Foreign Nationals Outnumber Locals in Some South African Prisons, Citizens Furious With Government

• The Chairwoman of the Correctional Services Portfolio Committee said there are 22,000 foreign nationals in the country's prisons
• At some correctional services facilities, like Pretoria's Baviaanspoort Prison, foreigners outnumber the South African inmates
• South Africans expressed frustration with the government, saying foreigners outnumbered locals in hospitals and some schools

The number of foreigners currently in the country’s prisons has left South Africans fuming on social media.

Anthea Ramolobeng, Chairwoman of the Correctional Services Portfolio Committee, revealed that there are more foreigners than locals in some of the country’s prisons.

Ramolobeng made the announcement during a security briefing in Parliament on 21 January 2025, where she revealed that there were 22,000 foreign nationals in South Africa’s jails.

Ramolobeng concerned by the statistic

The chairwoman expressed concern at the gravity of the situation, stating that of the 22,000 foreigners in the country’s prisons, 690 were serving life sentences for serious crimes.

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"There's a huge number of foreign nationals in our facilities. This is a dire concern for the department," she said.

She also explained that, in some cases, the prison had more foreigners than locals, using Pretoria's Baviaanspoort Prison as an example. There are 525 offenders at the prison, but only 125 are local.

Overcrowding in prisons remains a concern

Ramolobeng also voiced concern about overcrowding in the prison system, saying there are currently 156,000 inmates but only 105,474 approved bed spaces. This has resulted in an overcrowding rate of 48%. The department also spends nearly R500 per day on each offender, resulting in the State paying a lot to care for foreign nationals in the system.

In addition, the department manages 55,776 remand detainees, accounting for 36% of the total prison population.

South Africans fume on social media

While some social media users were unsurprised, they also expressed concern that the problem wasn’t limited to the prisons alone.

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@mrsmphuthi said:

“Is there anyone shocked? I mean, I’m not shocked at all.”

@UnityInSA said:

“That is crazy. Some public hospitals are the same. Some public schools also have more foreign kids than local kids (depending on the area). Some suburbs now also have more foreigners (many illegal) than local residents. Some businesses (e.g. restaurants and delivery services) have more foreigners than locals. Some areas have much more foreign-owned shops than locally owned shops. How and why did the ANC allow this situation to get so bad? Surely, they could figure out the consequences?”

@TieOnto asked:

“Don’t they also outnumber local patients at some healthcare facilities? The ANC has failed us.”

@Lecheadi stated:

“Public hospitals are packed with illegal foreigners. Jails are packed with illegal foreigners. Squatter camps are packed with illegal foreigners. And life continues as normal.”

@KommanderOD said:

“We need mass deportations. You cannot keep on arresting people who you know are illegal immigrant criminals.”

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@Malusimbath added:

“All South African systems are strained with these high numbers of illegal foreigners. And when we say most foreigners depend on crime to make ends meet in SA, they say we are xenophobic. I don't have a problem with foreign people, but it's too much.”

@Mame_thule exclaimed:

“Correctional facilities, schools, hospitals. They have taken over. At this point, we are the foreigners in SA.”

Correctional Services needs R36 billion to solve issues

In a related article, the Minister of Correctional Services said that the government needs to spend billions to solve prison overcrowding.

Briefly News reported that Pieter Groenewald revealed the figure during a question-and-answer session in Parliament on 10 December 2024.

The minister noted that 50,000 additional bed space was needed to accommodate South Africa's growing prison population.

Source: Briefly News