Correctional Services bust 285 officials and inmates for smuggling contraband in six months

The regularity with which contraband smuggling is being identified in prisons is increasing.

Figures presented by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) detailed the number of incidents where inmates and officials were caught smuggling contraband over the last five years.

The types of contraband most common are drugs and mobile phones, the latter being linked to additional crimes being committed outside of prisons.  

285 criminal smuggling cases

Between April and September this year, 249 inmates and 36 officials had criminal charges laid against them for smuggling contraband.

That six-month figure of 285 is higher than any of the previous five full 12-month financial years.

However, 57 officials faced internal disciplinary measures between April and September, significantly lower than the 104 from the 2021/22 financial year.

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Limpopo and Gauteng lead the number of disciplinary cases with 24 and 15 for the previous two quarters, respectively.

A breakdown of the number of internal disciplinary cases at the Department of Correctional Services. Picture: Department of Correctional Services

Provincial breakdown

The 285 cases from the last two quarters were an increase from last year’s 35 officials and 232 inmates.

The lowest of the last five years was in 2021/22, when 78 (32 officials and 46 inmates) faced criminal charges.

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For the last two quarters, the bulk of the incidents came from the Free State’s Grootvlei prison, which saw 127 inmates but zero officials caught smuggling.

That facility outside Bloemfontein has seen 287 inmates caught in the last 30 months.

Seven prisons in Limpopo registered a combined 80 cases involving 70 inmates and 10 officials, while KwaZulu-Natal’s seven prisons registered a combined 29 cases (28 inmates and one official).

Durban prison accounted for the bulk of those numbers with a lone official and 26 inmates coming from that facility.

Gauteng and the Western Cape had relatively low numbers, with three inmates and two officials and seven inmates and one official, respectively.

Contraband does ‘not have feet’

The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services heard this week that overcrowding in prisons had increased by 2% from March 2023 to March 2024.

South Africa has a prison population of 156,600, 48% more than the approved capacity of 105,474.  

“Minister Groenewald has publicly asserted that contraband items, such as drugs and mobile phones, do not have feet to enter prisons independently,” the minister’s spokesperson Euné Oelofsen told The Citizen.

“Additional criminal activities have been reported within these facilities, where inmates make use of cell phones to perpetrate scams and organise syndicate operations,” Oelofsen added.

Overcrowding also contributes to assault, physical violence and self-harm, perpetuated by the idleness of inmates desperate for stimulus.

“The presence of contraband items severely impedes rehabilitative efforts due to the impairing effects of these drugs and the ongoing nature of criminal activities,” Oelofsen concluded.

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