Prisons in one South African province has 84% more prisoners than they can accommodate

The Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, revealed that prisons in the Eastern Cape have an overcrowding rate of 84%.

The overcrowding rate in South African prisons is a mathematical ratio that measures the total inmate population relative to the system’s officially designated capacity.

Groenewald shared this information following questions from National Assembly Member Musawenkosi Gasa about prison overcrowding.

Gasa alleged that overcrowding in South African correctional facilities is 168%, which may be misrepresented to avoid political embarrassment.

He added that overcrowding is a direct driver of unnatural deaths, gang violence, and human rights violations in prisons.

The Minister of Correctional Services responded, saying they were not aware of the 168% capacity quoted by Gasa.

Instead, he provided the bedspace and inmate population at correctional facilities in the nine provinces in South Africa on 10 May 2026.

It showed that the Eastern Cape had an occupancy rate of 184%, which represented an overcrowding rate of 84%.

Gauteng ranked second with an overcrowding rate of 69%, followed by the Western Cape at 68% and KwaZulu-Natal at 54%.

Groenewald explained that overcrowding is driven primarily by court backlogs and influxes in policing.

“The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) relies on joint mechanisms within the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster,” he said.

The JCPS Cluster has established a JCPS Overcrowding Reduction Sub-Committee reporting to the JCPS: Development Committee (JCPS DevCom).

It has the responsibility and mandate to develop an Integrated Multi-Sectoral Justice Cluster Strategy to manage overcrowding in DCS.

“DCS continues to implement the overcrowding reduction strategy, which supports the Department’s obligation to contain overcrowding,” he said.

“This is done through direct and indirect measures, even where key drivers sit outside the control of the Department.”