Lifting the veil on South Africa's grim prison system

1. A haunting reality hiding in plain sight

The book pulls back the curtain on South Africa’s prison system, describing it as a “haunting” reality that most citizens know of but choose to ignore. With 243 prisons and the largest prison population on the continent, the penal system operates like “abattoirs”, designed to be opaque and hidden from public view.

2. A legacy of broken promises

The post-apartheid era brought with it the promise of a humane and just correctional system, enshrined in a Constitution that guarantees human dignity for all. However, this promise has been largely broken. A key turning point was a legislative “misstep” in 1998, which led to a policy of sentence inflation, resulting in a shocking rise in the number of people serving life sentences, from under 500 in 1994 to 18,500 by 2025.

3. The tough-on-crime delusion

The panellists dismantled the myth that a tough-on-crime approach makes society safer. They pointed out that despite increasingly long sentences and a growing prison population, crime rates, particularly the murder rate, have not gone down. The book reveals that the murder rate actually decreased after 1995 but then began to rise again in 2011, coinciding with a period of institutional decay in crime intelligence and police services.

4. Supermax prisons and the US influence

In its pursuit of “toughness”, South Africa looked to the US for a model of incarceration, importing the concepts of the “war on crime” and supermax prisons. The book criticises this approach, as these facilities keep inmates in near-permanent solitary confinement, which is described as a cruel and psychologically damaging form of punishment that damages inmates and the correctional officials who work in them.

5. Overcrowding as a national crisis

The South African prison system is operating at 150% capacity, with large urban prisons being the most affected. A single cell designed for 20 people can house 81, leading to squalid, inhumane, and overcrowded conditions. The panellists emphasised that building more prisons is not the answer, as this tends to encourage more incarceration.

6. Prisons as universities of crime

The discussion highlighted a vicious cycle where petty offenders are incarcerated in an overcrowded, gang-ridden system, only to emerge as hardened criminals. With a tiny proportion of inmates having access to work or skills training, the system is failing at rehabilitation and instead perpetuates a high rate of recidivism.

7. The plight of awaiting-trial detainees

A significant portion of the prison population — up to 40% — consists of awaiting-trial detainees, many of whom are in prison simply because they cannot afford bail as low as R400. They are denied access to rehabilitation programmes and remain in prison for months or even years, often for minor offences.

8. The role of correctional officials

The webinar humanised the role of correctional officials, acknowledging that they, too, are victims of a broken system. Officials often hold progressive views and are pained by the inhumane conditions they must administer. The study on supermax prisons showed that officials also suffer from trauma and depression, highlighting how the system damages everyone within it.

9. The path to reform

The book is presented as a call to action and a source of hope. The authors propose practical reforms both inside and outside prisons. Key recommendations include a focus on effective crime intelligence to tackle organised crime, a social and cultural shift away from the normalisation of violence, and the implementation of a bail fund to address the issue of awaiting-trial detainees.

10. The power of political will 

The discussion concluded with a crucial question: Where is the political will to enact these reforms? While the courts have made progress by granting the prisons inspectorate its independence, its recommendations are not binding. The authors believe that change requires a collective shift in mindset among the political elite and the broader public, moving away from a punitive approach and toward a criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation and prevention.

The discussion highlighted the ongoing journey of defining and strengthening South Africa’s identity, emphasising the complexities of diversity, the role of foundational values and the need for active engagement from all citizens. DM

This article was produced with the assistance of the Gemini Pro AI model. Human oversight ensured that the 10 takeaways accurately reflect the conversation.