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Foreign nationals make up 30,289 of the 173,368 inmates held in South Africa’s public correctional facilities, accounting for about 17.5% of the country’s total inmate population.The figures, which cover the inmate population as at August 9, were provided by correctional services minister Pieter Groenewald in response to a parliamentary question from Rise Mzansi MP Songezo Zibi.They represent an increase of 2,409 foreign nationals from the 27,880 recorded in June, when parliament called for closer co-ordination between the departments of correctional services and home affairs to identify foreign inmates eligible for deportation after serving their sentences. The increase comes as the correctional services system continues to grapple with severe overcrowding. Groenewald said in May that the department was operating at 58% over capacity, while identifying rising inmate numbers as one of the key pressures facing the system.Bed capacityThe department’s June figures showed an inmate population of 170,518 against an approved bed capacity of 107,054. Parliament has subsequently pushed for better data-sharing between the correctional services and home affairs departments to speed up the processing of immigration matters and identify foreign nationals who can lawfully be removed from the country after completing their sentences. Groenewald previously told parliament it cost the state R463 a day to incarcerate each foreign national, amounting to about R11.7m a day based on the 27,880 foreign nationals recorded in June. He has said the government is exploring prisoner-transfer agreements as one way of reducing pressure on South Africa’s correctional system. The issue has now moved beyond discussions about deportation, with South Africa and Zimbabwe signing a memorandum of understanding on Friday establishing a framework for the interstate transfer of sentenced offenders.The agreement allows eligible Zimbabwean nationals serving sentences in South Africa to potentially serve the remainder of their sentences in Zimbabwe, while South African offenders imprisoned in Zimbabwe could be transferred to South Africa. Groenewald has said the policy is not specifically targeted at African nationals but forms part of a broader approach to transferring foreign offenders to their countries of origin. Zimbabweans are the largest group of foreign inmates in South African correctional facilities, followed by nationals from Mozambique, Malawi and Lesotho. Top offencesOf the 30,289 foreign nationals currently in correctional facilities, 15,193 are sentenced offenders and 15,092 are remand detainees awaiting the conclusion of their cases. Four are recorded as state patients.South Africans account for 143,079 of the total inmate population. Across both South African and foreign nationals, the department recorded 110,158 sentenced offenders, 62,785 remand detainees and 425 state patients.The figures also provide a breakdown of the offences for which sentenced offenders are incarcerated.Rape is the most common offence among the top 10, with 15,199 sentenced offenders, followed by murder with 12,808.Contravention of immigration law under section 49(1) accounts for 8,924 sentenced offenders, making it the third-largest category. This is followed by robbery with aggravating circumstances at 5,765 and theft at 4,658.The remaining offences in the top 10 are intentional assault, armed robbery, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, common assault and common robbery.The latest figures come as the government faces pressure to address the capacity, cost and administration of South Africa’s correctional system, while also finding mechanisms to deal with foreign nationals who have been convicted and sentenced in the country.Business Day
