PRETORIA – South Africa’s Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, says his department is spending over R11 million a day to house more than 24,000 foreign nationals in the country’s correctional facilities – and wants them sent home to serve their sentences.
Groenewald made the remarks during a briefing to Parliament’s correctional services portfolio committee on Tuesday. He urged Home Affairs to assist with the deportation of foreign nationals, especially those already on parole.
He said the country’s prisons were carrying a financial load that local taxpayers should not be expected to bear, adding that diplomatic solutions were being considered to return inmates to their countries of origin.
“Calculated at R463 a day, the cost of housing foreign inmates now stands at R11,112,000 daily,” Groenewald told MPs.
Data presented to the committee showed that as of January this year, 12,676 sentenced inmates were foreign nationals – accounting for 12.4% of the entire sentenced prison population.
The issue of deportation has long been contested in South African policy circles, with ongoing challenges around aligning the Immigration Act to enforcement mechanisms and constitutional rights.
ActionSA MP Dereleen James called for an acceleration of deportation efforts, saying the money spent on foreign inmates could instead support struggling South African communities.
“Prisoners live in relative comfort while our communities are being destroyed, broken and forgotten,” James said. “The R463 could buy 555,600 loaves of bread – enough to feed 277,800 households with two loaves each.”
The cost of bread also came under scrutiny during the committee meeting. Parliament heard that the department baked 5 million loaves in its own correctional bakeries last year at R7.91 per loaf but was forced to buy 270,870 loaves from external suppliers when demand exceeded supply. The cost of outsourced bread has since jumped to R22.95 per loaf for the 2025/2026 financial year.
Committee chairperson Kgomotso Ramolobeng said the price was unjustifiable, especially for bulk orders. The department said it is reviewing how contractors are appointed and wants to expand its internal baking capacity.
Correctional Services currently operates 11 bakeries across six regions in South Africa, with a 12th set to open soon. The department says it saved over R27 million through internal bread production during the last financial year.
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