The Institute for Race Relations (IRR) found in their latest South Africa Survey that 7,468 detainees were held in South African jails last year because they could not afford to raise bail – of which the highest amount in most cases were only R1,000.
The IRR ays in its SA Survey 2016 some 76% of detainees could not afford bail set at amounts of R 1,000 or less. These individuals are in many respects ‘prisoners of poverty’. The IRR has now urged lawmakers to reconsider policies relating to bail in South Africa.
The report states that:
- Some 3,339 remand detainees – or 45% – of the total, could not afford bail of R500 or less;
- Some 2,334 – or 31% – could not afford to pay between R500 and R1,000;
- Some 1,082 – or 14% – could not afford bail amounts set between R1,001 and R2,000;
- A further 589 – or 8% – could not pay bail amounts between R2,001 and R5,000; and
- 124 of remand detainees – or 2% – were set bail amounts of over R5,000, and could not afford to pay the amount.
IRR analyst Kerwin Lebone says these figures are concerning because a great many people who have not been convicted of any crime are in jail simply because they are too poor to afford bail. “They are what we describe as prisoners of poverty. These are people that the courts believe could be released back into society pending trial but cannot afford their freedom.”
He says the presence of so many remand detainees in jails compounds the prison overcrowding crisis faced by the Department of Correctional Services adding a significant cost to the taxpayer in housing this number of remand detainees. These resources could be more effectively employed elsewhere in the criminal justice system.
The IRR has suggested that South Africa’s lawmakers reconsider South Africa’s bail policies to alleviate the burden on both Correctional Services, taxpayers and poor people.
