Correctional Services Need R36 Billion To Address Prison Overcrowding

• The Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, said that the government needs to spend billions to solve prison overcrowding
• The figure was revealed during a question-and-answer session in Parliament as it discussed prison overcrowding
• Groenewald said that 50,000 additional bed space are needed to accommodate SA's growing prison population

With over seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News, Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist, offered insights into South African politics, national, provincial and local governance, the Government of National Unity, political parties and Parliament.

PARLIAMENT, CAPE TOWN—Pieter Groenewald, the Minister of Correctional Service, said the government needs to spend R36 billion to accommodate South Africa's growing prison population.

Billions needed for prison overcrowding

Groenewald answered questions during a question-and-answer session in Parliament. He said the R36 billion will be used to construct new correctional facilities to curb overcrowding in prisons. He said the Department needs to build 50,000 additional bed spaces. This will require building 100 new correctional centres with a 500-bed space capacity or 50 new centres with a 1000-bed space capacity.

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Groenewald said the Department, aware that the government does not have the finances to meet this requirement, has made efforts to increase bed space capacity. It added 2788 beds from September 2023 to July 2024. He also said the Department has two projects to build more prisons in South Africa.

South Africans comment

Netizens shared their views on Facebook.

Kanye McKay said:

"We should care less about convicted criminals, whether they are crowded or not. The minister should introduce legislation that requires criminals to pay rent, food, and all other expenses."

Greg Schaffers said:

"We're going to have to build an extra one for the crooked politicians."

Sarika Pillay Sarika said:

"Our country needs the death sentence, not a new prison."

Mandla Mathebula said:

"The first minister to ever talk about the need to build more prisons, and that has always been my position."

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Robinson Maakana said:

"They must give you the money. They are the cause of this problem."

Pieter Gorenewald against budget cuts

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Groenewald complained that the Department experienced budget cuts.

He said the cuts make it difficult to feed prisoners and address security concerns.

Source: Briefly News