About three-quarters of the cost of keeping a prisoner funds the salaries of warders and other correctional services staff.
About R475 a month is spent on food for each prisoner, according to Lamola's written reply to a parliamentary question from IFP MP Christian Msimang.
Lamola says he expects the average number of prisoners to increase by 20% to 170,000 in the 2021/22 financial year.
The calculations in Lamola's answer exclude the costs of keeping the 5,952 inmates in SA's two private prisons, run by G4S in Mangaung, Free State; and by the GEOgroup in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo.
The monthly cost of keeping prisoners there was R14,654 in 2021/21, and is expected to be R16,082 in 2021/22.
Apart from the cost of staff, the biggest operational budgets at correctional services in 2020/21 were R1.46bn for property payments (including electricity, water and sanitation); R1.16bn for the two private prisons; R1.07bn for property leases; and R805m for food.
TimesLIVE
Each prisoner costs taxpayers R10,890 a month, but only R475 is spent on food
Image: Thuli Dlamini
Each prisoner costs taxpayers R10,890 a month, says correctional services minister Ronald Lamola.
Put another way, each of the 141,000 inmates behind bars in the last financial year required the taxes of someone earning about R47,000 a month to maintain them.
Image: GCIS
About three-quarters of the cost of keeping a prisoner funds the salaries of warders and other correctional services staff.
About R475 a month is spent on food for each prisoner, according to Lamola's written reply to a parliamentary question from IFP MP Christian Msimang.
Lamola says he expects the average number of prisoners to increase by 20% to 170,000 in the 2021/22 financial year.
The calculations in Lamola's answer exclude the costs of keeping the 5,952 inmates in SA's two private prisons, run by G4S in Mangaung, Free State; and by the GEOgroup in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo.
The monthly cost of keeping prisoners there was R14,654 in 2021/21, and is expected to be R16,082 in 2021/22.
Apart from the cost of staff, the biggest operational budgets at correctional services in 2020/21 were R1.46bn for property payments (including electricity, water and sanitation); R1.16bn for the two private prisons; R1.07bn for property leases; and R805m for food.
TimesLIVE
Security beefed up after damning Goodwood prison video
Ex-prisoners unhappy as Robben Island boss launches new probe
Prisoners get better medical treatment than taxpayers
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Related articles
Latest Videos