Parliament's Correctional Services Committee expects Groenewald to clarify stance on reintroduction of corporal punishment
Committee chairperson Ramolobeng said she was surprised by Groenewald’s call for a debate on the return of corporal punishment because it goes against the constitution.
Chairperson of Parliament's correctional services committee, Kgomotso Ramolobeng, addressing the media on matters being considered in this portfolio on 7 July 2025. Picture: Parliament/Phando Jikelo
CAPE TOWN - Parliament's Correctional Services committee says it will expect Minister Pieter Groenewald to clarify his thinking about corporal punishment being reintroduced into the penal system.
Groenewald made the controversial remark during his budget vote debate last week, suggesting it as an alternative to overcrowding and lowering costs for those who can’t afford bail of under R1,000.
On Monday, chairperson of the committee Kgomotso Ramolobeng said her preference would be for community service to be considered instead.
Ramolobeng said she was surprised by Groenewald’s call for a debate on the return of corporal punishment because it goes against the constitution.
The practice was outlawed in prisons by an act of Parliament in 1997.
Ramolobeng said Groenewald’s view is not one shared collectively by the committee.
“There are other measures we can come up with that can deal with overcrowding, outside of corporal punishment, especially of those who have less fines or crimes, that leads to them having bail of less than R300.”
She said Groenewald’s suggestion to reopen the debate on corporal punishment could also have implications for schools.
“We would probe the minister on why he made those assertions, and what informs them, so that he takes us through that.”
Meanwhile, the committee has welcomed the department’s plans to review the Correctional Services Act to make provision for foreign nationals to be deported and to serve out their sentences in their home countries.