His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) is looking beyond Eswatini’s borders for practical lessons that could strengthen the administration of its correctional centres, with a 12-member delegation heading to Zambia for a SADC peer-to-peer engagement.
The delegation, comprising mainly Officers-In-Charge, will attend a SADC Peer-to-Peer Interaction workshop focused on regional cooperation, experience-sharing and continuous improvement in correctional services.
Bidding farewell to the delegation, HMCS Commissioner General LaMakhosini Phindile Dlamini said the officers should use the engagement to identify practical approaches that could be adapted to Eswatini’s correctional environment. 
She challenged the officers to go beyond simply attending the workshop, urging them to actively participate, ask questions and share experiences from HMCS while learning from correctional institutions across the region.
“You are not going there simply to attend. You are going there to learn, share your experiences, and see what others are doing differently.
Most importantly, you must come back with something that can add value to the way we administer our correctional centres,” she said.
Dlamini said the delegation should pay particular attention to areas that could strengthen the rehabilitation of inmates, develop skills and improve the sustainability of correctional institutions.
Among the areas she encouraged the officers to explore were agricultural practices, leadership approaches and other practical initiatives that could potentially be applied within HMCS.
The Commissioner General said exposure to different correctional models would allow the officers to reflect on existing practices at home while identifying areas where lessons from other SADC countries could be adapted.
She further reminded the delegation that their conduct would reflect on HMCS and Eswatini, urging them to uphold professionalism and discipline throughout the regional engagement.
“You are going there as ambassadors of HMCS. Listen, learn, participate and bring back knowledge that will help us move forward,” she said.
The workshop forms part of regional efforts to strengthen cooperation among correctional services in the SADC region through peer learning and the exchange of institutional experiences.
For HMCS, the engagement gives officers directly involved in managing correctional centres an opportunity to learn from approaches used elsewhere and consider how those lessons could support continued improvements in correctional administration in Eswatini.
