Over half of South Africa’s released convicts commit more crimes

More than half of all of South Africa’s parolees will go on to commit further crimes, and of this 50%, only 10% will be re-arrested.

This was revealed by Correctional Services National Commissioner Makgothi Thabokgale in an interview with SABC News. 

The commissioner said that there are just above 50,000 ex-convicts living in South Africa at the moment. 

By the commissioner’s calculations, 27,500 current convicts are likely to reoffend, but only around 5,550 will be rearrested. This leaves about 22,000 recurring criminals running free. 

Data shows that re-offending in South Africa is becoming an increasing problem. In response to a parliamentary question, Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald revealed the department’s parole statistics. 

There were 20,987 parole applications in the 2024/2025 year; 14,486 were approved. 6,056 parolees reoffended during the year and were documented by the department. 

Reoffending has been the top parole violation for ex-convicts in South Africa for the last five years, trumping violations of parole conditions, absconding, or loss of support. 

This number shows an increase from the 2023/2024 number, 5,727, and the 2020/2021 number, 4,610.

Most ex-convicts, 1,492 in 2024/2025, re-offend by committing acts of theft, robbery, house-breaking, or aggravated robbery, according to the department. 

The department recorded 303 rape cases involving ex-convicts and 209 murders during the year. 

Over the last three financial years, documented former prisoners have committed almost 500 acts of murder and 624 acts of rape. 

One officer monitors over 100 parolees

Thobakgale said that the reason for the prevalence of re-offenders is that the parole system in South Africa does not have the capacity to monitor these criminals. 

“This is simply because of the numbers,” he said. “You will have one parole officer against a case of more than 100 parolees, so we need to put more numbers on the ground,” he said. 

However, he added that there are societal reasons why criminals re-offend as well. “You have parolees that lose family support,” he said. 

He added that being stigmatized in society has come up strongly as an issue leading to re-offending. 

“The stigmatisation leads to a situation where the parolee does not succeed in getting reintegrated into the system,” he said.

The department recently hosted a National Parole Review Summit to begin a public review process of the system. 

“Many South Africans believe the parole system leans too heavily towards offenders, often overlooking the needs of victims,” the department acknowledged. 

The department said that reoffenders not only cause victims to suffer, but are a deep wound for the department and society at large. 

“Reoffending undermines the State’s investment in rehabilitation programmes designed to transform lives. It also erodes public trust in the justice system,” the department said. 

Minister Groenewald, delivering the keynote address at the recent summit, said that parole is used as a tool to manage overcrowding at prisons. 

“We must not resort to placing inmates on parole simply to ease overcrowding. Parole must be reserved for those who have met all requirements, are genuinely prepared for integration, and pose no risk to the public,” he said. 

The minister said that the issue of reoffending underscores the centrality of rehabilitation programmes.

He said that his focus on instituting bakeries, workshops, and agricultural projects is key to reducing the reoffending rate. 

The Department heard from convicts, who shared their experiences of life after release. Stigmatisation by society emerged as a key issue that is out of the department’s control.