South Africa: prison boss makes appeal to reduce overcrowding in jails

Johannesburg – Correctional Services National Commissioner Zach Modise on Wednesday appealed to government security agencies to reduce overcrowding in the country’s correctional facilities.

The Western Cape High Court ruled in December that the number of inmates at Pollsmoor’s remand detention facility be reduced to 150% of its capacity within the next six months.

At its worst, Pollsmoor was 247% above its accommodation capacity, the acting regional commissioner for correctional services, Freddie Engelbrecht said at the time.

However, the ruling left many prisoners unhappy. Engelbrecht said what upset prisoners was that, in some cases, they were being taken further away from their families. Often relatives could not afford the increased travel costs.

Modise said overcrowding was not a correctional services predicament alone.

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“It is a well-known fact that overcrowding of correctional centres indicates a larger systemic ill in society, which is that of crime itself. Therefore, crime prevention, in co-operation with communities, remains a priority.”

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