It costs South African taxpayers R11.6 million per day to keep 25,000 foreigners in prison

Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald revealed that South Africa has 25,000 foreigners in its prisons, costing taxpayers R11.6 million per day.

Groenewald shared this information during an interview with Biznews about the state of South Africa’s correctional services.

He said he is working in a programme where many foreigners who are in South African prisons can be deported to their home countries.

He explained that of the 25,000 foreigners in South African prisons, 13,000 are remand detainees who have not been released on bail.

A remand detainee is someone who has been arrested and charged with a crime but is being held in custody while awaiting trial.

“I am in the process of deporting foreigners who are remand detainees to their country of origin,” Groenewald said.

However, this required legislative amendments because the current laws dictate that people awaiting trial must be kept in South African jails.

The minister hopes that the legislative amendments will be completed within a year, which will allow the state to send many foreigners awaiting trial back to their home countries.

This can save South Africa millions, as it costs South African taxpayers R463 per day to keep a person in prison.

“It costs South Africa more than R11 million per day to keep the foreigners in local prisons. We can save money by sending them back to their home countries,” he said.

Sending all foreign prisoners to their home countries is more challenging due to the United Nations Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, to which South Africa subscribes.

If the prisoner’s home country isn’t part of the same treaty, or it doesn’t have a bilateral prisoner transfer agreement with South Africa, there’s no legal framework to move them.

Some governments may also refuse to take back their nationals, especially if the sentence is for serious crimes like murder, drug trafficking, or terrorism.