Correctional Services expands national bakery programme to cut costs and promote offender rehabilitation
The Department of Correctional Services expands its national bakery programme, promoting self-sufficiency, reducing costs, and empowering offenders through skills training and employment across 11 operational and upcoming bakeries.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) says its bakery programme is playing a critical role in reducing costs, promoting self-sufficiency, and providing offenders with skills training and work experience.
Chief Deputy Commissioner Anna Malepo briefed Parliament's Portfolio Committee on the department's ongoing efforts to expand its network of correctional centre bakeries, improve bread production, and address operational challenges.
Malepo said the department currently operates 11 bakeries nationally, which supply bread to 39 correctional centres. A twelfth bakery in Durban was commissioned in June 2025 and is expected to become fully operational in the current financial year.
Malepo stated: 'The purpose is mainly to share with the Portfolio Committee the establishment of bakeries in the department and also the prospective projects in support of self-sufficiency and sustainability.'
The initiative, she explained, is backed by Section 3 of the Correctional Services Act, which requires the department to be as self-sufficient as possible and to operate on business principles. She said DCS is also legally and morally obligated to provide inmates with an adequate diet to promote good health.
The bakeries are run by correctional officials, with offender labour making up a significant part of the workforce. Inmates working in the bakeries receive between R2 and R9 per day and are also trained in baking and operations management.
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