Growing calls for Groenewald to account for state of Western Cape prisons

By Johnathan Paoli

The crisis in the country’s correctional facilities, particularly in the Western Cape, has reached alarming proportions, with prisons meant to rehabilitate offenders, instead becoming operational hubs for organised crime, drug trafficking and violence.

National Council of Provinces member on security and justice Nicholas Gotsell has accused the Correctional Services Department, under Minister Pieter Groenewald, of failing dismally in its duty to ensure these institutions function as centres of rehabilitation rather than breeding grounds for further criminality.

“The DA will not stand by while the department turns a blind eye to the crisis in our prisons and the wider gang and drug problem on the Cape Flats. Urgent reforms and accountability measures must be put in place to protect the constitutional rights of all inmates and ensure public safety,” Gotsell said.

According to a parliamentary reply, 3875 weapons, including sharp objects, makeshift knives, scissors and other deadly tools,