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Tue, Oct 21, 2025

News

Why are 24 inmates dying in SA prisons every 3 months? Authorities demand answers

Photo by: Medium
Photo by: Medium

The Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services has raised fresh concerns over inmate deaths and assaults after receiving the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services' (JICS) first-quarter performance report for 2025/26.

Committee Chairperson, Kgomotso Anthea Ramolobeng, said the issue of unnatural inmate deaths had appeared before the committee for the second week in a row.

"Due to time constraints, the committee could not conclude its engagement with the DCS. However, we requested a full report, including details on the unknown causes of death," she said.

According to JICS, 24 unnatural deaths were recorded during the quarter under review. 20 of these occurred in the Gauteng region. The classification refers to cases where an apparently healthy inmate suddenly dies, and the cause of death is unknown.

Ramolobeng noted that the committee was particularly interested in learning about the method that JICS uses to investigate suicides, deaths of 'unknown cause', and those classed as 'unnatural other'.

JICS told the committee it investigates all unnatural deaths except those where no violence or foul play is suspected.

Independent Correctional Centre Visitors (ICCVs) recorded all the 'unnatural other' cases and requested medico-legal documents from the Department of Correctional Services (DCS).

In addition, the committee heard that the JICS Complaints Unit received 177 complaints across categories in the quarter. Inmate-on-inmate assault was the most frequent with 46 cases, followed by 29 cases of official-on-inmate assault and 21 attempted suicides.

The committee was also informed that natural deaths remained high, with 120 reported by the DCS, including 52 classified as 'natural causes other'. Gauteng accounted for 47 of these cases.

Meanwhile, ICCVs processed 11,115 complaints and requests from inmates during the quarter. These ranged from appeals and access to social workers to concerns about conditions in correctional centres.

Among them were 316 inmate-on-inmate assaults, 76 official-on-inmate assaults, six inmate-on-official assaults and 12 sexual assaults.

Ramolobeng said the committee would continue to keep a close watch on JICS. She reiterated the need for stronger ties between the inspectorate and the DCS.

*This article was first published by IOL News

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