Cape Town - The country’s prisons were overflowing by 33.21% by June, an increase of 5% of the prison population recorded four months earlier.
This was revealed by Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola in his response to parliamentary questions from DA MP Janho Engelbrecht.
Engelbrecht asked about the recommended capacity and actual occupation levels of all prison facilities in the country.
He also asked about the percentage in each prison and the ratio of prison warders to prisoners.
In his written response, Lamola said the approved bed space in prisons was 108 804 but the country’s prison population was 144 938 as at June 1, up from 141 221 in February when overcrowding was at 27.41%.
According to Lamola, prisons in all provinces are overcrowded. The Eastern Cape has the highest level of overcrowding (63.03%) with 20 265 prisoners, followed by the Western Cape which stands at 49.51% with 26 633 prisoners and Gauteng at 45.6% with 34 405 prisoners.
KwaZulu-Natal prisons are 23.74% over the recommended capacity with 22 414 prisoners, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West have a prison population of 22 190 and each has an overcrowding level of 21.49%, and Free State and Northern Cape prisons stand at 2.61% with 18 547 prisoners.
The prisons with the highest prisoner population are Komani, Bizana, Mount Frere, Allandale and Lusikisiki which are overflowing by 199.21% to 248.24%.
Lamola said the ratio of prison staff to prisoners was about 1:4. This excluded administrative staff.
“The department has a total of 30 630 filled security personnel posts with 1 762 vacancies. The total number of posts is 32 392 with an inmate population of 144 663,” he said.
Lamola also revealed that 99 146 prisoners had been released on parole since March 2019.
He said a total of 16 112 parolees breached their parole conditions after being released.
“This includes the actual numbers of all revocations such as re-offending, loss of support system, revocation of absconders, and violation of conditions,” Lamola said.
The minister added that 6 417 of the prisoners paroled since March 2019 had committed serious offences after being released.
Cape Times