# Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, says overcrowding in prisons is driven by pressures in the criminal justice system, including delays in processing remand detainee cases and court referrals. Currently, the department has some 107-thousand beds available for inmates, with sentenced inmates already occupying at least 106-thousand-280 beds. Groenewald says the main pressure stems from remand detainees, totalling over 62-thousand, pushing overcrowding levels to 58-percent. The minister adds that they are in contact with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to explore alternatives to imprisonment where appropriate.
Minister Groenewald says prison overcrowding is linked to pressures within the criminal justice system