Overcrowding In South Africa Essay

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Introduction

One of the provisions in the South African constitution is the right for “everyone who is detained, including every sentenced prisoner to conditions of detention with human dignity, it also stresses the provision, at the expense of the state, of adequate accommodation. With the crime rate on an increase, South African Correctional centres are deemed the most overcrowded Correctional Centres in Africa.
Due to the extreme overcrowding in correctional centres, prisoners as well as the correctional centres themselves suffer great consequences such as; health consequences for the prisoners ( i.e. the spread of infectious diseases), issues with the accuracy of recorded data; and financial consequences on the side of the correctional …show more content…

The Department of Corrections has also experienced a shortage of properly trained corrections officers over the years; with the increasing number of prisoners detained, there is also a demand for more corrections officers in the detainment centres/ prisons. With the high number of prisoners detained, recorded data is somewhat questionable; there has been a case of inaccurate recording of crucial data, i.e. the death of inmates, how many have escaped, how many prisoners in need of medical care, etc.
In conclusion, the country suffers from a high rate of crime, and before we can deal with the issue of overcrowded prisons, more strategies on how to combat crime are needed. Other ways of rehabilitating offenders are needed, to reduce the number of detained prisoners; and only thereafter can the issues of healthcare and the conditions of the detainment centres themselves be dealt with. The financial problems that South African Correctional services would be easily dealt with if the country had a lower crime rate; therefore the real issue that brings about all of the consequences stated in the above essay is crime, and until the South African Department of Correctional Services find better ways to effectively combat crime and reduce the number of prisoners under their detainment, this department’s state will continue to

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