Latest news with #Groenewald
Daily Maverick
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
There are just and compassionate alternative solutions to corporal punishment in prisons
Minister for Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald has thrown a hornet's nest at us. Last week he suggested we reintroduce whipping and beating for some offenders, or even alleged offenders, to spare sending them to our overcrowded and often dangerous prisons (corporal punishment). Minister Groenewald seemed to have in mind inmates convicted or suspected of minor offences who cannot afford low amounts of bail. They may often spend long periods in prison awaiting trial and then serving their sentences. For the last nearly six years, I've headed the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (Jics), South Africa's Mandela-era prisons' oversight body. The minister's concerns are real. Our prisons are grossly overcrowded. With bedspace for only 107,000, we jam into them almost 164,000 inmates, – a staggering 53% overcrowding rate. This has devastating consequences for those in detention, for their safety and security, and for running effective rehabilitation programmes. Remand detainees (those not yet convicted) make up a bigger and bigger chunk of the prison population. Over 59,000 people are awaiting trial inside prison. More than 4,000 have been awaiting trial for longer than two years. And, more disturbingly even, some 2,500 are in prison simply because they cannot afford bail amounts of less than R1,000. So the minister is right to jolt us into controversy. His call for alternatives to prison, for both awaiting trial and sentenced inmates, is timely. He cited the example of a man arrested for stealing bread. Often on prisons inspections, I meet inmates imprisoned for petty offences, or for non-violent crimes, like shoplifting, or for possessing small amounts of drugs for personal use. These inmates are not a danger to society. They do not have to be confined and isolated. Crushing them into our overcrowded and often unsanitary prisons, rather than confronting the factors that drove them to crime in the first place, or effectively rehabilitating them, risks exposing them to drugs, gangs and violence. Many of our remand centres function as training sites to recruit youngsters into gangs – or to turn them into practised criminals. So we badly need effective alternatives. But is corporal punishment the answer? The Constitutional Court answered this in 1995. Before it was the startling practice of 'juvenile whipping'. In S v Williams, Justice Pius Langa, a deeply humane man and diffident lawyer, later Chief Justice, led the Court in finding that corporal punishment violates human dignity – and is cruel, inhuman and degrading. 'Corporal punishment involves the intentional infliction of physical pain on a human being by another human being at the instigation of the State… The objective must be to penetrate the levels of tolerance to pain; the result must be a cringing fear, a terror of expectation before the whipping and acute distress which often draws involuntary screams during the infliction. There is no dignity in the act itself; the recipient might struggle against himself to maintain a semblance of dignified suffering or even unconcern; there is no dignity even in the person delivering the punishment.' He concluded powerfully, ' It is a practice which debases everyone involved in it'. Expert evidence convinced the Court that corporal punishment is not an effective deterrent: 'its effect is likely to be coarsening and degrading rather than rehabilitative.' And even deterrence could not justify so humiliating and painful a punishment. The Court dismissed the State's argument that corporal punishment is a necessary alternative because of resource and infrastructure constraints. The Court pointed to other creative, more humane, alternatives to imprisonment – like community service, linked to suspended or postponed sentences, and victim-offender mediation. Counsel for the accused in the Williams case, then-advocate Lee Bozalek, pointed the Court to disturbing class and race implications. Given the huge inequality in our country, most of those likely to experience the State-sanctioned brutality of whipping would be poor black men. So the question whether corporal punishment can be consistent with the society we aspire for – based on human dignity, equality and freedom – has been conclusively answered. It is not. But this does not address the minister's legitimate concerns. Don't long periods in overcrowded, unsanitary prison cells also violate inmates' dignity and endanger them? Yes. They do. Of course. So what is the alternative? Long pre-trial detention is the product of overburdened police, prosecutors, Legal Aid attorneys and courts, all services hollowed out by austerity, inefficiency and corruption. These are systemic problems that corporal punishment will not fix. Instead, we must invest in energising every element of our criminal justice system, so that crime is swiftly and effectively investigated and tried. There is no quick way, no shortcut, no 'magic bullet' to do this. But we can do it. With energy and leadership and determination. We have the talented people. We need to energise and lead them. And there are alternatives to unaffordable cash