SA needs to spend R36 billion on new prisons – Groenewald

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South African prisons house 46% more inmates than they were designed for, according to Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald, further adding that his department identified an “urgent need” to “construct/regain” 50 000 bed spaces to address overcrowding concerns.

This revelation came in response to a Parliamentary question posed by Patriotic Alliance (PA) National Assembly (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Marlon Daniel who inquired into measures meant to address issues relating to overcrowding in prisons.

“This requires the construction of 100 new Correctional Centres with a bed space capacity of 500 each, or alternatively 50 new Correctional Centres with a bed space of 1000 each,” noted Groenewald.

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