‘Breeding grounds for gangs’: Mkhwanazi warns SA prisons are making criminals worse

Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has questioned whether South Africa’s correctional facilities are rehabilitating offenders, warning that some leave prison with new gang connections and criminal strategies.

KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has warned that prisons are becoming “breeding grounds” for crime and gangs, saying offenders can enter prison with little criminal knowledge and leave having been taught how to operate within criminal networks.

Mkhwanazi was addressing MPs in Parliament on Wednesday when he questioned whether correctional facilities were fulfilling their intended purpose of rehabilitating offenders.

“It's our colleagues in brown uniform. We can hide it, but the honest truth is our correctional facilities are the breeding grounds of crime and gangs.”

Mkhwanazi said some convicts entered prison without knowing much about crime, but could leave having been recruited into gangs.

“They walk in there innocent, not knowing much. They come out, they have been coached into being numbers, and they can speak the language,” he said.

Mkhwanazi also raised concerns about the role of correctional officials in the smuggling of contraband, saying an official had recently been arrested for allegedly attempting to take contraband into a correctional facility.

“One of the officials was arrested recently, wanting to take contraband into one of the correctional facilities. So that tells you that there is something wrong inside,” he said.

Mkhwanazi's concerns come amid ongoing problems with contraband and misconduct inside correctional facilities.

In May, IOL reported that 2,388 correctional officials had faced disciplinary action during the 2025/26 financial year, including 137 officials implicated in aiding the smuggling of contraband such as cellphones and drugs. A total of 289 officials were suspended and 118 dismissed during the period.

The Department of Correctional Services also reported that more than 37,500 cellphones and other contraband was confiscated during 1,406 prison raids in the 2025/26 financial year.

The department said the prison population stood at 169,519 in May, with an overcrowding rate of 58%.

IOL has also previously reported concerns about criminal activity being co-ordinated from inside correctional facilities, with investigator Mike Bolhuis saying some major gangs continued to operate from prisons.

During a raid at Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre, officials found more than 105 cellphones, as well as drugs and sharp objects.