43% failure: Prison watchdog stumbles over complaints, deaths and dodgy tenders

The body that is supposed to watch over South Africa's prisons met only 57% of its targets.

It also could not show auditors how many inmate complaints it had dealt with.

The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) was audited on its own for the first time this year.

The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) presented the results to the NCOP Select Committee on Security and Justice on Wednesday, 28 October 2026.

Committee chairperson Jane Seboletswe Mananiso gave the figures after the briefing.

"JICS, unqualified audit opinion, but performance was weak due to the absence of an integrated system to capture, process and report information. JICS awards were not made to the highest bidder. However, the Department of Correctional Services achieved 85% of its target, whereas JICS only achieved 57%," Mananiso said.

AGSA senior manager Omphemetse Setebe said JICS could not back up what it reported on complaints.

"For JICS, it was due to the key indicator on the percentage of complaints received and processed. That was because there was no clear process established by JICS to be able to collate all of the information and appropriately process it. This was mainly due to them using different sources of information.

"There was no clear process established to ensure that the whole population was actually collated in reporting, and that limited us in confirming whether the reported achievement was actually correct, because we could not measure it. The impact is that the lack of credible and reliable information negatively impacts decision-making, and it can also impact service delivery, as some of these indicators are key and should be appropriately delivered on and achieved," Setebe said.

JICS also missed its target on reported unnatural deaths in prisons received and processed.

Setebe said the watchdog broke procurement rules.

"For JICS, there were instances where the award was not made to the highest bidder, as well as the one tender that they had where they did not evaluate or adjudicate in line with the criteria advertised in the original invitation. We do highlight that this is a breach of the pillars of procurement that should be looked into by management to prevent continued irregular expenditure," she said.

JICS also wasted money on a penalty from SARS.

"For JICS, there was only one transaction, due to penalties in relation to SARS," Setebe revealed.

She said the inspectorate's systems were still not working properly.

"The systems at JICS have not been fully established, including some of the transversal systems. The LOGIS was not fully functional, and the other systems only started operating in May. So it is a matter that we will follow through, and the select committee can also follow through as part of oversight with JICS, to ensure that they have proper systems in place and are able to carry out their mandate accordingly," she said.

EFF MP Virgill Gericke said the 57% figure alarmed him.

"Lastly, Chairperson, I am extremely worried if the office of the AG tells us that there's only 57% performance in terms of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services meeting their targets. There's also a problem with the integrated system, which I take to be the information technology system. They have been on their own for almost two years. It is a problem," Gericke said.

"We need to understand what the challenges are there, because if we hear from the department, they are going to give their side. It is more important for us to understand from an independent source what they have established in terms of the problems, as to why they could only meet 57% of their targets. Is it a budgetary problem in terms of the integrated system? Is it a tender problem? What is the problem in that regard?" he said.

DA MP Ofentse Jeremiah Mokae said the committee must now hold JICS to account in its own right.

"I think, Chair, it's also very good that we're going to be monitoring JICS on their own, noting that they are now an entity on their own, no longer a sub-directorate under the Department of Correctional Services. When we meet with the portfolio, it will be important that we also independently hold JICS accountable, because this is the first financial year that they are a whole entity on their own.

"We've been advocating that JICS moves out of the department and becomes an independent organisation, and I think the audit from the AG will strengthen us to hold them accountable as a public entity on their own," Mokae said.

In a statement after the meeting, Mananiso said a clean opinion does not let JICS off the hook for the findings.

JICS was previously a division inside the Department of Correctional Services.

Its main job is to inspect prisons and report on how inmates are treated.

By law, deaths in prisons must be reported to the Inspecting Judge, who heads JICS.

On 6 October, the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services called for stronger financial management, procurement controls and accountability at JICS.

In August, the same committee raised concerns about the low rate at which deaths in custody were being confirmed.

JICS has operated without a permanent chief financial officer since becoming a separate government component.