Give us SA’s prison statistics

WE ARE fed government statistics from time to time on all types of information. Some make no sense at all. So why are we given no information on prisons? I would like to know: How many prisoners we have in our jails?

How many are males and how many females?

How many are South African citizens?

How many are from neighbouring countries?

How many are from overseas countries?

How much it costs to keep an inmate in jail?

The point I am making is citizens from other countries arrive in South Africa to seek work and a brighter future, often from countries ravaged by war and political strife.

Some of these people become criminals to survive. The level of criminality is dependent on the individual. Some turn to violent crime, rape or murder.

The individuals caught and sentenced to imprisonment become the state’s responsibility, which ultimately becomes the taxpayers’ burden.

Why are we accommodating these prisoners at our expense?

Why can they not serve their sentences in their country of birth?

They come to our country, commit crimes, and we are expected to house and maintain them at our expense.

Imagine how much money could be saved and put back into housing and education by returning convicted prisoners to their country of birth to serve out their sentences.

Benoni