Over 80% of South African prisons are overcrowded

More than 200 of South Africa’s 240 prisons and other correctional facilities are overcrowded, with an overall overcrowding rate of 61.85%.

This is according to Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald, who was responding to a written parliamentary question by Rise Mzansi Member of Parliament (MP) Makashule Gana.

Groenewald revealed that only 36 of the 240 correctional facilities were at or below their approved capacity.

The most overcrowded prison in the country is the Bizana Remand Detention Facility in the Eastern Cape, which houses 168 inmates despite having an approved bed space of only 46.

Remand facilities house remand prisoners who are unsentenced and awaiting trial.

Similarly, the Worcester Male Correctional Centre in the Western Cape has an approved bed capacity of 405, yet it houses 1,409 inmates.

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.

Facilities in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and the North West have a combined overcrowding rate of 52.44%, while those in the Northern Cape and the Free State have a combined rate of 27.35%.

Overall, South Africa has 102,858 beds and 168,091 inmates, resulting in a national overcrowding rate of 61.85%.

The issue of remand detainees

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

At the Worcester prison, there are 1,250 unsentenced detainees and 159 who are sentenced.

This is also the case at remand facilities such as the Johannesburg Remand Detention Facility, which has a capacity of 2,468 beds but houses 6,393 remand detainees.

In another response to a written question from an MP, Groenewald revealed that more than a third of all prisoners (59,887) are remand detainees.

This not only overcrowds prisons but also strains the Department of Correctional Services’ resources, with remand detainees costing taxpayers R27 million every day.

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.

Tackling overcrowding in SA prisons

The problem of overcrowding puts both inmates and security staff in these prisons at additional risk, increasing the chances of violence, contracting infectious diseases, and negatively impacting mental health.

A report presented to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services identified chronic overcrowding as a significant contributor to unnatural deaths in prisons.

It found that there had been 156 unnatural deaths in correctional facilities over the past three years, 67 of which were suicides and 55 homicides.

To address the issue, 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.

Groenewald said in September that his department is implementing the bed space creation programme, which will see the construction of facilities to accommodate roughly 13,500 beds at prisons across the country.

“Two bed space creation projects are underway. One, the Burgersdorp Correctional Centre upgrade project in the Eastern Cape region, has been completed with an estimated bed space of 500,” he said.

“The second project, the construction of the Parys Correctional Centre upgrade in the Free State and Northern Cape region, is also anticipated to be completed in March 2026. These projects are funded.”