MP Nicholas Gotsell of the Democratic Alliance (DA) has criticized the state of Western Cape prisons, highlighting figures on prison smuggling seizures over the past year. They argue that prisons “have become” hubs for gang violence, drug trafficking, and organized crime due to corrupt officials, unfilled security posts, and overcrowding.

The DA has called on the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) to intervene and has demanded that Minister Pieter Groenewald, of the Vryheidsfront Plus (VF Plus), account to Parliament for these failures, and wish to launch formal investigations, criticisms which they have not subjected the ANC to since joining them in government.

The DA’s attack on VF Plus, via Groenewald, frames the party as overseeing a failing correctional system marked by lawlessness and corruption, implicitly questioning its competence and conservative governance approach.

The VF Plus has not yet released an official response.

Minister Pieter Groenewald has had only nine months so far to eliminate prison gangs and contraband, which are deeply entrenched in South Africa’s correctional system, and predate his appointment by decades. These issues thrive due to systemic issues like overcrowding, corruption, and understaffing.

The ANC, dominant in the GNU and civil service, has historical ties to gang networks, notably through figures linked to organized crime during and post-apartheid. Its control over the Department of Correctional Services’ bureaucracy limits Groenewald’s ability to enact swift reform, as entrenched officials may resist or sabotage efforts to disrupt lucrative gang operations.

Addressing such a complex crisis requires dismantling long-standing collusion, filling vacancies, and overhauling security—tasks far exceeding nine months, especially with political friction from ANC-aligned factions.

This appears to be an escalation of the feud between the DA and VF Plus, who are their only meaningful competition for the minority votes after the Patriotic Alliance.  The DA, a left-liberal party, has repeatedly clashed with the VF Plus, known for its conservative, Afrikaner-focused stance, over governance and policy execution.

A key flashpoint emerged in August 2024, when the VF Plus ousted a DA mayor in Oudtshoorn over alleged corruption, prompting DA accusations of a VF Plus plot to destabilize their Western Cape dominance. The DA retaliated with threats to VF Plus coalitions.

Differences in priorities and competition over the same ethnic constituency have exacerbated tensions. The DA is under pressure for its lacklustre performance in the national coalition, and has been increasingly known at a local level for encouraging a culture of impunity among its members. They also strongly oppose Cape independence and Afrikaner self-determination, two key planks of the VF Plus.

By December 2024, a “stabilisation pact” was negotiated to mend municipal coalitions after three collapsed since July, though with a changing of leadership from Pieter Groenewald to the more experienced, radical and principled Dr. Corne Mulder, this may be in question.

The VF+ accused the DA of authoritarian tendencies and hypocrisy, especially over ANC affiliations, while the DA struggled to maintain its majority amid growing VF Plus influence in councils.

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