. Simphiwe Xako

Cell: 079 501 0272

Free State and

Northern

Cape

Bloemfontein: Bloemfontein City Hall, Corner Charles and Nelson Mandela Street 23-24 November 2015 Ms. Puleng Mokhoane

Cell: 082 577 7653

Eastern

Cape

Port Elizabeth: St Albans Correctional Centre Hall in St Albans 26-27 November 2015 Mr. Zama Feni

Cell: 082 558 3369

Limpopo/

Mpumalanga/

North West

Polokwane: Jack Botes Hall, Corner Church and Bodestein Street 02-03 December 2015 Mr. Messiah Hlungwani

Cell: 082 070 6909

KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg: Sevontein Correctional Centre in Elandskop 08-09 December 2015 Mr. Thulani Mdluli

Cell: 083 636 0876

Gauteng Johannesburg  Correctional Centre in Meredale  10-11 December 2015 Mr. Ofentse Morwane

Cell: 076 419 4884

For media enquiries for each region, kindly contact the media contacts as listed above

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