The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is headed by the National Commissioner. The prison service is divided in six administrative regions. Every region has its own Regional Commissioner and is subdivided into multiple areas, each headed by an Area Commissioner:

• Eastern Cape: 6 areas

• Free State / Northern Cape: 7 areas

• Gauteng: 8 areas

• KwaZulu-Natal: 7 areas

• Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West: 8 areas

• Western Cape: 10 areas

The national prison administration is made up of five service departments:

• Incarceration Services: admission; assessment and placement; development of correctional sentences plans (CSPs); release

• Rehabilitation Services: implementing and monitoring of correctional sentences plans; psychological and social work services and programmes; spiritual, correctional, educational and skills development programmes; sports, recreation, arts, culture and libraries services; health care social behaviour change programme

• Social Re-integration Services: parole and probationer monitoring, and community liaison services; re-integration programmes

• Security Services: personal, physical, technological, information and operational security; management supervision

• Care Services: primary health care (health promotion and disease prevention; curative, rehabilitative and referral services; palliative care); HIV/AIDS, pharmaceutical, nutrition, and personal and environmental hygiene services¹

The prison administration faces different challenges: shortcomings in human resources management, a lack of Information and communication technology (ICT) resources and a shortage of legal staff. The management structure is described as top-heavy and fragmented.²

Sentenced prisoners are assessed on admission to determine their security risk and placement. They may be classified under minimum, medium, maximum, C-Max or super maximum security. Each category provides different rights and amenities, such as the number, duration and types of authorised visits, the objects they can have and the number of hours spent outside the cell. Prisoners with the same security classification, but held in different facilities, may be subject to different security measures. The same facility may be designated for a specific category or have several wards for different groups of prisoners.
There are two C-Max facilities: Kgoši Mampuru II C-Max and Ebongweni Super Maximum. These facilities are intended for prisoners with the highest level of security and/or escape risk. The regime is described as harsh. Prisoners spend most of the day in single cells and are allowed one hour of exercise per day.

The Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 makes a distinction between two main types of prison facilities:

• remand detention facilities for pre-trial prisoners

• correctional centres for sentenced prisoners

A prison may be designated for a specific security category or have different units for each: minimum, medium, maximum, C-Max and/or super-maximum security. It may also be entirely reserved for a specific group of prisoners, such as women or children, or have different sections for each of them. For example, Tswelopele prison has units for men, women, juveniles (18-21) and children, who are further divided into medium security, maximum security and remand. These groups are all separated. The degree of diversity at Tswelopele is an exception within the prison estate.

Most prisons are medium or maximum security, with a unit dedicated to pre-trial prisoners. Minimum facilities are often located in rural areas. They have low walls and limited security measures. The only two C-Max facilities are Kgoši Mampuru II C-Max and Ebongweni Super Maximum.

Placement primarily depends on the length of sentence:

• minimum: less than 24 months

• medium: less than 10 years

• maximum: 10 years to life

• C-Max / super maximum: for prisoners representing the highest security and/or escape risk

Security risks are also taken into consideration. For example, long-term prisoners that present a low-security risk may find themselves placed in a medium security prison.

The prison administration also manages halfway houses: community based residential facilities for probationers and parolees that do not have a residence upon release. These facilities are run in partnership with civil society organisations. They are intended to serve as bridge between correctional centres and the community.¹

The size of facilities varies according to their location, particularly between urban and rural areas. Some of the largest correctional facilities are found in Gauteng region, including Johannesburg, Krugersdorp, Kgoši Mampuru II, Boksburg and Modderbee. The region of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North Westand, as well as Eastern Cape mainly consist of small and rural centres.¹

Tswelopele is the largest prison in terms of capacity, roughly 3,000 places according to JICS. The smallest facilities, such as Bizana, have a capacity of approximately 50 prisoners.¹

The facilities managed by the prison administration are spread across the following regions¹:

• Eastern Cape: 45

• Free State/Northern Cape: 47

• Gauteng: 26

• KwaZulu-Natal: 42

• Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West: 38

• Western Cape: 43

There are also two public-private partnership (PPP) facilities, one in the Free State and the other in Limpopo.

Roughly 20% of all facilities are located in rural areas.

Officials used to undergo three to six months’ training, including on-the-job learning, but institutional and civil society actors report that the quality and duration of such training has declined in recent years. Some external organisations, such as Just Detention International - South Africa (JID-SA), provide specific training on sexual abuse and LGBTIQ+ groups.