Western Cape Prisons Are Arsenals for Organised Crime

Dear Editor

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has taken decisive action by formally writing to the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS), urging urgent intervention in terms of its constitutional mandate.

A reply to a parliamentary question has exposed that 3,875 weapons were discovered and confiscated in Western Cape prisons over a 12-month period​. These weapons include sharp objects, self-made knives, scissors, and other makeshift weapons, confirming that correctional facilities have been transformed into operational hubs for organised crime. Shockingly, the reply further revealed that alcohol and drugs are also being smuggled into these prisons at an alarming rate​.

Instead of acting as secure rehabilitation centres, Western Cape prisons have effectively become command centres for gang violence and extortion, exacerbating the crisis of criminality both inside and outside prison walls. This is further compounded by the Department of Correctional Services’ failure to fill critical funded posts, leaving correctional facilities under-resourced and vulnerable to corruption.

The Inspecting Judge of Prisons, Judge Edwin Cameron, recently questioned whether the JICS does enough to change the conditions in correctional facilities. He is quoted as saying South African prisons “are overcrowded, dilapidated and violent” and that “gangs are pervasive, abuse is met with impunity, and that inmates struggle to access the education, training and rehabilitation programs that should be at the heart of any correctional environment”.

These shocking revelations, read with the Judge’s comments, highlight the urgent need for the JICS, the Department of Correctional Services and all other role-players to do more.

The DA is demanding immediate action to:

• Ensure JICS exercises its oversight function to investigate and intervene in the security failures at these prisons.
• Hold Minister Groenewald accountable before Parliament to explain how his department proposes to rid correctional facilities from gang-related activity.
• Address systemic corruption and security failures by filling vacant security positions, implementing stronger anti-smuggling measures, and rooting out corrupt officials.

The DA has also written to the Chairperson of Parliament’s Select Committee on Security and Justice, requesting that Minister Pieter Groenewald be summoned to account for the alarming findings of recent parliamentary replies regarding the smuggling of weapons and drugs into Western Cape correctional facilities which exacerbates the ongoing gang and drug war, particularly on the Cape Flats.

The DA will not stand by while the Department of Correctional Services turns a blind eye to the crisis in our prisons and the wider gang and drug problem on the Cape Flats. Urgent reforms and accountability measures must be put in place to protect the constitutional rights of all inmates and ensure public safety.

Regards

Nicholas Gotsell MP
DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice