Central SA
Correctional services launch training academy to improve management─── ZENANDE MPAME 14:00 Thu, 12 Feb 2026
The correctional services department has launched an international training academy to improve prison management.
The Nelson Mandela Rules Training Academy was unveiled at the Drakenstein correctional centre in Paarl on Wednesday (11/2). The academy is a United Nations-adopted blueprint for prison management in the 21st century.
The United Nations first adopted the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners in 1955. These are a set of universally acknowledged guidelines for the management of prison facilities and the handling of offenders.
As of 2015, the rules were renamed the Nelson Mandela Rules to honour the legacy of South Africa’s first democratic president.
????President @CyrilRamaphosa officially opens the Nelson Mandela Rules Training Academy at the Drakenstein Correctional Facility in the Western Cape, marking a significant milestone in advancing human rights, humane correctional practices, and the protection of the dignity of… pic.twitter.com/1xVfCz7yRf
— The Presidency ???? (@PresidencyZA) February 11, 2026
The facility was formerly known as Victor Verster Prison, where Nelson Mandela spent his final years before his release. He later became the country’s first democratically elected president.
“This academy stands as a powerful statement of intent,” said minister of correctional services Dr Pieter Groenewald. “It affirms that correctional services in South Africa are not static, nor outdated, and not resigned to failure.”
“Instead, it is a system that is evolving, learning, and deliberately positioning itself to remain relevant in a changing society. There are 122 rules that say how inmates must be treated with dignity.”
The facility is open to the SADC region, particularly, but also all over the world. If they want to come, they are welcome. We will make sure they get that training, he said.
The training curriculum includes addressing overcrowding, conflict resolution, and prisoner rehabilitation models.
President Cyril Ramaphosa reflected on the historic significance of the Drakenstein correctional facility, recalling the moment 36 years ago when Nelson Mandela walked through its gates to freedom.
The Academy, the first of its kind, reflects South Africa’s continued commitment to embedding the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, within correctional training and practice. pic.twitter.com/NTGpdATrZV
— The Presidency ???? (@PresidencyZA) February 11, 2026
The president said it was fitting that the facility now stands at the threshold of another milestone with the opening of the Nelson Mandela Rules Training Academy, which will carry forward Madiba’s legacy of dignity, service, and leadership.
“We cannot talk about overcoming crime in South Africa without having a frank, honest conversation about the rehabilitation of offenders, their reintegration into society, and the prevention of re-offending,” he said.
“Madiba believed that justice is not measured by how harshly we punish, but by how faithfully we uphold human dignity, even in the most difficult circumstances.”
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