The Correctional Services Minister Dr. Pieter Groenewald’s suggestion that corporal punishment be revisited to alleviate overcrowding in prisons by those who cannot afford to pay the minimum amount of bail has caused a lot of controversy.This particularly from those who believe a better strategy should be employed rather than resorting to ‘apartheid tactics’ to resolve 2025 challenges.Groenewald suggested during the presentation of his departmental budget vote in the National Assembly on Tuesday, arguing that “overcrowding remains a challenge, exacerbated by those who can’t afford to pay small amounts of bail.”He told the house that over 60 000 accused persons are awaiting trial, while over 2 000 of them cannot afford a bail of under R1 000.Reacting to the suggestion, Prisoner’s Rights activist Golden Miles Bhudu told YOU FM Newshour listeners that Groenewald was misled by prison warders who also set him up for failure.“You must understand that the poor minister is being misled, is being set up for failure.Because in the first place, some of these prison warders who are politically aligned never wanted him to be part of the Department of Correctional Services.But there isn’t much they could have done because they themselves are politically tainted purely because of their affiliation to the unions that are in alliance with certain political parties,” said Bhudu. Furthermore, Bhudu accused the minister and his senior management team of ignoring their anti-overcrowding strategy and tactics which were presented to former government leaders.“Instead of calling uMiles Bhudu and many others who have been imprisoned before and who have been following the correctional services since the dawn of our democracy, but the Minister has chosen to look the other way, and the challenge keeps on getting worse by the day,” remarked the activist. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2008, for allegedly helping Israeli national Moti Sabag escape while he was being transported to Lindela Repatriation Centre for deportation in 2005.Bhudu is adamant that he’s in better position to speak more about the prison system. “I have been around for over 35 years and have for many years proposed anti-overcrowding strategies and tactics.It was during those days when Nelson Mandela was still the president, after that communication and working relationship with us as organisations outside here with the new management has broken down to extend that we don’t have any relationship with the Department.We are not even on talking terms and we have decided to file our strategies to fight not only crime and violence, but also the causes thereof.When you end up in prison you must be turned into a useful law-abiding citizen because you will be released and reintegrated back into the community,” explained Bhudu.He called for minor crime offenders not to be thrown into prison but to rather be released on lesser bail to avoid the unnecessary overcrowding of correctional centres in the country.“When you are arrested for attempting to steal fat cakes and mincemeat at the Sunday school picnic, they must never send you to await trial and give you a hefty bail of R10 000, R5000, or even R1500. When you have been arrested for “stan n kyk” the court must know that you’re not a threat to the community, they must release you on bail with very strict conditions.There is a certain section in the Criminal Procedure Act that allows for that, but these magistrates are not even aware of such an Act,” said Bhudu. Meanwhile, Groenewald highlighted that he’s also considering ways of sending foreign nationals back to their countries of origin to serve their prison sentences, while immediately deporting those who are freed upon completing their sentences.
