Overcrowding and poor conditions in Gauteng prisons: portfolio committee

Overcrowding, ageing and creaking infrastructure and shortage of staff were some of the problems witnessed by members of the parliamentary portfolio committee on correctional services during a visit to some Gauteng prisons this week.

The committee, led by chairperson Kgomotso Ramolobeng, visited the Emthonjeni juvenile correctional centre in Baviaanspoort, the Leeuwkop prison, Kgosi Mampuru II's C-Max female prison and the Unisa hub, and Modderbee and Johannesburg prisons between Tuesday and Thursday.

The committee members also visited the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services' (JICS) new offices in Centurion.

Ramolobeng said though the committee understood there was overcrowding in prisons and that foreign nationals were among inmates, it did not anticipate the high number of foreign prisoners. 

“In Modderbee we had huge numbers of foreign nationals housed there. They constituted 45% of the facility.” She said if foreign inmates were removed from that prison, there would be no overcrowding.

“The executive authority must have bilateral meetings with foreign missions to mitigate the current set-up,” she said. Most of the foreign nationals were also not documented. 

She said Johannesburg prison, apart from the smuggling of contraband, was among the best-run of the prisons visited. During the oversight visit, in one block, a member of the committee found a cellphone which belonged to an inmate.

“It was handed to officials for investigation. Apart from the smuggling of contraband, systems are OK. The centre needs to mitigate the issue and must conduct unannounced raids to minimise the risk of inmates having cellphones and sharp objects.”

She said most facilities have infrastructural problems. In Baviaanspoort, its kitchen was closed and the centre transported food from Zonderwater prison, which is 20km away.

The committee noted that Modderbee had no functioning kitchen and being supplied by the Boksburg correctional centre.

Ramolobeng said while the kitchen at Kgosi Mampuru prison was operational, it had limited pots. If they had 10 pots, four were in use and the rest needed to be serviced or replaced.

She said Modderbee cells were in poor condition and required renovations.

“In some cells, you will find there is no water, in some cells there are leaks.”

The committee also noted there were many vacancies in the prisons they visited. This was because some officials were leaving due to old age, leading to numerous acting posts.

The committee has asked the department to appear before it on October 22 to provide a detailed plan on how it would fill the vacancies and whether those posts were budgeted for.

“We need a detailed plan to deal with all vacancies including psychologists, nurses, those who assist inmates with rehabilitation, criminologists, doctors and wardens.”

Ramolobeng said the committee would make recommendations to the department to address the challenges it had identified.

She said during the visit to JICS, the committee received the inspectorate's annual report, which the inspectorate is expected to present to the committee in parliament on Tuesday.

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