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The Department of Correctional Services says 40% of the prison population is serving sentences of 15 years or more.
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The high number of suspects remanded in custody is being exacerbated by avoidable postponements, says the department of correctional services (DCS).
The department’s portfolio committee was on Friday given a presentation on measures to reduce overcrowding, when the challenges with the legal system were explained.
Legislation mandates that suspects should not be held indefinitely and that reasons for extended stays under remand must be recorded.
Large lifer population
The two pieces of legislation covered by the briefing were Section 49G of the Correctional Services Act and Section 62F of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Section 49G says that remanded suspects must not be held in custody for longer than a period of two years without the relevant court being notified.
Section 62F relates to the adjust of bail conditions imposed upon accused persons awaiting prosecution.
Causing additional congestion is the number of inmates serving lengthy sentences, with 40% of inmates serving sentences over 15 years.
“This means that bed spaces will not become readily available, which places more pressure on already overcrowded correctional facilities,” DCS said.
The department said 19 664 inmates were sentenced to life, 10 870 inmates were serving sentences of 20-25 years and another 10 856 were serving between 15 and 20 years.
Reasons for postponements
Those remanded in custody — a total of 57 800 inmates — while awaiting prosecution are done so because the suspect is either ineligible for bail or can not afford bail.
Postponements and case delays prolong the accused stays, with DCS listing the reasons given by the relevant courts being:
- Presence of the co-accused;
- Changing of legal representatives;
- Request for case related documents so that the newly appointed legal representatives can prepare for the case;
- Delays in handing over of case documents to the newly appointed legal representatives;
- Lack of funds to pay private legal representatives;
- Additional charges inferred to the accused while on bail;
- Multiple number of co-accused in one case;
- Accused linked to other crimes that are under investigation;
- Withdrawal of legal representation by attorneys;
- Delays in securing a date in the high court;
- Loss of court records;
- Failure of witnesses to appear in court leading to the case being remanded several times;
- Multiple witnesses in the case;
- Requests for remand by defence, lawyers of the accused or the state; and
- Requests for separation of trials.
Solving the ‘puzzle’
DCS said its remedies included greater integration with the justice, crime prevention and security (JCPS) cluster and the greater involvement of the national case backlog committee.
uMkhonto weSizwe party’s Musawenkosi Gasa questioned the effectiveness and efficiencies of the listed, as well as that of the backlog committee.
“There is no evidence of [any] impact on reducing delays. So the lack of integration between JCPS cluster system further undermines accountability,” said Gasa.
DCS Minister Pieter Groenewald acknowledged the delays in the courts system, but said incremental steps were being made.
“It remains a challenge but this is one of the ways to see how we can deal with our overcrowding.
“I always say when we talk about overcrowding that it is like a puzzle and there are small pieces that must complete the puzzle. So this is one of them,” said Groenewald.
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