Overcrowding in Gauteng prisons, with ‘huge number of undocumented foreigners’ [VIDEO]

The Gauteng Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is facing the challenge of overcrowding in its prisons with a huge number of foreign nationals.

Following the portfolio committee’s unplanned visits to the centres last week, Kgomotso Ramolobeng, the chairperson, noted the challenges faced by the prisons.

“We must, however, remember the DCS does not have control over the number of offenders in its centres. It is an end-user.

“The police arrest offenders; they go to court and then end up in the centres. Also, some of our centres house a huge number of undocumented foreign nationals,” she said.

Foreign nationals in SA prisons

According to a document seen by The Citizen, as of October 2024, the prisons reported the following foreign nationals detained.

The Emthonjeni centre has 400 foreign nationals. The majority of the foreign inmates in the centre are from Mozambique with 217 prisoners.

The Modderbee centre has 5366 offenders with 2 912 foreign nationals.

Kgosi Mampuru II reports 7463 inmates including the 2221 foreigners.

Lastly, the Leeuwkop centre recorded 2913 offenders with 359 immigrants.

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Prisons visited by the committee

The committee visited the following centres in Gauteng:

• Emthonjeni Correctional Centre for juveniles
• Leeuwkop Correctional Centre
• Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre for Females
• Modderbee Correctional Centre
• Johannesburg Correctional Centre
• Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services (JICS) Head Office

Watch: Committee visit at Boksburg centre house

Surprise visit by the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services to Boksburg Management Area… pic.twitter.com/1sYkyqqzmN

— The Department Correctional Services 🇿🇦 (@DCS_ZA) October 11, 2024

Challenges faced by the centre houses

According to Ramolobeng, the committee expressed serious concerns about the infrastructure, problems with management systems, and the overall coordination of the Modderbee Correctional Centre.

“We therefore gave the DCS three months to correct the challenges at the facility and do consequences management,” she added.

The DCS are to report back to the committee after three months have lapsed to provide the progress report.

She said the DCS should have more regular searches for contraband items and actions should be taken against inmates and officials alike if found to have contributed to the smuggling of contraband.

Budget cuts and overcrowding

Ramolobeng said that the overcrowding and budget cuts translate to infrastructure challenges.

Furthermore, she appealed that the DCS should encourage prisoners to be responsible for light maintenance so that money can be spent on heavy and necessary needs.

The committee also noted the vacancies in the DCS and requested a detailed plan on how it intends to deal with them and when it wants to fill positions.

Ramolobeng said the committee has noted all the plans provided by the DCS and centres and will continue to exercise its oversight role by monitoring the implementation of those plans.

“We will be forwarding recommendations to the DCS on what we found during the oversight visit,” she concluded.

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JICS mandatory reporting

In August, the JICS informed the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services that its presentation covered several critical areas, including deaths, sexual violations and the conduct of officials.

The report disclosed that the oversight body recorded a total of 123 unnatural deaths, 505 natural deaths, and 21 suicides across various prisons

At least 4,800 inmates were held in “solitary confinement”.

The UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules, define solitary confinement as isolating prisoners for 22 or more hours a day without meaningful human contact.

South Africa held at least 4 800 inmates in solitary confinement, despite the practice being prohibited by a 2008 amendment to the Correctional Services Act.

However, segregation is still allowed.

Inmates have the right to challenge their segregation, and the JICS report noted 10 such appeals.

The report highlighted 40 incidents involving mechanical restraints and 468 incidents of the use of force in prisons nationwide.

Additional reporting by Molefe Seeletsa

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