Foreigners not all bad

The belief that foreign nationals are behind much of the crime in South Africa appears to be a myth, according to a report on prisons.

Released yesterday by the National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders, the report revealed that foreigners make up just 4% of the population of 112467 sentenced prisoners.

The report provides insight into the racial and gender composition of the prison population, as well as the most common types of crimes that men and women are nabbed for. The study highlights that the cost to the government of imprisoning a person exceeds the household income of many families.

The "anecdotal belief" that many criminals in South Africa are foreigners "does not appear to be true", the report said.

"Unless, for some reason, foreign nationals are committing offences that do not result in incarceration, it appears this anecdotal belief is unfounded."

The research, based on the latest available figures from the Department of Correctional Services, shows that 2% (or 2663) of sentenced prisoners are female, compared with 109804 males.

Men are mostly likely to be imprisoned for aggressive crimes, such as murder and assault, followed by economic crimes. Women are most likely to be locked up for economic crimes, followed by aggressive crimes.

Fifteen women are in prison for sexual offences, compared with more than 18000 men.

The statistics show that 23% of offences by children under 18 - who are held in secure care centres - were sexual crimes.

The sentenced prisoner population is 79% black, 18% coloured, 2% white and 1% Asian. There is a disproportionately high number of coloured offenders and a low number of white offenders relative to the country's demographics, with each of these groups making up 9% of the national population.

The report notes that the lower proportion of white prisoners is probably "a result of relatively better socioeconomic circumstances and life opportunities".

Just over half the prisoners are serving 10 years or less, while there has been a spike in those serving life sentences.

It costs R329.20 a day to keep someone in jail. This amounts to just under R10000 a month, or more than R118500 a year. In contrast, according to the 2011 Census, the average household income is R103204 a year, or R8 600 a month.