South Africa · Free State / Northern Cape
Mangaung Correctional Centre (Apops)
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Mangaung Correctional Centre (Apops)
Step-by-step guidance using the South Africa system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Correctional facility operated by the South African Department of Correctional Services, Free State / Northern Cape.
Background
PMG DCS committee meeting (2025-12-02): the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) was preparing to take full operational control of the Mangaung Correctional Centre (MCC) on 30 June 2026, when the public-private partnership contract with Bloemfontein Correctional Services (BCC) expires. This t
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
—
Current population
—
Occupancy
—
Year opened
—
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 1 Jan 2024 · methodology
Facility profile
Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
—
Region
Free State / Northern Cape
Security level
—
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
The facility is widely known due to the Thabo Bester matter, which involved significant security and management incidents.
Contact & address
No public contact details available.
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
- Overcrowding
- 0/30
- Oversight reports
- 6/30
- Structural flags
- 5/15
- Death signals
- 0/15
- Conditions text
- 0/10
What the score is responding to:
- · 1 oversight report in the last 5 years
- · Substantial documented known-issues record
This facility scores 11. The national average across 567 scored South Africa facilities is 31 — 20 points below national average.
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Riebeeck West Correctional CentreCorrectional Centre
- Wolmaransstad Correctional CentreCorrectional Centre
- Mount Ayliff Correctional CentreCorrectional Centre
- Kranskop Correctional CentreCorrectional Centre
- Colesberg Correctional CentreCorrectional Centre
- Hennenman Correctional CentreCorrectional Centre
Reports
- PMG-AGSA23 Jul 2024
PMG DCS committee meeting (2024-07-23): AGSA audit findings mentioned in relation to Mangaung Correctional Centre. Snippet: es of the PPP facilities mentioned in the presentation as Kutama Sinthumule Correctional Centre and Mangaung Correctional Centre or MCC. It is widely known because of the Thabo Bester matter. The Chairperson gave clarity on the budget, saying that Correction
Data completeness
30%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- DCS Find a Centre
- South Africa DCS — Find a Centre — Department of Correctional Services
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2024). Mangaung Correctional Centre (Apops). Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/mangaung-correctional-centre-apops
"Mangaung Correctional Centre (Apops)." World Prisons. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/mangaung-correctional-centre-apops.
@misc{worldprisons-mangaung-correctional-centr,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Mangaung Correctional Centre (Apops)},
year = {2024},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/mangaung-correctional-centre-apops},
urldate = {2026-10-20}
}