Prisons

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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

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News | 26 August 2025

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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