Correctional Services says 15,284 foreign nationals are sentenced offenders who could potentially qualify for transfers, although differences in parole systems mean the process requires further legal and administrative work.
The Department of Correctional Services says more than 30,000 foreign nationals are currently incarcerated in South African prisons, including 4,731 Zimbabwean offenders, as government moves closer to implementing a prisoner transfer agreement between the two countries.
In an interview on Newzroom Afrika, Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said South Africa and Zimbabwe had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing a framework for cooperation between their correctional services.
He said the agreement would eventually allow sentenced offenders to serve their prison terms in their countries of origin, while also strengthening information sharing and cooperation between the two countries.
“What happened is that South Africa and Zimbabwe concluded a memorandum of understanding in a way that establishes a framework for cooperation between correctional services in South Africa and Zimbabwe prisons and correctional services,” Nxumalo said.
