Minister wants foreign offenders to serve time in countries of origin

TimesLIVE

15 hours ago

Foreign criminals sentenced to jail time should ideally be deported to their countries of origin to serve their terms, says correctional services minister Pieter Groenewald.
He hopes the home affairs department can assist with deportations of foreign offenders granted parole.
His department spends R11m a day on inmates from other countries, he told parliament's correctional services portfolio committee on Tuesday.
'The South African taxpayer foots the bill for more than 24,000 foreigners in correctional facilities. Calculated at R463 per day, this results in an expense of R11,112,000 per day.
'We are exploring various solutions, including diplomatic approaches.'
Anna Molepo, the department's chief deputy commissioner of community corrections, previously told the committee the number of sentenced foreigners in South African prisons was 12,676 in January 2025, which was 12.4% of the sentenced inmate population.
The committee was briefed in February on the challenges the department faced, including the legal issues that affect deportation orders and the processing of foreigners. The department said it was working to ensure the Immigration Act aligns with the relevant frameworks.
On Tuesday, Dereleen James, an ActionSA MP, called for accelerated deportation policies.
'Prisoners live in relative comfort while our communities are being destroyed, broken, under-resourced and forgotten,' James said. The R463 daily cost per inmate could fund 555,600 loaves of bread, enough to feed 277,800 households with two loaves each.