South Africa Injects $1.3 Billion into Criminal Justice

PRETORIA, South Africa — The government will invest $1.29 billion to address prison overcrowding and continue the modernization of the criminal justice system here.


The budget allocation, announced by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, will provide more than 20,000 new beds to reduce systemwide overcrowding. The Department of Correctional Services houses approximately 161,000 offenders at facilities designed to accommodate 114,000 inmates, officials say.


The department expects to construct five new 3,000-bed prisons during the next three years, officials say. The new correctional facilities are planned for East London in Eastern Cape, Port Shepston in KwaZulu-Natal, Klerksdorp in North West, Nigel in Gauteng and Allandale in Western Cape.


The budget allocation will also fund completion of the new 3,000-bed Kimberly Correctional Center in Northern Cape Province, which is scheduled to open in spring 2009. In addition, the department will renovate 12 existing, substandard facilities, expanding their combined capacity by almost 2,200 beds.


The department’s capital budget is expected to increase by about 80 percent from $142 million to $258 million in fiscal year 2010-11, officials say.


As reported in the January/February issue of Correctional News, the government plans to completely overhaul and modernize the criminal justice system in the wake of a comprehensive Ministry of Justice review that identified several areas of fundamental dysfunction.


An electronic case management system and digital recording systems were installed at more than 260 courts throughout the country as part of the modernization program. The Justice Ministry will also invest heavily in forensic science laboratories and training, officials say.


In an effort to increase arrest rates and reduce crime levels, almost 40,000 police hires by 2011 will raise the force level by more than 20 percent to 200,000 officers. The budget allocation will also fund additional prosecutors, judges and magistrates to help alleviate bottlenecks in the system and improve conviction rates.