NCJ Number
177228
Date Published
1998
Length
72 pages
Annotation
This monograph discusses problems in South African prisons and highlights blockages in the criminal justice system that contribute to the rising prison population, based on information obtained from a national and international literature review and qualitative interviews at several prisons.
Abstract
Problems in South Africa's overcrowded prisons are slowly building with potentially explosive consequences. The country's 231 prisons contained 146,435 inmates at the end of March 1998, 47.3 percent over capacity. As of February 1998, there were 382 people per 100,000 population in prison, the highest rate in Africa. The increasing prison population and other recent developments suggest South Africa is becoming an increasingly punitive society. Explanations for the rising prison population center around improved policing that has increased the number of persons arrested and put into prison while awaiting trial, the time taken by the criminal justice system to process those awaiting trial, the enforcement of longer sentences, and the backlog of persons awaiting trial. Other problems in South African prisons concern conviction and clearance rates, expertise and resources, sentencing trends, the prison environment, prison escapes, inmate insecurity and the culture of prisons, and limitations of the Department of Correctional Services. Ways of alleviating the prison crisis are discussed, including maximum punishment, offender reintegration, alternative options, and prison privatization. Endnotes and figures