The growing number of young people in already overcrowded South African prisons is a cause for concern, said the new Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Tuesday.

Mapisa-Nqakula, accompanied by her Deputy Hlengiwe Mkhize, was visiting the Boksburg Correctional Centre on the forth leg of their regional visits to listen and familiarise themselves with correctional services.

She was shocked to find a number of young people, some aged 15, being held in the Boksburg prison for serious crimes.

Boksburg houses 554 juveniles, most of them serious offenders serving long sentences, including life terms.

In a statement issued by DCS shortly after the visit, Mapisa-Nqakula said she was becoming aware of the reality of a
South African society which produced young people who committed serious crimes.

The Minister also met with the correctional services area commissioners for Johannesburg, Krugersdorp, Baviaanspoort, Modderbee, Zonderwater, Pretoria and Leeuwkop.

They made presentations about their facilities to a delegation which included acting national Commissioner Jennifer Schreiner.

They outlined their achievements and challenges, such as overcrowding, with a 65% rate of overcrowding at the
Krugersdorp Correctional Centre and of 100% at Johannesburg.

Other issues raised were gangsterism, the plight of babies with their incarcerated mothers and HIV/Aids.

Mapisa-Nqakula heard that of 16 000 awaiting trial prisoners in Gauteng, only 3 000 got bail.

This, her department saw as a demonstration of the seriousness of their offences.

Mapisa-Nqakula said the magnitude of the prisons problem was beyond correctional services. It required society to take responsibility for rehabilitation.

Boksburg impressed the DCS delegation with rehabilitation workshops producing furniture, clothes, steelworks and bread to the value of R22-million a year for government departments.

The prison was also known for its involvement in a number of community development initiatives, including a poultry farm and a vegetable garden to help fight poverty in the community where it is situated.

Mapisa-Nqakula said her department was working closely with the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster and adopting international best practice to address overcrowding in prisons.

She called for more noncustodial sentences where offenders did not pose a threat to society.

She pointed out that at the Qalakabusha Correctional Centre in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, a task team had been established to manage people charged with minor or petty crimes.

Mapisa-Nqakula and her delegation are still to visit prisons in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Free State and the Northern Cape province.