The proposed amendment seeks to allow convicted foreign nationals to serve their sentences in their countries of origin.

The move comes amid growing concern over the financial burden placed on the state by incarcerating non-citizens. Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services says foreign inmates cost the country millions of rand each year, and legislative changes are needed to ease that pressure.

Committee Chairperson Kgomotso Ramolobeng said the current law ties the hands of the Department of Correctional Services.

“We want Section 73(1)(2) of the Correctional Services Act amended,” Ramolobeng explained. “As it stands, once the department receives sentenced individuals from the courts, including foreign nationals, they are obligated to keep them in correctional facilities until they’ve served their minimum sentence. This means they cannot be transferred to Home Affairs for deportation until that point.”

She added that the proposed amendment would allow for deportation discussions with Home Affairs to begin earlier in the sentencing process, ultimately enabling foreign nationals to complete their terms in their countries of origin, a move she said would benefit both the state and the justice system.

--ChannelAfrica--