Gauteng Community Safety MEC, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, has defended her decision to spend more than R60,000 of taxpayers\u2019 money treating prisoners to a KFC meal, after pictures of her handing out the food went viral on social media, according to a report by The Star.<\/p>\n
Despite many commenters pointing\u00a0that ordinary, innocent South Africans could not afford the luxury of fast food,\u00a0Nkosi-Malobane said that the decision was made due to cost factors and to remind prisoners of the benefits of the outside world.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of getting a caterer who was going to charge us, say, between R100 and R200 per head, we decided to get Streetwise Two instead, which is less than R50 per head,” she said.<\/p>\n
“You must understand that the prison\u2019s cooking schedule was also disturbed because of the programme.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nkosi-Malobane also noted that it\u00a0was unfortunate that critics\u00a0had focused on the food served on the day, and not on the benefits of the event itself –\u00a0the Get Out and Stay Out (Goso) programme, aimed at equipping offenders with crucial skills to use upon their release.<\/p>\n
The move was also heavily criticized by the DA, saying that Nkosi-Malobane\u2019s decision “defeats the whole process of imprisonment.\u201d<\/p>\n
“There are law-abiding citizens who go to sleep on empty stomachs. There should be no luxuries in prison like eating KFC,\u201d the party\u00a0said.<\/p>\n