Department of Justice and Constitutional Development  (DOJ & CD) is the justice ministry of the South African government. The department provides administrative and financial support to the court system and the judiciary (which are constitutionally independent of the executive), oversees the National Prosecuting Authority, provides legal advice and representation to organs of state, facilitates law reform and is responsible for the country's Correctional Services.

History:

Prior to May 2014, Correctional Services was a separate department and the justice department was named the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. At the time of the 2014 national budget, Justice and Correctional Service were still two separate departments.

Executives and responsibilities:

The political head of the department is the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, who is supported by two deputy ministers. The correctional division of the department has about 34,000 staff and is responsible for the administration of 240 prisons, which accommodates about 189,748 inmates. The prisons include minimum, medium and maximum security facilities.

Correctional centres

The 178 prisons run by the department include:

• 9 women-only prisons
• 13 prisons for young offenders
• 40 prisons for male offenders
• 72 prisons for both male and female offenders
• 5 prisons that are temporarily closed down or undergoing renovations

Government Of South Africa