The prisons in this country are crumbling as there are 168,355 incarcerated in them while the space allows for 107,067.
This was expressed by the Minister of Corrections in the country, Dr. Pieter Groenewald, when he answered a question from MKP member of Parliament, Mr. Musawenkosi Gasa.
Gasa asked how many were detained in these institutions and how many of these have been detained for more than two years, waiting for the completion of their cases?
Groenewald said that the statistics available from February 20, 2026, show that it is 57%, the rate of overcrowding in prisons in this country.
“Of the 168,355 in prisons in this country, 105,648 have been sentenced and are serving different sentences. There are 62,707 who have not been sentenced, whose cases are still ongoing,” he said.
He said there are 6,284 who have been imprisoned for two years or more and are still in prison, and their cases are still ongoing in different courts.
He revealed that there are five across the country, who have been imprisoned for 10 to 15 years, and their cases have not yet been completed.
“Bangu-79 have been imprisoned for 7 to 10 years in this country, and are still waiting for their cases to be completed. Gauteng has the highest number of refugees with 17,627.”
In the figures in Groenewald’s answer, they show that the Western Cape is the province that is in second place with 14,444 people. KwaZulu-Natal is in third place with 7,995 people.
Groenewald has complained about the overcrowding in prisons and even expressed that he is speeding up the matter of them being sent back to their countries, 27,000 immigrants who are in prisons in this country, he said this can reduce the level of overcrowding as other facilities are needed.
He mentioned that amendments need to be made to the law in order to speed up this process because it is not something that can be done quickly to amend the law in this country.