More than 102,000 phones seized in South African prisons — TimesLIVE

South African correctional facilities seized 102,720 mobile phones between 2023 and 2026. National Commissioner of Correctional Services Makgothi Thobakgale stated this during hearings of the Madlanga Commission, TimesLIVE reports.

According to Thobakgale, inmates used illegal phones to run criminal operations, coordinate drug distribution, intimidate witnesses and officials, and commit fraud against citizens.

Seizures during raids

During Operation Vala in December 2025 and January 2026, correctional services staff seized 8,063 phones across the country. A TimesLIVE editorial noted that raids and confiscations remain necessary, including to discipline officials who help criminals bring phones into prisons. At the same time, such measures are predominantly reactive.

In October 2023, the Department of Correctional Services reported cooperation with South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research on technology intended to prevent the use of mobile devices in correctional facilities.

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Restrictions on signal jamming

At the time, the department stated that mobile network operators considered conventional signal jamming impermissible under the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa regulator. The Communications and Technology Association sought an exemption allowing signal jamming in prisons at specified times.

In February 2025, Thobakgale, responding to a question from a member of a parliamentary committee, explained that the department was no longer part of the government security cluster and therefore could not submit such a request independently. According to him, the application must be filed through the South African Police Service or the Ministry of Justice. In July 2025, Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald also referred to regulatory restrictions preventing the department from using jamming equipment or intercepting communications.

TimesLIVE stressed that authorities must preserve the possibility of lawful communication in prisons while preventing unauthorized devices from being used to sustain criminal networks.