Prisons in South Africa are run by the Department of Correctional Services. The department is divided into six administrative regions, each with its own regional commissioner, and subdivided into multiple areas, each headed by an area commissioner. [1] According to the ministry, there are approximately 34,000 employees of the department running 240 prisons.[ citation needed ] In those prisons are nearly 156,000 inmates as of August 2013. [2] The prisons include minimum, medium, maximum and super-maximum security facilities. They may be entirely dedicated to a specific group of prisoners, such as women or children, or be divided into separate sections for each group. [1] Since 2024, the Minister of Correctional Services has been Pieter Groenewald.
The prison system in South Africa was first introduced by the European settlers. Even in the pre-apartheid era, racial factors played a major role, with white prisoners living in better conditions and receiving better treatment than their black counterparts. During the apartheid era, cultural norms afforded the subjectivity of guilt to the assessment of the whites, which led to Black South Africans being adversely affected. Prisons were segregated on the basis of race during this period. In the post-apartheid era, a number of reforms were initiated, and the irrelevant role that race had played until then was removed.
During the Apartheid era, many political activists were imprisoned for campaigning against the government.[ citation needed ] These include: ANC and PAC freedom fighters such as Robert Sobukwe (1960–1978), Jafta Masemola (1962–1989), Nelson Mandela (1962–1990), Raymond Mhlaba (1963–1989), Walter Sisulu (1963–1989), Govan Mbeki (1963–1987), Denis Goldberg (1963–1985), Tokyo Sexwale (1977–1990), and many others. A notable recent inmate was Annanias Mathe, a serial killer, the only person to escape from the maximum security prison C Max in Pretoria.
Notable prisons include: [3]
South Africa is divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, known as Bantustans, were reintegrated into the country, and the four provinces were increased to nine. The borders of Natal and the Orange Free State were retained, while the Cape Province and Transvaal were divided into three provinces each, plus North West Province which straddles the border of and contains territory from both these two former provinces. The twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth amendments to the Constitution of South Africa changed the borders of seven of the provinces.
The Province of the Transvaal, commonly referred to as the Transvaal, was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's geographical location to the north of the Vaal River. Its capital was Pretoria, which was also the country's executive capital.
The South African Military Health Service is the branch of the South African National Defence Force responsible for medical facilities and the training and deployment of all medical personnel within the force. Though unusual, as most national militaries integrate their medical structures into their existing service branches, the SANDF regards this structure as being the most efficient method of providing care and support to the SANDF's personnel.
The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa. It is divided into nine provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction over a defined geographical area in which it is situated. The decisions of a division are binding on magistrates' courts within its area of jurisdiction. The High Court has jurisdiction over all matters, but it usually only hears civil matters involving more than 400,000 rand, and serious criminal cases. It also hears any appeals or reviews from magistrates' courts and other lower courts.
Pinetown is a city that forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, based just inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The city is situated 16 km north-west of Durban and 64 km south-east of Pietermaritzburg.
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1994 in South Africa saw the transition from South Africa's National Party government who had ruled the country since 1948 and had advocated the apartheid system for most of its history, to the African National Congress (ANC) who had been outlawed in South Africa since the 1950s for its opposition to apartheid. The ANC won a majority in the first multiracial election held under universal suffrage. Previously, only white people were allowed to vote. There were some incidents of violence in the Bantustans leading up to the elections as some leaders of the Bantusans opposed participation in the elections, while other citizens wanted to vote and become part of South Africa. There were also bombings aimed at both the African National Congress and the National Party and politically-motivated murders of leaders of the opposing ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
Moses Sithole is a South African serial killer and rapist who committed the ABC Murders. It is believed that he is so named because they began in Atteridgeville, continued in Boksburg and finished in Cleveland, a suburb of Johannesburg. However, many other sources state that the cities were not in that order, rather beginning in Cleveland, continuing in Boksburg and finishing in Atteridgeville. This has not been denied nor confirmed.
The Department of Correctional Services is a department of the South African government. It is responsible for running South Africa's prison system. The department has about 34,000 staff and is responsible for the administration of 240 prisons, which accommodates about 189,748 inmates. The prisons include minimum, medium and maximum security facilities. The agency is headquartered in the West Block of the Poyntons Building in Pretoria.
This article describes the history of South African cricket from the 2000–01 season. Noted South African players in the 21st century have included Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Mark Boucher, Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs.
Patrick Bond is Distinguished Professor at the University of Johannesburg Department of Sociology, where he directs the Centre for Social Change. From 2020 to 2021 he was professor at the University of the Western Cape School of Government and from 2015 to 2019, distinguished professor of political economy at the University of the Witwatersrand Wits School of Governance. Before that, from 2004, he was senior professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he directed the Centre for Civil Society. His research interests include political economy, environment, social policy, and geopolitics.
Thembile Lewis Skweyiya was a South African lawyer and judge who served on the Constitutional Court of South Africa between February 2004 and May 2014. He rose to prominence as a civil rights lawyer during apartheid and he served three years in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court before his elevation to the Constitutional Court.
The South African Railways Class 36-200 of 1980 is a diesel-electric locomotive.
Pretoria Central Prison, renamed Kgosi Mampuru II Management Area by former President Jacob Zuma on 13 April 2013 and sometimes referred to as Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services is a large prison in central Pretoria, within the City of Tshwane in South Africa. It is operated by the South African Department of Correctional Services.
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