By Wendy Jasson Da Costa, Janine Stephen and Angele Quintal
Close to 11 000 inmates are to be released from jail as a means of dealing with overcrowding in the country's prisons.
These are prisoners who had been slapped with fines of R1 000 or less and who are still behind bars because they were unable to come up with the money.
Deputy Justice Minister Johnny de Lange said on Thursday: "There are a lot of people in prison who do not need to be there at all."
Their offences related to 'less serious and non-violent crimes'
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, who was speaking in his capacity as head of the cabinet's justice, crime prevention and security cluster, said their offences related to "less serious and non-violent crimes", such as drunken driving in which no one was killed.
"We are not throwing into the public domain people who are a potential threat to our communities," he said.
Ironically, his son, Siyabonga, was recently arrested for drunken driving and was released on R500 bail after he smashed into another vehicle, injuring a woman.
Nqakula said 10 978 detainees already qualified to be released, and 6 135 of them had appeared before a court for consideration en route to their formal release.
Justice director-general Menzi Simelane said this week that he wanted to see section 63A of the Criminal Procedure Act used.
'We know the problem exists'
This allows a prison head to approach the relevant court to release an accused on warning in lieu of bail or to amend the bail conditions imposed by that court when overcrowding reaches such proportions that it constitutes a material and imminent threat to the human dignity, physical health or safety of an accused.
Inspecting judge of prisons Judge Nathan Erasmus noted this week that South Africa's jails were on average 140 percent full. He said that if accepted design criteria were strictly interpreted, some jails were between 300 and 400 percent overcrowded.
Nqakula said several means were being used to control the number of prisoners relating to people who could be granted bail or released on their own recognisance and warned to appear again at a specific time.
He said the police were also being encouraging to use their discretion to release suspects who paid bail in less serious or minor cases in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Nqakula added that admission of guilt and plea bargaining were being used to keep the number of offenders in jail at a manageable level.
It is a view shared by Simelane, who said he could not understand why police bail was not being used better. Often an accused was brought to court and released on exactly the same amount that police could set bail, unnecessarily clogging up the system.
National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders executive director Soraya Solomon said on Thursday: "We know the problem exists, we know that there are people who can't pay really small bail for petty crimes.
"Yes, I think politicians have realised that we have to do something, because obviously prison does more damage to that kind of person. There is the political will but we are not implementing it."
Solomon said the relevant section in the Criminal Procedure Act applied to both small bail amounts and petty fines.
On a possible outcry from detractors who believe the government was soft on crime, Solomon said: "As a society we have to take responsibility because they are people from our society.
"They are usually not a threat to society; they have committed a petty offence. Those people have to have a chance at changing their life around.
"It's us as civilians who must give them that chance, or we will never stop the revolving door of people going in and out of prison."
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20070510232331286C113030
Close to 11 000 inmates are to be released from jail as a means of dealing with overcrowding in the country's prisons.
These are prisoners who had been slapped with fines of R1 000 or less and who are still behind bars because they were unable to come up with the money.
Deputy Justice Minister Johnny de Lange said on Thursday: "There are a lot of people in prison who do not need to be there at all."
Their offences related to 'less serious and non-violent crimes'
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, who was speaking in his capacity as head of the cabinet's justice, crime prevention and security cluster, said their offences related to "less serious and non-violent crimes", such as drunken driving in which no one was killed.
"We are not throwing into the public domain people who are a potential threat to our communities," he said.
Ironically, his son, Siyabonga, was recently arrested for drunken driving and was released on R500 bail after he smashed into another vehicle, injuring a woman.
Nqakula said 10 978 detainees already qualified to be released, and 6 135 of them had appeared before a court for consideration en route to their formal release.
Justice director-general Menzi Simelane said this week that he wanted to see section 63A of the Criminal Procedure Act used.
'We know the problem exists'
This allows a prison head to approach the relevant court to release an accused on warning in lieu of bail or to amend the bail conditions imposed by that court when overcrowding reaches such proportions that it constitutes a material and imminent threat to the human dignity, physical health or safety of an accused.
Inspecting judge of prisons Judge Nathan Erasmus noted this week that South Africa's jails were on average 140 percent full. He said that if accepted design criteria were strictly interpreted, some jails were between 300 and 400 percent overcrowded.
Nqakula said several means were being used to control the number of prisoners relating to people who could be granted bail or released on their own recognisance and warned to appear again at a specific time.
He said the police were also being encouraging to use their discretion to release suspects who paid bail in less serious or minor cases in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Nqakula added that admission of guilt and plea bargaining were being used to keep the number of offenders in jail at a manageable level.
It is a view shared by Simelane, who said he could not understand why police bail was not being used better. Often an accused was brought to court and released on exactly the same amount that police could set bail, unnecessarily clogging up the system.
National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders executive director Soraya Solomon said on Thursday: "We know the problem exists, we know that there are people who can't pay really small bail for petty crimes.
"Yes, I think politicians have realised that we have to do something, because obviously prison does more damage to that kind of person. There is the political will but we are not implementing it."
Solomon said the relevant section in the Criminal Procedure Act applied to both small bail amounts and petty fines.
On a possible outcry from detractors who believe the government was soft on crime, Solomon said: "As a society we have to take responsibility because they are people from our society.
"They are usually not a threat to society; they have committed a petty offence. Those people have to have a chance at changing their life around.
"It's us as civilians who must give them that chance, or we will never stop the revolving door of people going in and out of prison."
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20070510232331286C113030
. Maybe you need to take an extra ‘happy’ pill on waking 
