Cape Town –High crime levels, reluctance by the judiciary in granting bail for serious crimes, and the effects of minimum sentencing are some of the reasons for overcrowding at correctional centres, Inspecting Judge Justice Johann van der Westhuizen has said.
He was speaking at the release of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services’ (Jics) 2018/19 annual report.
The report highlighted Jics’s achievements and challenges over the past financial year as well as recent incidents and developments that warranted special attention.
The Western Cape was found to have the most overcrowded prisons, with Pollsmoor Medium B being particularly problematic at 200% capacity.
“The reasons for overcrowding include several factors, such as high crime levels, reluctance by the judiciary in granting bail for serious crimes, and the effects of minimum sentencing.
"Sections 62(f) and 63(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) 8 are provisions that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) may use to reduce the number of remand detainees.
“These provisions allow a court to order the conditional release of a detainee, subject to the accused being placed under the supervision of a correctional official.
“However, it seems that courts seldom use this option as the ability of DCS to effectively supervise detainees through its supervisory correctional officials seems doubtful,” Van der Westhuizen said.
The sentenced offender population nationally was 115147, or 70.1% of the total inmate population, and the remand population was 47728, or 29.9% of the total inmate population, the report found.
“It is clear that the population remains excessively high.
“The prison population, like the population of the country, is not evenly spread,” Van der Westhuizen added.
There were 28 cases of suicide reported.
Most of the suicides occurred in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Hanging appeared to be the most common method of suicide, with 20 inmates dying as a result of this, the report showed.
A variety of items were used, but mainly ligatures fashioned from bedding and clothing.
A challenge with mealtimes remained especially in the Western Cape, where 41% of all centres inspected were unable to serve three meals a day to inmates.
Reasons for non-compliance forwarded by the Head of Correctional Centres included understaffing, the current shift system prescribed by DCS as well as previous industrial action by DCS officials. According to Section 11 of the Correctional Supervision Act, inmates must get “at least” one hour of exercise per day.
In the Western Cape, only two centres indicated that they allowed inmates more than one hour exercise, the report said.