Minister Pieter Groenewald on South Africa’s Prison Overcrowding: Urgent Reforms, Foreign Detainees, and Controversial Solutions

South Africa’s correctional system is under unprecedented strain. With over 164,000 inmates housed in facilities built to accommodate only about 108,000 beds, the crisis of prison overcrowding has reached a breaking point. In an exclusive interview, Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald outlined the depth of the problem — and the bold, sometimes controversial, steps being considered to address it.

READ: Minister Groenewald Calls for Parole Reform Focused on Public Safety and Victim Justice

Overcrowding by the Numbers

• 104,000 sentenced offenders currently occupy prison facilities.
• 60,000 remand detainees (awaiting trial prisoners) add extreme pressure to the system.
• Shockingly, some detainees have been awaiting trial for more than 10 years.

“This is totally unacceptable,” Groenewald stressed. “If the criminal justice system worked effectively, these individuals would have gone through trial and received their sentences long ago.”

Foreign Nationals in the System

The Minister revealed that 26,000 foreign nationals are in South African prisons, with 13,000 of them awaiting trial.

“This costs taxpayers more than R11 million per month,” Groenewald noted. He is pushing for new legislation to allow the deportation of foreign nationals serving time or awaiting trial, arguing that keeping them in South African facilities is unsustainable.

The Bail Dilemma: Petty Offenders Trapped in the System

Groenewald highlighted another critical issue: thousands of inmates remain behind bars simply because they cannot afford bail.

• 3,000 detainees are imprisoned over bail amounts of R1,000 or less.
• Some are young offenders jailed for minor crimes such as shoplifting bread.

He welcomed Judge Edwin Cameron’s initiative to create a privately funded bail relief scheme to ease overcrowding without costing taxpayers.

READ: SAPS Operation Shanela II: Over 15,000 Arrested in Nationwide Police Crackdown

A Controversial Proposal: Corporal Punishment

Perhaps the most debated point in Groenewald’s remarks was his call to revisit corporal punishment for petty crimes.

“If an 18- or 19-year-old is jailed for stealing a loaf of bread, they risk assault and rape while awaiting trial,” Groenewald argued. “That is a greater human rights violation. Wouldn’t six lashes under court supervision — followed by release — be less damaging than months in prison that turn them into hardened criminals?”

While human rights groups have condemned the idea, Groenewald insists it is a debate South Africa must have.