The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) documented 554 reported use-of-force incidents in correctional facilities during the 2025–2026 fiscal year, including seven deaths purportedly caused by excessive force, painting a grim picture of a pattern of suspected brutality, torture and questionable reporting practices inside South Africa’s prisons.
In one case, documented under the Afrikaans phrase ‘Maak hulle dood’, which translates to ‘kill them’, an asthmatic prisoner died after officials allegedly assaulted inmates and deployed pepper spray inside a locked cell.
The incident occurred on March 11, 2025, at the formerly privately operated Mangaung Correctional Centre in the Free State, which was under the management of the G4S security company.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has, since July 1, taken over the management of the facility following the end of a 25-year public-private partnership with G4S. It has since renamed it Grootvlei Maximum Correctional Centre.
Missing money leads to death
According to the inspectorate’s annual report, G4S officials conducted a night search at the prison’s Wolds Unit without notifying DCS as required. During the operation, an official allegedly left his backpack inside a cell and later discovered that money was missing.
Four inmates were subsequently strip-searched and allegedly assaulted by several officials while the original search continued under the supervision of G4S managers.
The situation deteriorated further when pepper spray was deployed inside the cell while its door remained closed.
One prisoner, who was reportedly known to be asthmatic, subsequently died.
G4S reported that the inmate had collapsed and died inside the cell, without mentioning the search, alleged assault or pepper spray exposure.
Recommendations
The JICS recommended that G4S review its search protocols and disclose disciplinary action against implicated officials.
At Pollsmoor Remand Detention Facility in the Western Cape, three prisoners died following an October 2025 confrontation in which inmates initially attacked correctional officials.
However, investigators found indications that officials continued using excessive force after the immediate threat had been neutralised. The report records allegations that officials assaulted and stabbed inmates, with post-mortem findings confirming stab wounds.
Another fatal incident at Qalakabusha Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal followed an emergency search during which officials allegedly continued assaulting an inmate after a confrontation.
Pattern of violence
The inspectorate identified a recurring pattern in which legitimate interventions to restore order allegedly escalated into unlawful violence.
Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald has denied authorising or endorsing any “skop en donner” approach to prison discipline, saying officials who use excessive force must face consequences.
His spokesperson, Euné Oelofsen, told Sunday World that the use of force remained strictly regulated by law. She said the minister had directed that every unnatural death be investigated and that disciplinary action follow wherever misconduct was established.
“Criminal matters are referred to SAPS and the NPA,” she said.
Oelofsen said the minister was prioritising stricter accountability, improved CCTV surveillance, specialised training and increased oversight. However, his office did not provide figures on how many officials implicated in the deaths had been suspended, dismissed or prosecuted.
- The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services reported 554 use-of-force incidents and seven deaths allegedly caused by excessive force in South African correctional facilities during the 2025–2026 fiscal year.
- An asthmatic inmate died at Mangaung Correctional Centre after officials assaulted inmates and used pepper spray in a locked cell during a night search conducted by G4S without notifying the Department of Correctional Services.
- At Pollsmoor Remand Detention Facility, three prisoners died after a confrontation where officials allegedly continued using excessive force, including assaults and stabbings, even after the threat had been neutralised.
- The inspectorate identified a pattern of legitimate order-restoration efforts escalating into unlawful violence in South African prisons.
- Minister Pieter Groenewald denied endorsing excessive force, stated that all unnatural deaths were investigated, and emphasized stricter accountability, improved CCTV, specialised training, and oversight, but did not provide data on disciplinary actions or prosecutions against implicated officials.
