16 May 2024
On 3 April 2024, the Free Market Foundation (FMF) Section 12 Initiative submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request to the Department of Correctional Services for data concerning South Africa’s overfull prisons.
Correctional Services has responded to the request with incomplete and inadequate information. Not providing the outstanding information would undermine the right to access crucial public-interest information.
If Correctional Services does not submit the full requested record within the time allocated to it by the Act, the FMF will appeal this inadequate response to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services.
Correctional Services, via its Community Corrections branch, has provided information relating to the number of parolees, probationers, persons awaiting trial, persons under correctional supervision, persons under house arrest, and number of community correctional centres.
‘The FMF appreciates that Correctional Services has shared some information, but we insist that the comprehensive data and records initially requested be provided,’ says Martin van Staden, FMF Head of Policy. ‘We are concerned that Correctional Services itself might not possess the requested particulars, which means our prisons service does not exactly know who it is imprisoning and for what reason.’
‘That is a terrifying thought,’ concludes Van Staden.
The other information requested in the FMF’s PAIA submission includes:
- The number of incarcerated persons in South Africa;
- The number of offenders incarcerated by Correctional Services, broken down by the offences for which they have been convicted;
- The Correctional Services policies and directives regarding how inmate information is captured;
- The number of correctional facilities in the country;
- The total inmate capacity of each facility and of the whole correctional system;
- The number of correctional facilities that have closed down in the past five years;
- A list of all correctional facilities categorised by their nature – security level, gender and age segregation, etc.;
- All information regarding any new correctional facilities being constructed, including budgets, capacity, and estimated time of completion; and
- All information regarding any new correctional facilities being planned for future establishment.
Section 32(1)(a) of the Constitution provides that ‘everyone has the right to access any information held by the state.’
The Section 12 Initiative, through its Criminalisation Index, has demonstrated that South African law is overcriminalised, meaning that many forms of behaviour and conduct that cause no harm or, only civil harm, have been brought under the rubric of criminal law.
The PAIA to Correctional Services request seeks to shed light on whether these unnecessary and potentially dangerous laws are being enforced, that is, whether – and if so, how many – South Africans are in prison unjustifiably. The PAIA also seeks to gain an understanding of whether there is sufficient prison capacity in South Africa to cope with the staggering number of real, violent criminals.
More information about the FMF’s Section 12 Initiative and its Criminalisation Index can be found at www.section12.org.za.
Read our initial press release here.
Read the full PAIA application here (part 1) and here (part 2).
Ends.
Press enquiries
Anneke Burns
FMF Publicist
0714230079 | press@fmfsa.org
