What is the role of the private sector in the South African prison system? This chapter from a monograph, published by the Institute for Security Studies, argues that private sector support is necessary to develop successful alternatives to prisons by assisting in community service programmes and the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders into society. The private sector can also assist in the development of a humane criminal justice system, which would ultimately lead to lower rates of crime and reduce the possibility of re-offending.
South Africa has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. This reflects a global trend – the number of prisons and prisoners is increasing in most countries. In part this trend is caused by the politicisation of crime policy, which results in the use of imprisonment for a greater number of crimes. Furthermore, it is compounded by bottlenecks in the criminal justice system and a reduction in the use of parole.
Most of South Africa’s prisons were built during the apartheid era. The 1991 Correctional Services Act introduced significant measures to remove the apartheid-era abuses of authority and power within the country’s prison services. Other legislative reforms have recognised the importance of rehabilitation and the need for the increased monitoring of prison conditions. Nevertheless, South Africa’s prisons remain ineffective for the following reasons:
- Severe overcrowding, leading to decreased security, cramped conditions and a lack of personal space. This may also lead to violence among prisoners and a strain on essential resources such as medical care, clean laundry and nutritious food.
- Overcrowding is caused by the growth in South Africa’s prison population that has outpaced capacity. Overcrowding and deteriorating conditions within prisons make it is almost impossible to rehabilitate prisoners.
- Prisoners who are released are likely to re-offend and become a burden on the criminal justice system again due to the lack of rehabilitation facilities within prisons.
- Prisons are expensive and reduce the national treasury’s ability to finance the building of infrastructure and basic services such as roads, schools and hospitals.
Massive prison construction programmes are unsustainable in the long-term and they are not a solution to the crisis in South Africa’s prison system. The private sector, including NGOs, businesses and civil society in general, should play a greater role in the financing, design, construction and management of prisons in South Africa. In addition, the private sector should contribute to the development of viable and cost-effective alternatives to prison. The Government of South Africa should take steps to involve the private sector by:
- Outsourcing all services that are ancillary to prison management such as catering, general maintenance, laundry and ground keeping. For example, contract-catering services may be less costly and improved nutrition may reduce corruption as the smuggling and theft of food is widespread in prisons.
- Providing services such as HIV/AIDS counselling and education. These services could be coordinated by a network of relevant NGOs in the country to assist in the rehabilitation and future reintegration of offenders into society.
- Assisting in the expansion of community service programmes for the treatment and rehabilitation of prisoners. The community service programme in Zimbabwe, funded by DFID and the EU, has been successful due to high-level political leadership and strong civil society involvement.
- Acknowledging that alternatives to prisons in South Africa require active support and involvement from communities, rather than extensive bureaucracies and additional state expenditure.
- Ensuring that judicial officers who are responsible for sentencing decisions in criminal courts have full confidence in any alternatives to prisons.
- Carrying out further research to compare the costs of privately managed prisons and state-run prisons. The two privately managed prisons in South Africa offer relatively good facilities and rehabilitation programmes at a reasonable cost.
