JUSTICE DELAYED: On 4 August, former G4S employees stood outside Grootvlei Correctional Centre, mourning lost livelihoods and dignity. As their struggle unfolds, critical questions arise about justice, accountability, and the responsibility owed to those who served.
On the morning of 4 August 2026, members of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services stood at the gates of the former Mangaung Correctional Centre, now operating as part of the Grootvlei Management Area.
Outside those gates stood men and women who once worked for G4S. They are no longer employed by G4S. They have not been absorbed by the Department of Correctional Services.
They are in limbo — without work, without income, and without clarity about their future. Their faces reflected anxiety, exhaustion and quiet desperation. Families are going hungry.
Dignity is being stripped away. Health is suffering. These are not abstract statistics. These are South African workers who gave years of service in one of the most difficult and dangerous environments in our correctional system, and who now find themselves discarded.
