A specialist committee suggested using property as security for bail and removing the requirement of a fixed address for bail applicants.
Relaxing bail conditions has been touted as a way to deal with South Africa’s overcrowded correctional service centres.
The department of justice and constitutional development (DJCD) on Tuesday presented possible remedies to the portfolio committee on correctional services.
The recommendations came from the newly formed National Case Backlogs Committee (NCBC), which is tasked with finding ways of addressing the backlog while maintaining the integrity of the justice system.
60 000 inmates in remand
The NCBC comprises representatives from the justice, police and correctional services sectors as well as members of the legal fraternity.
As of September 2025, the department of correctional services (DCS) had 60 381 detainees awaiting trial or sentencing.
Of those, 54 680 had been detained for two years or less, with an additional 5 209 inmates awaiting the conclusion of their legal processing for between two and five years
A further 430 had been waiting for between five and seven years, while 57 inmates had sat for between seven and 10 years without a conclusion.
Without providing specific reasons, DCS stats showed that five inmates had been waiting for between 10 and 15 years for their legal process to end.
There are 17 reasons listed for proceedings being postponed, which range from administrative delays and requests from legal representatives to the failure of witnesses and co-accused to attend appearances.
Digital options lacking
To thin the numbers, 4 895 inmates underwent bail review between March and September this year, with roughly 20% having been concluded.
Additionally, 925 cases were heard by audiovisual remand (AVR) alone, but DJCD said there were only 22 AVR sites linked to 47 courts nationally.
Plans to increase the digital options include linking courts via Microsoft Teams.
The NCBC’s presentation asked whether the problem of overcrowding could be attributed to the law or deficiencies in the legal process.
“We are asking the question: Does the law, as it currently stands, provide answers to these problems. Does it adequately regulate these matters?” asked DJCD deputy director general for court administration Charles Mohalaba.
The presentation also asked whether the law contained “measures that seek to mitigate the likelihood of lengthy pre-trial detention and incarceration of people solely on the basis that they cannot afford bail”.
Property as security for bail
Affordability was presented to the portfolio committee as an issue that had achievable remedies.
The NCSC recommended the amendment of Section 60(2B) of the Criminal Procedure Act to presume that an arrested suspect was indigent if bail cannot be paid within a week of their first appearance.
Mohalaba stressed that there would be exceptions for schedule five and six offences, adding that it should not be seen as an automatic release of an accused person.
However, waiving a monetary security for bail in lieu of property and waiving the requirement for all bail applicants to have a fixed address or proof of address was suggested.
“We should seriously consider amending the law to make provision for pledging property as security for bail,” said Mohalaba.
He said this approach to bail should apply to offences where the punishment is restricted to a fine, to offences with a maximum of two years’ imprisonment, and to statutory offences where a fine is prescribed as an alternative to imprisonment.
Mohalaba said greater integration between the departments in the justice cluster was required, with further deliberation on the recommendations pending.
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