List Of Correctional Services In South Africa (2023)

I listed all correctional services in South Africa, which are directly the Department of Correctional Services, an arm of the South African government whose core responsibility is the management of the country’s prison system. Due to the rising rate of violent crime in South Africa, the Department of Correctional Services is considered a major force in ensuring the stability of the society, and so receives a lot of support from the Government.

There are 240 prisons in South Africa, 9 women-only prisons, 13 juvenile prisons, 40 prisons for male offenders, 72 prisons for both male and female offenders for correctional services in South Africa. There are also some prisons that are not run by the DCS: they are run by private entities, or by Non-Profit Organizations. These prisons also fall under the oversight of the Department of Correctional Services in South Africa.

List Of Correctional Services In South Africa

• 1. Pollsmoor Prison

Pollsmoor Prison, which is officially known as Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, is a huge prison facility which is located in the Cape Town suburb of Tokai in South Africa. This prison has the distinction of being the prison in which Nelson Mandela was held.

• 2. C Max

C Max is the maximum security division of the Pollsmoor Prison, where the most dangerous prisoners are kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours of each day. In this prison specialized equipment, such as electric shields, are used by the prison guards to keep the inmates under control.

• 3. Pretoria Central Prison

Pretoria Central Prison which is also called Kgosi Mampuru II Management Area is a large prison in central Pretoria. It is operated by the South African Department of Correctional Services. It is a huge complex comprising six correctional centres.

• 4. Drakenstein Correctional Centre

Drakenstein Correctional Centre which was formerly known as Victor Verster Prison is a low-security prison between Paarl and Franschhoek.  Nelson Mandela spent the last part of his imprisonment in this facility.

• 5. Female Centre Jhb Prison

The Female Centre Johannesburg  Prison is the female wing of the Johannesburg prison. It is perhaps the most popular female prison in South Africa.

• 6. Grootvlei Juvenile Prison

The Juvenile Prison in Grootvlei is part of the large correctional facility located in Bloemfontein, South Africa, which is known as the Grootvlei Prison, or Grootvlei Prison Complex. Violent criminals, including gang-related offenders, are usually sent there.

List of Sections of the Department of Correctional Services In South Africa

The Department of Correctional Services is divided into different arms and sections into which a newly recruited correctional worker may be drafted. Some of the sections are as follows:

• Corrections
• Finance
• Central Services
• Development and Care
• Operations & Management Support
• Corporate Services 
• Departmental Investigation Unit (DIU)
•  Community Corrections  

 Working in some of the sections listed above will require the applicant to have special skills and qualifications. 

How Much Does A Correctional Officer Earn in South Africa?

A Correctional Officer in South Africa with about 3 to 4 years typically earns a salary of about R193,638, but some Correctional Officers in South Africa earn as high as R350,638.

Surely, you want to find out how you can join the Correctional Services so that you can start earning such a huge sum as salary. Well, the paragraphs below provide information on such.

How to Become a Correctional Officer

Periodically, the Department of Correctional Services announces that it is inviting applications to fill positions in its workforce. These announcements are usually made on the pages of newspapers, and on the official website of the Department of Correctional Services. However, here are a few guidelines that can help you gain employment in the workforce of the Department of Correctional Services in South Africa.

Visit the official website of the Department of Correctional Services in South Africa http://www.dcs.gov.za/?page_id=52 to view the various job positions on offer. Each vacancy will give a description of the job; what duties the successful applicants are expected to carry out, and what skills and qualifications are required.

Download the application form, fill it with the correct information. 

Send completed application forms back to the DCS. Please note that completed applications must be sent before the expiration time, to the correct address as indicated at the bottom of each position displayed on the website. Please ensure that your application reaches the address on or before the closing date. 

Because of the volume of applications received for each position, applications that are sent to a wrong address and/or received after the closing date cannot be accepted. Instead, they are treated as applications that do not comply with the requirements. Such applications will not be taken into consideration. 

Applications can also be taken to any of the offices of the Department of Correctional Services in South Africa; the head office is located at West Block of the Poyntons Building in Pretoria. Address: 179 WF Nkomo St, Pretoria Central, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa. If you are going to deliver your application by hand, please note that you must sign an application register as proof of application.

Please note that the Application for Employment Form is called Z.83, and can be obtained online at www.gov.za, the Department of Correctional Services website; http://www.dcs.gov.za/?page_id=52, or from any Public Service department. 

Please note that all applications should be accompanied by a comprehensive CV.

Please provide two referees who can easily be contacted. It is important that the referees should be people who recently worked with you (the applicant) and can readily vouch for your character.

The Department of Correctional Services also wants to see certified copies of qualifications and identity document (with an original certification stamp).

If you (the Applicant) studied abroad, you are to submit evaluated results by the South African Qualifications Authority. 

For some positions, you have to attach copies of a valid driver’s license. 

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Closing

On the correctional services in South Africa, the Department of Correctional Services is a very important agency in South Africa. This agency is charged with not just the management of criminals; the DCS is charged with reforming incarcerated criminals, so that they can abandon crime, and so be reintegrated into society as citizens contributing their own quota to national development.

It is for this reason that the Department of Correctional Services pays special attention to employing people of good character, who can help change the lives of the inmates serving time. Hopefully, you are not interested in working with the Department of Correctional Services just because of the good salary they offer, but because you have a passion for making a difference in society.

Please note that prisons can be difficult and dangerous places to work. The prison system in South Africa has seen some violent prison riots in which workers, as well as inmates, have lost their lives.