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Reply by Minister of Police N Mthethwa on questions posed in the National Assembly for written reply
3 August 2009
Question No 497
Mrs D A Schäfer Democratic Alliance (DA) to ask the Minister of Police:
(a) How many trial awaiting prisoners are being held at police station in each province and (b) what is the average time that such prisoners are held in police station cells?
Reply:
(a) For the sake of uniformity, 10 July 2009 (00:01 to 00:00) was chosen at random for the purpose of this question.
Eastern Cape: 895
Free State: 200
Gauteng: 1 291
KwaZulu-Natal: 1 664
Limpopo: 1 320
Mpumalanga: 940
Northern Cape: 157
North West: 1 813
Western Cape: 955
(b) The average time that arrested persons are held in police cells varies. Arrested persons are brought before court as soon as reasonably possible, but no later than 48 hours after the arrest, while a 24-hour period is applicable to children. If the 48 hours expire after normal court hours or on a day which is not a normal court day, the arrested person is brought before court on the first court day after the expired 48 hours.
Only after the first appearance in court, an arrested person is regarded as awaiting trial. The court will make a decision regarding the date of the next appearance, as well as to where the person would be detained, depending on the circumstances of each specific case. The date of the next appearance, which may vary from one day to a few months, and place of detention are stipulated on a warrant of detention issued by the court.
Issued by: South African Police Service
3 August 2009