If almost anyone on the street guessed who makes up the largest group of foreign inmates in South Africa’s prisons, they’d almost certainly say Nigerians. They’d be wrong; Nigerian nationals make up less than 1% of that population, under 300 people out of 27,880.
The Department of Correctional Services’ latest figures, presented to Parliament’s Correctional Services Portfolio Committee in June 2026, tell a very different story: 27,880 foreign nationals currently held in South African correctional facilities; 14,614 awaiting trial, 13,266 already sentenced.
Now look at where they actually come from. Committee discussions point to one dominant pattern: the numbers are overwhelmingly made up of nationals from neighboring SADC countries; Zimbabwe first, then Mozambique, Lesotho, and Malawi. It tracks with basic geography. Proximity drives migration, and that shows up directly in the judicial statistics.
So where does public perception go so wrong? Scroll any comment section and you’d assume Nigerian nationals make up a large share of that 27,880. They don’t.
Nigerian nationals account for a small fraction of the total; nowhere close to what online narratives suggest.
Three things worth remembering: the total sits at 27,880, almost evenly split between remand and sentenced. Bordering nations, led by Zimbabwe, account for the overwhelming majority. And the gap between what people believe about Nigerian nationals and what the official numbers show is enormous; less than 300 people, under 1% of the entire foreign inmate population.
