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

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