KZN Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi Calls Prisons Academies of Crime

• The South African Police Service's KwaZulu-Natal commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, slammed prisons
• He remarked that prisons are not places of reform but are used by criminals to recruit and train gangs
• South Africans strongly agreed with Mkhwanazi, and many attributed this to a soft approach to crime-fighting

With nine years' experience, Tebogo Mokwena, a current affairs writer for Briefly News, provided insights into the criminal justice system and high-profile cases in South Africa at Daily Sun.

KWAZULU-NATAL—The South African Police Service's KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, said prisons are not places of rehabilitation and questioned their helpfulness in rehabilitating criminals.

Mkhwanazi slams prison system

According to @eNCA, Mkhwanazi spoke during a press briefing on 17 December 2024. Mkhwanazi called the prisons as academies of crime. He said a majority of ruthless and violent crimes the KZN police fight are organised behind bars, where some of the most ruthless gangs in South Africa operate.

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He said there is a group of people in KZN that are bloodthirsty and kill and rob to get their way.

"There are those that are in prison with free access to people in prison. There are quite a lot of crimes organised by people in prisons already. So it makes us wonder as the security cluster whether are our prisons helping or not, but it seems to be where they are educated to be more brazen," he said.

View the video here:

The South African Police Service recently cracked down on criminal activities in prisons. In September, the police raided the St Albans Correctional Facility in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, and found contraband in prison cells.

South Africans agree

Netizens supported Mkhwanazi's views.

Lindo Mnisi said:

"Give Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's police officers everything they need to fight crime. I mean, everything."

JN said:

"100% agree. The ANC, plus our constitution, is the problem. That combination has created a soft approach to crime where criminals have more rights than their victims."

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Ju said:

"Yep. A juvenile kid comes out a hardcore criminal throwing numbers and bullets everywhere."

VybeSonix said:

"Prisons are more like criminals' initiation schools."

SK_MANV said:

"True, and the wardens are also helping to commit crimes while they are inside."

R36 billion needed to resolve prison overcrowding

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, said the department needs billions to address the issue of overcrowding in South African prisons.

Speaking in Parliament in December, he said the department needs R36 billion to add more bed space to prisons and build new correctional facilities. He said 50,000 new bed spaces are required to curb the overcrowding issue.

Source: Briefly News