The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services conducted what it called an “insightful” oversight visit yesterday to the Pollsmoor Correctional Centre in Tokai, a suburb of Cape Town.
Committee Chairperson Ms Kgomotso Anthea Ramolobeng said the oversight visit forms part of the committee’s constitutional mandate over the Department of Correctional Services (DCS). She said the committee will regularly conduct such physical oversight visits and then follow up on the commitments made by officials to address the challenges highlighted during the visit.
In its walkabout of the facility, the committee visited the centre’s health clinic, baby and mother housing unit, the section for juvenile remand detainees, the male and female sections, as well as the workshops for woodwork, steelwork and textiles. Ms Ramolobeng said it was worthwhile to see what was previously theoretically presented to the committee in this practical version on the ground.
Committee Member Mr Carl Niehaus was disconcerted to see the overcrowding, especially in the juvenile section, which he said does not have enough beds. Some inmates share a bed whilst others sleep on the floor. Another Member, Ms Dereleen James, was concerned about the facility’s high HIV rate in the context of expecting young boys to share a bed. She was saddened to see such young boys in the remand detainees section awaiting trial for “double murder and triple murder”.
During the walkabout, the committee also received a briefing from the DCS on, among other things, the facility’s structure and functions, challenges and successes, inmate population, management of overcrowding, healthcare services and self-sufficiency.
The committee had concerns about the high levels of overcrowding and maintenance delays. The remand detainees facility is at 234% of capacity, with the Medium A section is at 146% occupancy, the Medium B section at 149%, Medium C section at 61% and the female section at 248% of capacity.
The committee heard that the facility houses 401 foreign male inmates and 29 foreign female inmates. Committee Member Marlon Daniels felt strongly that the DCS should not spend the R477 per day they do on South African inmates on inmates who are foreign nationals. Foreign inmates should receive only bread and water, he said. The DCS then explained that this was not possible in a constitutional democracy such as South Africa, as all inmates have human rights that must be respected.
At the remand detainee facility for juveniles, Ms Ramolobeng encouraged the young detainees to change their behaviour, as life inside correctional centres is obviously uncomfortable and inconvenient. “When you are arrested, you jettison your home comfortability and some rights and endure a direct opposite of that behind the prison doors. You may enjoy your limited human rights, but in an unfavourable correctional centre environment,” said Ms Ramalobeng.
Regarding the lack of maintenance of infrastructure at the centre, the committee saw some dilapidation, including damaged water infrastructure, dysfunctional kitchen equipment and the bed space at the remand detainees needing urgent attention.
Ms Ramlobeng said the committee has resolved to have a joint meeting with the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure to address the problem of maintenance at correctional facilities, as maintenance is a common problem at all the facilities that the committee has visited.
Rajaa Azzakani
23 April 2025
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