Prison officials have been chastised for not creating a safe environment after it was revealed that half of all unnatural inmate deaths are due to suicide.
The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services on Tuesday received a presentation on inmate deaths, as well as the progress of criminal investigations into said deaths.
Committee members received parts of the presentation behind closed doors due to the sensitive nature of ongoing investigations, as well as the names of victims and implicated officers.
Unnatural inmate deaths
Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald acknowledged that “there were no challenges, but problems”, that his department was committed to addressing.
The committee heard how, between April and December last year, 30 inmates died of unnatural causes in prisons nationally.
Suicide was the cause of death in 15 of those cases, while nine were the result of homicide, at least four at the hands of prison officials.
The causes of death for the remaining incidents are still subject to most-mortem results.
Correctional Services’ presentation attributed the high number of suicides to inadequate supervision due to staff shortages and the mental health of inmates.
Highlighting the lack of staff, one committee member noted that a correctional centre near Durban can have as few as four wardens guarding 600 inmates.
‘An outrage and unacceptable’
Some committee members expressed sympathy for inmates, asking why more wasn’t being done to address their mental health and safety.
The EFF’s Carl Niehaus was upset that there was not more public outrage over the conditions faced by prisoners.
He accused Correctional Services of merely keeping statistics after hearing that, since 2022, 88 officials were charged in relation to prisoner deaths.
These cases resulted in nine dismissals, 20 acquittals and 20 suspensions, while 39 are still pending.
“The simple truth is that any single one death that is unnatural in our prisons should be considered an outrage and unacceptable,” said Neihaus, lambasting Correctional Services for the slow rate of progress.
uMkhonto weSizwe party’s Musawenkosi Gasa joined Neihaus in criticising the overall safety and security of inmates.
“[This] directly indicates the catastrophic failure to provide a safe and humane environment as mandated by the constitution,” said Gasa.
‘Dereliction of duty’
Crime stats for the period between April and September 2025 state that 11 564 murders were reported in South Africa, as well as 19 427 rapes.
Additionally, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group states that there are roughly 23 suicides per day in South Africa — over 8 000 per year.
The committee heard that suicide attempts were high, with Neihaus demanding that prisoners who fail in those attempts or who display suicidal warning signs should be placed on suicide watch.
“Is it adequate to simply say we are going to put this person among other prisoners and they must watch? I don’t think so.
“If we fail [to put them on suicide watch] it will be a dereliction of duty,” said Neihaus.
Groenewald responded by agreeing that prisoner mental health should be addressed, but warned against the manipulative and exploitative nature of convicted offenders.
“In my very short time, I realised that criminals – you must very careful – the first thing they always tell you is you must do something because they are innocent.
”All of them will have many complaints. We should have a system checking those, I agree, but just now everybody suddenly wants to commit suicide, because then they get special treatment,” said the minister.
Corruptible officials exploited
On the murder of inmates by prison officials, Groenewald questioned the allowance of a minimum use of force, suggesting the definition was vague.
“It’s a thin line. What is minimum force? If I wake up in the middle of the night and there are offenders in my house, am I allowed to use my firearm or not? Must I first ask them, ‘Are you going to shoot me?,” he said, noting that the relevant officials were attacked and hospitalised.
He agreed with the committee that long investigations should not be used as a tactic to prolong accountability, but stressed that labour laws took precedence.
Groenewald said the vast majority of correctional services officials were trustworthy employees, but said a small number were aiding criminal elements.
“Specifically, when it comes to the gangs, the hard criminals, they make use of this corruption and corrupt officials and we have a duty to stamp that out,” the minister said.
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