South Africa
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Under white minority rule, the apartheid-era National...
- News items in the archive
- 202
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
South Africa is classified as Abolitionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 202 news items on South Africa, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- DECEMBER 18, 2007South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa voted in favour of the Resolution on a Moratorium...
South Africa voted in favour of the Resolution on a Moratorium...
- NOVEMBER 13, 2007South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
S AFRICA'S TUTU CALLS FOR GLOBAL BAN ON DEATH PENALTY AHEAD OF UN VOTE
S AFRICA'S TUTU CALLS FOR GLOBAL BAN ON DEATH PENALTY AHEAD OF UN VOTE
- JULY 10, 2007ItalyDEATH PENALTY
MORATORIUM. D’ALEMA THANKS SOUTH AFRICA FOR SUPPORT
Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Massimo D'Alema publicly thanked his South African colleague Nkosazama Dlamini Zuma for the African country’s support for the proposed UN Moratorium against capital punishment.
- APRIL 16, 2007South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA NOT TO BRING BACK DEATH PENALTY
the South African government would not resort to the death penalty in spite of high
- JANUARY 1, 2007South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was abolished in South Africa on June 6...
The death penalty was abolished in South Africa on June 6...
- DECEMBER 1, 2006South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. SENTENCE COMMUTED FOR LAST DEATH ROW INMATE
South Africa's last death row inmate has had his sentence finally commuted to a jail term 11 years after capital punishment was declared unconstitutional, the country's highest court announced.
- JULY 13, 2006NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. AMNESTY ASKS SINGAPORE NOT TO HANG TWO AFRICAN DRUG TRAFFICKERS
Amnesty International said it had written to Singapore President S.R. Nathan asking him to intervene to stop a Nigerian and a South African convicted of drug trafficking from being hanged.
- JUNE 7, 2006South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. CALLS FOR THE RETURN OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
leaders from political parties such as the Freedom Front Plus, the Christian Democratic Party and the Pro-Death Penalty Party were reportedly united in one cause: reinstating capital punishment in South Africa.
- MAY 14, 2006South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. POLL REVEALS MAJORITY OF SOUTH AFRICANS SUPPORT DEATH PENALTY
many adults in South Africa believe capital punishment should be implemented again, according to a poll by Research Surveys.
- JANUARY 1, 2006South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was abolished in South Africa on June 6...
The death penalty was abolished in South Africa on June 6...
- AUGUST 18, 2005South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. STATE FAILS TO SET ASIDE DEATH ROW SENTENCES
South African constitutional Court judges expressed their disappointment at the government's failure to present a report on what it had done to set aside sentences of 59 prisoners still on death row.
- MAY 27, 2005South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. DEATH ROW PRISONERS SHOULD BE RELEASED: SAPOHR
all prisoners on death row should be released, the South African Prisoners' Organisation for Human Rights (Sapohr) said.
- MAY 26, 2005South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. COURT SLAMS STATE'S DEATH-ROW DELAYS
the Human Rights Commission of South Africa commended the May 25 Constitutional Court judgment that ordered the government to report to the court by August 15 on what it had done to set aside the death sentences of the 62 people still on death row.
- MAY 25, 2005South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. DEATH ROW INMATES WIN FRESH SENTENCES
South Africa's Constitutional Court ruled that the country's last death row inmates be given new sentences in line with its post-apartheid constitution that outlaws capital punishment.
- APRIL 20, 2005South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
South Africa was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
- MARCH 10, 2005South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH AFRICA. CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO DECIDE ON DEATH ROW PRISONERS
sixty-two prisoners were still under sentence of death although the death penalty was declared invalid in South Africa 10 years ago, the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg heard.
- JANUARY 1, 2005South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was abolished in South Africa on June 6, 1995, when the Constitutional Court found that it was inconsistent with the new Constitution.
The death penalty was abolished in South Africa on June 6, 1995, when the Constitutional Court found that it was inconsistent with the new Constitution.
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Two death sentences imposed before the South African...
Two death sentences imposed before the South African Constitutional court abolished the death penalty in 1995 were set aside by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons legal case officer...
Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons legal case officer Umesh Raga said there were seven prisoners in the Umtata Maximum Security prison, South Africa, who were technically still facing the death penalty although the death penalty had been written out of the
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Equatorial Guinea said it was willing to guarantee...
Equatorial Guinea said it was willing to guarantee that it would not use the death penalty if it were allowed to extradite Sir Mark Thatcher and other British citizens it accused of involvement in a coup plot, the country"s Attorney- General, Jose Olo Obo
- JUNE 9, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
A South African court rejected a bid by the families...
A South African court rejected a bid by the families of 70 suspected mercenaries held in Zimbabwe to force President Thabo Mbeki's government to bring the men back to South Africa
- MAY 27, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The South African government told the Pretoria High...
The South African government told the Pretoria High Court that it would not seek to extradite 70 suspected mercenaries arrested in Zimbabwe on charges of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea
- MAY 26, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Lawyers for the South African government said the state...
Lawyers for the South African government said the state could not intervene to save 70 alleged coup-plotters detained in Zimbabwe from extradition to Equatorial Guinea where they would face the death penalty
- MAY 25, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa is obliged to protect 70 suspected mercenaries...
South Africa is obliged to protect 70 suspected mercenaries held in Zimbabwe over a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea, lawyers argued, saying Harare would hand the men over to Pretoria if requested to do so
- MAY 21, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
An Indonesian court sentenced a South African man to...
An Indonesian court sentenced a South African man to death for smuggling heroin, an official said
- MAY 4, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Fearing possible death penalty they could face after...
Fearing possible death penalty they could face after being extradited to Equatorial Guinea, 70 accused mercenaries held in Zimbabwe Tuesday appealed to South Africa through their lawyers to intervene to block their extradition
- APRIL 29, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
Zimbabwe agreed to hand over to Equatorial Guinea 70...
Zimbabwe agreed to hand over to Equatorial Guinea 70 men accused of plotting a coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema
- APRIL 21, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa was a cosponsor and voted in favour of...
South Africa was a cosponsor and voted in favour of the resolution on the death penalty at the 60th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 11, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty was abolished in South Africa on June 6, 1995, when the Constitutional Court found that it was inconsistent with the new Constitution.
The death penalty was abolished in South Africa on June 6, 1995, when the Constitutional Court found that it was inconsistent with the new Constitution.
- APRIL 3, 2004South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
The founder of the new Pro-Death Penalty Party, Pieter...
The founder of the new Pro-Death Penalty Party, Pieter du Toit, said he did not expect to win the South African elections on April 14, 2004