Cape Town – MPs have called into question the strict conditions of bail after it emerged more than 7 300 suspects were in prison because they could not afford small amounts of bail.
The Department of Correctional Services told Parliament on Wednesday that out of 41 000 remand detainees, 7 380 qualified for bail but could not afford it.
Chief Deputy Commissioner in the Department of Correctional Services James Smalberger told members of the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services this was 18% of the remand detainees who should be out on bail.
The National Prosecuting Authority, the Office of the Chief Justice, police and the Department of Correctional Services were briefing the committee on bail protocol. They said they were working on a strategy to release those who were not supposed to be in prison because of bail.
DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said there were many people sitting in prison because they could not afford bail of R2 000 or less.
The department said some in custody were on R500 bail but could not afford it.
Advocate Bradley Smith of the National Prosecuting Authority said Minister of Justice Michael Masutha said they did not want people who had been given bail but could not afford it to continue to sit in jail.
They had done a study on remand detainees and their circumstances for not paying bail – 90% could not afford it because they came from poor financial backgrounds. Sixty-four percent said they were not employed.
They had also done studies elsewhere in the world to benchmark the number of remand detainees and South Africa was doing well.
It had cut down the number of remand detainees to below 50% of the prison population. In the Comoros 92% of the prison population were remand detainees; in Benin, 75%; and in Paraguay, 72.5%.
Smith said South Africa was getting the balance right as it had fewer remand detainees.