Prisons

Summary image for article

South Africans caught in Nepal prison fires

13,500 inmates escaped from prisons during riots last week

By

Brief | 16 September 2025

Summary image for article

Medical parole system is failing dying prisoners

Terminally ill inmates have died behind bars because the parole process is cumbersome, expensive and inconsistent between prisons

By

News | 26 August 2025

Summary image for article

Model prisoner sues minister for contempt of court after 22 years behind bars without parole

Tebogo Modise was recommended for parole in 2019 but remains in prison despite a court order demanding reasons for his continued incarceration

By

News | 6 August 2025

Summary image for article

Transgender prisoners challenge prison authorities

Correctional Services has developed a standard operating procedure for transgender prisoners, but rights organisations are concerned about implementation

By

News | 6 August 2025

Summary image for article

Court showdown on whether prisons must provide gender-affirming healthcare

Transwoman denied hormone therapy and prevented from using makeup or wearing female prison clothing

By

Law | 28 July 2025

Summary image for article

Not enough prisoners have access to work and training opportunities

People earn less than R250 a month working in prison workshops or farms

By

Brief | 25 July 2025

Summary image for article

MPs call for action on prison overcrowding

Portfolio committee suggests alternatives to reduce remand detention

By

Parliament | 7 July 2025

Summary image for article

New book by Edwin Cameron gives practical steps to reform prisons

“The biggest public policy mistake of the last 125 years was the war on drugs”

By

News | 8 June 2025

Summary image for article

Hundreds of state mental health patients are being kept in prison

There are not enough beds in South Africa’s 13 psychiatric hospitals

By

News | 1 June 2025

Summary image for article

Presumed guilty! Years in prison awaiting trial

Goodwood prison massively overcrowded, judge’s report finds

By

News | 5 May 2025

Summary image for article

Prisoners can use computers to study in their cells, says Constitutional Court

Current policy is unconstitutional, court rules

By

Law | 30 April 2025

Summary image for article

Coming soon: fund to help people pay bail

Bail Fund will address the “injustice of being detained simply because of poverty”

By

News | 17 March 2025

Summary image for article

Explainer: why South Africa’s prisons are overcrowded

Our prisons have about 105,000 beds but there are over 156,000 prisoners

By

Analysis | 4 December 2024

Summary image for article

This man spent nine years in jail before the charges against him were withdrawn

Now the state is challenging the court ruling of wrongful arrest

By

Law | 26 November 2024

Summary image for article

The rights of prisoners must be protected, even if we dislike them

Solitary confinement is torture

By

GroundView | 19 September 2024

Summary image for article

Thabo Bester and hundreds of other prisoners kept in unlawful conditions, says inspectorate

Report argues that solitary confinement is a form of torture

By

News | 18 September 2024