Correctional Services on Sunday lifted a two-year moratorium on filling critical vacancies within the department, a spokesman said.

The department advertised 380 "critical" vacancies in Sunday newspapers, the department's website and the website of the department of public services and administration, spokesman Manelisi Wolela said.

The posts, which included 27 deputy directors' positions, 35 assistant directors' posts, as well as a number of senior administration officers, senior state accountants, clerks, drivers or messengers and heads of community corrections and head of correctional centres, were advertised.

The cost to fill these vacancies amount to about R70-million.

Moratorium

Wolela said the moratorium was instituted two years as ago to address rocketing personnel expenditure and to prevent unmanaged over-expenditure caused by the implementation of the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) for correctional services staff.

"Due to the OSD related budget pressures, the Department over spent its budget in the 2008/9 financial year by nearly half-a-billion rands," he said.

The department also placed an erratum advertisement in Sunday papers, saying it had advertised various vacant posts between 1 August 2008 and June 2009.

But due to budgetary constraints and new determinations with the various OSDs, these posts could not be filled.

The advertisement stated that the erratum served to inform applicants who attended interviews and were subsequently found suitable will be appointed.

Wolela said the positions advertised again were essentially supervisory, middle management and professional positions.

Natural attrition of staff

He said correctional services national Commissioner Tom Moyane said the posts will be funded by funds created from the natural attrition of staff in the department.

"Annually the department of correctional services loses and average of 1200 staff members due to terminations [that include resignations], deaths or dismissals," said Moyane.

He said the department has 41 500 posts with a current staff compliment of 40 676, showing a two percent vacancy rate.

Moyane said the posts advertised were "just the beginning of a sustained effort to ensure that correctional services has appropriate human resources to deliver on its service delivery targets".

The vacancies should be filled within two months, he said.