By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South African prison continue to be overcrowded and the number of foreign national prisoners has raised concern in Parliament Correctional Services Portfolio Committee.
Chairperson Anthea Ramolobeng said this is increasing the burden on South Africa’ prisons.
Over 22,600 foreigners are filling correctional centres, and in some prisons, the number of foreign nationals outnumbers local inmates.
The department spends R500 per day per offender in its correctional facilities, she said.
Ramolobeng made the statements while speaking to media as part of parliament’s weekly committee cluster programme – in this case the peace and security cluster, and how oversight was to be strengthened.
A number of issues contributed to overcrowding, she said, including inmates who were unable to afford bail.
“We saw this at the Colesberg Correctional Centre [during an oversight visit] where there were a number of inmates who [could not afford bail of R1000 or less].”
Ramolobeng said that in October last year, the committee undertook an oversight visit in Gauteng, where it found that at Emthonjeni Youth Correctional Centre in Baviaanspoort, of the 525 juvenile offenders, 400 were foreign nationals.
“The committee also found 2 912 foreign national inmates in Modderbee Correctional Centre, while in Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre, there were 2 394 foreign nationals, and in Johannesburg Correctional Centre there were 4 079 foreign national inmates, “she said.
Remand detainees being held without the option of bail also contributed to overcrowding, as did Section 63A applications due to the nature of the crime committed, previous criminal records, and the involvement in gangs and criminal syndicates.
There were also state patients who should be in mental health institutions but instead were in prisons, she said.
The committee was engaging with the department of health and the portfolio committee on health on this issue.
Ramolobeng also said that contraband flooding into correctional centres remained a serious concern, “particularly as the number of investigations and the number of officials disciplined did not correlate one another with the amount of contraband found in each management area or in facilities”.
For instance, she said, in the Johannesburg management area, 1393 cellphones were found between July and September 2024, but only 48 formal disciplinary cases were registered, 84 investigations conducted, and 25 suspensions implemented.
“In Kgosi Mampuru II, 1 700 cellphones were found between April and September, while in Leeuwkop, 63 cellphones were found between May and July.”
The committee would be conducting an “unannounced” oversight visit in KwaZulu-Natal between February 24 and 28, she said, adding that she would not disclose which facilities would be visited, so that no “preparation” could take place.