bail. Jics is setting up a bail fund for low-risk inmates granted small bail amounts they cannot afford. At the same time, Jics supports the SA Law Reform Commission's review of the entire bail system, which we hope will lead to much-needed systemic improvements. And there is more we can do. Some crimes – like sex work, drug use and possession, and many petty offences – should not be crimes at all. For other minor offences, our law already enables non-custodial sentences. These include correctional supervision, community service, fines and restorative justice programmes. Our overworked courts and prosecutors should embrace these alternatives. S v Williams warned that when the State administers violence, it fosters violence and indignity. Quoting a US judge, the Court noted that, 'Our Government is the potent, the omni-present teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example.' Our country's history warns us away from more violence, more state-sanctioned brutality. What powerful lessons the State could teach us when, rather than violence or incarceration, it prioritises quick, effective, and – yes – compassionate justice. DM
IOL News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Correctional Services minister expected to explain 'bring back corporal punishment' proposal to portfolio committee
Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald stresses protecting vulnerable communities, especially women and children, by tightening parole approvals and urges honest dialogue on crime solutions, including revisiting corporal punishment despite its ban since 1996. Image: GCIS Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald will have to explain his recent suggestion that corporal punishment should be revisited to alleviate overcrowding in prisons when he appears before the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services on Tuesday morning. The minister made the remarks when delivering his budget vote in the National Assembly on Tuesday last week. Groenewald was addressing the challenges faced by correctional services, including overcrowding, dilapidated infrastructure, a rising number of remand detainees, deteriorating facilities, staff shortages, the presence of crime syndicates and gangs within our institutions, and emerging crime patterns. He said corporal punishment will help ease overcrowding in the country's prisons. Corporal punishment in South African schools was officially banned in 1996. 'If you look at our criminal justice system, and specifically justice, we must start a debate to say, shouldn't we bring back corporal punishment?' Groenewald said. 'A young person who steals 10 loaves of bread will sit in prison for perhaps three years waiting for sentencing. Go think (whether we should) bring it back... to address this issue,' Groenewald said in Afrikaans. During the briefing by the Peace and Security Cluster Committee Chairpersons on Monday, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, Kgomotso Anthea Ramolobeng, said that they will be expecting Groenewald to explain the rationale behind his remarks. She explained that there were largely legal milestones which led to the abolition of corporal punishment and that the decision to abolish it stemmed from a violation of human rights. 'What is my view? I believe that it is in the best interest of whoever is in the executive or whoever is in government to abide by the Constitution of the country. Why has the minister taken a step to say, we should perhaps open debates on corporal punishment? We have yet to be taken into (his) confidence, as the portfolio committee. 'I can assure you that tomorrow we do have a Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services meeting from 9.30am, and we will probe the minister on why he made those assertions, and what informs them? So that he takes us through that,' Ramolobeng said. 'There are other measures that we can try to deal with, or come up with alternatively, that must deal with overcrowding, outside of corporal punishment, especially of those who have less (serious) crimes that leads to them having bail of R300." Ramolobeng added that what could come out of the discussion on corporal punishment is perhaps one focused on community services for those who have committed petty crimes. 'Put more focus on rehabilitative outlined programmes that talk to the current challenges we are facing.' [email protected]
The South African
06-07-2025
- Politics
- The South African
Popcru rejects call to bring back corporal punishment in prisons
