The Department of Correctional Services runs South Africa’s correctional centres and community corrections. The contact details below were read from dcs.gov.za on 2 September 2026.
Official contact channels
- Tshegetso Call Centre: 0860 000 327
- Enquiries and complaints: [email protected]
- Head office switchboard: 012 307 2998 or 012 307 2999
- Hours: 07:15 to 15:45
Note how early the day ends. The call centre runs 07:15 to 15:45 – it opens before most offices and closes before 16:00, so an afternoon call often misses it. Start early.
Tshegetso is the department’s public contact centre, based at national head office, and it serves members of the public, inmates and officials alike. You can also raise a matter online by creating a ticket through the contact centre form on the DCS site, which lets you set a priority and attach documents.
Have the inmate’s registration number ready. The online form asks for it, and it is the single piece of information that lets DCS find a person quickly – a name and date of birth alone will slow everything down.
Services and responsibilities
DCS is responsible for the custody of sentenced and remand inmates, rehabilitation programmes, community corrections, and parole administration through supervision and parole boards.
Visits are booked online. DCS runs an inmate visit booking system linked from its site, alongside a published visitation process – so the first step is usually the booking system rather than a phone call to the centre. Read the visitation rules before you travel: what you may bring, what identification is required and who may visit are all set by the department, not by the centre on the day.
The site also publishes a Find a Centre facility and a Regions directory – use those to reach a specific correctional centre, because the head office switchboard cannot deal with day-to-day matters at an individual facility.
Office and address information
- Physical: Poyntons Building (West Block), 124 WF Nkomo Street, corner WF Nkomo and Sophie de Bruyn Streets, Pretoria 0001
- Postal: Private Bag X136, Pretoria 0001
This is the national head office. It is not where you visit an inmate, deliver anything to one, or attend a parole hearing – those happen at the correctional centre holding the person.
Applications and escalation
Raise a matter with the correctional centre first, then the regional office, then Tshegetso on 0860 000 327 or [email protected], keeping the inmate registration number, dates and any reference.
For anything about how an inmate is being treated, there is an independent body and it is not DCS. The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services inspects centres and investigates complaints about conditions and treatment, independently of the department. It also places Independent Correctional Centre Visitors inside centres, whom an inmate can approach directly – which matters when a complaint concerns the officials the inmate would otherwise have to report to.
Beyond that, maladministration by a state department goes to the Public Protector, a rights violation to the South African Human Rights Commission, and an assault or a crime committed by an official to the South African Police Service. A records request is made under the department’s PAIA manual, and a personal information complaint to the Information Regulator.
Sources
- dcs.gov.za Tshegetso call centre page, site footer and contact centre form, read 2 September 2026