GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - It is well-known that South Africa's prisons are overpopulated and George is no exception.

During the 2019 anti-crime summit held earlier this week, Koos Barnard of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) in George gave some statistics on correctional facilities in our area.

George Correctional Services has approved accommodation for 563 prisoners. Currently, 535 remanded detainees (prisoners who are refused or unable to meet the conditions of bail, or who are unable to post bail) and 530 sentenced offenders are housed there. This totals 1 065 people.

In Mossel Bay there is approved accommodation for 346 inmates. Currently there is a total of 501 detainees, of which 162 are remanded and 339 are sentenced. Knysna offers approved accommodation for 179 detainees. It currently houses 373 in total, of which 226 are remanded and 147 are sentenced offenders. 

Oudtshoorn Correctional Services is housing 300 more inmates than it has approved accommodation for. Currently, there are 678 inmates, of which 234 are remanded and 444 are sentenced.

According to Barnard, inmates have access to various correctional programmes to assist them with rehabilitation from substance abuse, aggressive or unacceptble sexual behaviour, gang-related issues and more.

They are also offered education and training through establishments such as Abet, Fet colleges and Unisa.

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