Correctional Services told to find ‘innovative’ solutions to overcrowding

Simon Nare

The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services has told the department to find innovative ways to deal with overcrowding in South African prisons, and to collaborate with other departments in the justice cluster to do so.

Committee chairperson Anthea Ramolobeng said this week that building new prisons could not be the only solution, because even the facilities that were in existence were not being properly maintained.

“Is it the best solution…building more prisons? And if it’s not the best solution, how are we going to mitigate the current challenges that we are having? And if it is the best solution, what is the quickest way to ensure the building process does not take time?”

She relayed horrific conditions in prisons that were witnessed during oversight visits, and spoke of a female prisoner in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, who had been an awaiting trial prisoner for seven years, while her co-accused