Jailing is not always the answer

Overcrowding in prisons has been a problem in SA for years with occupancy levels among the highest in the world due to the high crime rate. According to figures released by the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services headed by retired judge Justice Edwin Cameron, the rate of prison overcrowding stands at 31.65%. It was 23% in 2020/2021.

Cameron, speaking at a photo exhibition in Sandton depicting horrific conditions in prisons, highlighted how costly the incarceration practices are for communities and the state coffers.

“None of us deny that there has to be consequences for violence, corruption and misdeeds, but what we are doing is completely inefficient. We take a tiny proportion of people who murder, rape or act corruptly, and we send them to jail for disproportionately long periods, instead of putting resources and focus in crime intelligence, good detective work and honest street police presence.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many prisoners were released from jail amid fears of the spread of disease. This prompted the question of why they had been locked up until then if they posed no risk to society? In some instances, those who were jailed could not afford to post bail money.

Essentially, what Cameron is calling for, which we fully support, is for the government to get to grips with the underlying causes of crime if we are to fix the criminal justice system.

We should not waste money on building more correctional facilities to accommodate the growing prison population but instead the resources must be directed to policing and crime prevention. We firmly believe in punitive incarceration for serious crimes, but we would also support attempts to look at alternative sanctions, where offenders pose minimal risk to community safety, to reduce the prison population.

We believe in punishment as part of the mix of responses to the serious crimes that continue to inflict damage in our communities, such as rape and murder. But we equally don’t want to see perpetrators of minor offences, who can be brought back to make amends in society, condemned to our overflowing jails.

We must find an efficient way to fighting crime without overburdening prisons.