Prisons

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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

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News | 6 August 2025

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Transgender prisoners challenge prison authorities

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

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News | 6 August 2025

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Court showdown on whether prisons must provide gender-affirming healthcare

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

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Law | 28 July 2025

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Not enough prisoners have access to work and training opportunities

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

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Brief | 25 July 2025

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MPs call for action on prison overcrowding

Portfolio committee suggests alternatives to reduce remand detention

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Parliament | 7 July 2025

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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”

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News | 8 June 2025

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Hundreds of state mental health patients are being kept in prison

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

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News | 1 June 2025

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Presumed guilty! Years in prison awaiting trial

Goodwood prison massively overcrowded, judge’s report finds

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News | 5 May 2025

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

Current policy is unconstitutional, court rules

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Law | 30 April 2025

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Coming soon: fund to help people pay bail

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

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News | 17 March 2025

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Explainer: why South Africa’s prisons are overcrowded

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

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Analysis | 4 December 2024

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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

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Law | 26 November 2024

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

Solitary confinement is torture

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GroundView | 19 September 2024

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

Report argues that solitary confinement is a form of torture

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News | 18 September 2024

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Key law on prisons watchdog stuck in the pipeline

Judicial Inspectorate of prisons is still accountable to the very department over which it is meant to have oversight, says lawyer

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News | 27 August 2024

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Elections 2024: South Africa is one of the few African countries where prisoners can vote

But the right of prisoners to vote has at times been resisted by the government and the Independent Electoral Commission

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News | 24 April 2024