Over 1,000 prisoners have died and 6,000 assaulted in South Africa since 2024

Over 1,000 inmates have died in South African prison since the beginning of 2024, with nearly 6,000 assaults recorded across the same period.

This is according to the Minister of Correctional Services Dr Pieter Groenewald who was responding to a written question from MK Party MP Wesley Douglas.

Groenewald revealed that 1,042 prisoners have died across South Africa’s 240 correctional facilities since the start of 2024.

Douglas’s question only asked for the number of assaults, and deaths, which the minister revealed was 5,986. The cause of these deaths was not revealed.

However, Groenewald did say that correctional facilities have identified several functional challenges that impede their capacity to operate.

These include the overcrowding of prisons, staff shortages, and insufficient security infrastructure, such as CCTV, body and parcel scanners, and body cameras.

At the end of October, it was reported that a violent stabbing at Pollsmoor Correctional Centre, in Cape Town, left two inmates dead, and several people, including two correctional officials, injured.

The officials were attempting to intervene during a violent altercation between rival prison gangs when the attack occurred, according to the Department of Correctional Services.

The Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, Kgomotso Anthea Ramolobeng, said that this is starting to become a worrisome trend.

“Our facilities are already overcrowded with inmates, so the ratio of offender to official is high. It seems inmates are taking advantage of this fact,” she added.

Gauteng prisons saw the most deaths over the period at 365, as well as the most cases of assault reported over the period, 1,488.

However, this is expected given that it has nearly a quarter of all inmates in South Africa at 41,481.

The second-highest number of deaths was recorded in Western Cape prisons at 175. Despite having far fewer inmates than Gauteng, roughly 29,000, 1,431 assaults were recorded.

For comparison, 95 deaths and 941 assaults were recorded across the North West, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga.

Over 80% of prisons are overcrowded

Groenewald also recently revealed that more than 200 of South Africa’s 240 prisons and other correctional facilities are overcrowded, with an overall overcrowding rate of 61.85%.

According to the minister, only 36 of the 240 correctional facilities are at or below their approved capacity.

The province with the most overcrowded prisons is the Western Cape, with only three of the 44 facilities adhering to approved capacity.

However, the Eastern Cape has the highest overcrowding rate relative to the total number of prison beds in the province.

There are 12,071 beds in the 45 facilities throughout the province, while 21,853 inmates inhabit these facilities.

Gauteng follows closely behind, with an overcrowding rate of 79.16%, housing 41,481 inmates in only 23,153 beds.

KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape follow, with rates of 66.85% and 64.98%, respectively.

Unsentenced prisoners are a major contributor to the issue of overcrowding in prisons, with remand detainees often far outnumbering those who are sentenced.

This is the Johannesburg Remand Detention Facility, which has a capacity of 2,468 beds but houses 6,393 remand detainees.

Remand facilities house prisoners who are unsentenced and awaiting trial.

While this may be a facility intended to house remand detainees, it emphasises the effect that prosecution backlogs has on overcrowding.

According to a report by the Auditor-General on the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, there was a backlog of 37,497 criminal cases in the country’s regional magistrates’ courts as of 31 March 2024.

This increased to 37,838 by 30 June and to 38,234 by the end of August.

The country’s district magistrates’ courts face a similar problem, with the former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Thembi Simelane, pointing to a 14,683-case backlog at the end of August last year.

To address the issue of overcrowding, Groenewald said that the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster established an Overcrowding Task Team Sub-Committee tasked with developing an Integrated Multi-Sectoral Strategy.

He said that his department is responsible for addressing overcrowding by transferring sentenced prisoners around the country.

On the other hand, the South African Police Service has been tasked with handling remand detainees, as they cannot be moved until sentencing.