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has rejected Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald's call to reintroduce corporal punishment in South African prisons, calling it a dangerous step backwards for human rights and justice reform. Groenewald suggested the return of corporal punishment during a parliamentary budget debate, claiming it could address prison overcrowding caused by inmates who cannot afford bail. Over 60 000 people are in custody awaiting trial, with more than 2000 unable to pay bail amounts of less than R1000. 'We reject in the strongest terms the notion of using violence as a tool of correction,' said Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo, according to Jacaranda FM News. ADVERTISEMENT Constitutional Rights, which abolished corporal punishment under threat Mamabolo warned that the proposal undermines decades of legal progress, particularly the Constitutional Court ruling in State v Williams and Others (1995), which abolished corporal punishment in South Africa. 'Groenewald proposes not only a reversal of legal progress but an erosion of a rights-based society,' he said. Popcru argues that the justice system should uphold rehabilitation and reintegration, not corporal punishment. The union emphasised that correctional centres are not institutions for revenge or dehumanisation, but places meant for safe custody and positive transformation of offenders. Rising Costs and Overcrowding Groenewald told Parliament that overcrowding continues to place severe pressure on prison infrastructure and budgets. He revealed that the state spends more than R11 million daily to accommodate 24 000 foreign nationals in prisons. The union called for long-term solutions that address socioeconomic inequalities and the backlog in court processes rather than reverting to corporal punishment. ADVERTISEMENT Mamabolo stated, bringing back corporal punishment is unconstitutional, dangerous and a direct violation of human rights. Should the state prioritise cost-cutting and crowd control, or defend constitutional principles even in the face of growing pressure on the justice system? Let us know by leaving a comment below or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Eyewitness News
04-07-2025
- Eyewitness News
Corporal punishment: Minister Groenewald suggests bringing back the rod. Education expert reacts
Speaking to Mandy Wiener on the Midday Report on Wednesday, Groenewald said the corporal punishment used would be lashes with a heavy or light cane - depending on the crime. 'The court must decide how many lashes, and with what type of cane.' he said. Veriava says there's no evidence to suggest this as an effective mode of punishment or rehabilitation.
The South African
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The South African
Yes or no? SA weighs into unbanning corporal punishment
South Africans are weighing in on the debate surrounding unbanning corporal punishment as suggested by the Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, to combat prison overcrowding. The minister called on citizens to start a dialogue during his budget vote presentation at the National Assembly this week. Delivering his budget vote at the National Assembly this week, Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald suggested a debate on reintroducing corporal punishment as a means of preventing prison overcrowding. The controversial practice was abolished in South African schools in 1996 under the Corporal Punishment Act, and later the South African Schools Act, specifically Section 10. He later told eNCA: 'It is causing the taxpayer R463 per day per prisoner. And that is why I said we should open the debate. I know that there is certain legislation…but let's hear what the people of South Africa's views are'. He continued: 'If it is possible that we can use corporal punishment, then we can address part of the overcrowding and we're also going to save the taxpayers' money'. Groenewald suggested that the practice should be used against those who committed petty offences and could not afford bail. Corporal punishment was officially outlawed in South African schools, as outlined in the Constitution, which enshrines the right to freedom and security of children, including freedom from violence. In 2019, the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that enforcing the act in schools was 'unconstitutional.' In its judgement, it referred to research that showed that the practice was 'potentially harmful and part of a wider circle of violence', particularly amid South Africa's 'history of widespread and institutionalised violence'. Should SA unban corporal punishment? Image via Pixabay Later, in 2022, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) criticised reports that then Gauteng MEC for Education, Penyaza Lesufi, suggested reviewing policies, including corporal punishment. It said: 'Corporal punishment increases behavioural problems in children in the long-term and has shown no positive behavioural outcomes.' On the X platform, South Africans have shared their views on whether corporal punishment should be unbanned in society, whether in schools or prisons. Popular podcaster Penuel Mlotshwa posted: 'I support Pieter Groenewald. There are people sitting in jail for petty crimes, which strains tax money… but fattens the purses of tenderpreneurs. Those people should get a whipping and be released. Here's what others had to say… @nicksta_napo: 'Maybe make it mandatory for people to serve in the military for a specific period, rather than abusing kids at school'. @UnityInSA: 'We need this. Whatever we had in 30 years is clearly not working. Time to change the system. If a potential criminal does not want to be punished, then he/she must stay away from crime. Its simple'. @KG_Mulelwa: 'Corporal punishment for petty crimes and death penalty via lethal injection for serious and hideous crimes'. @Sthamber: 'Corporal punishment takes us back to the bad old days of Apartheid. There should be better ways of dealing with prison overcrowding. South Africa needs to be more innovative'.
