Very Expensive Milk and Cookies

The author critiques the South African legal system for the unnecessary detention of poor individuals, highlighting a case where a man was imprisoned for four months over the theft of R50 worth of food because he could not afford bail. The text argues that officials ignore legal mechanisms to avoid unnecessary prosecution and that sentencing is drastically disproportionate between the poor and the wealthy.

• The case of Morgan Matlala illustrates the high public cost of unnecessary detention; Matlala spent four months in prison awaiting trial for stealing milk and cookies valued at R50, costing the taxpayer an estimated R24,000 based on a rate of R200 per day per prisoner.
• South African prisons suffer from overcrowding driven largely by unaffordable bail, with the 2008/9 Annual Report from the Inspecting Judge of Prisons indicating nearly 8,500 prisoners are held because they cannot afford court-set bail.
• The author identifies several underutilised legal mechanisms that could prevent unnecessary detention, including releasing destitute persons on warning, applications under section 63A of the Criminal Procedure Act to lower bail, conditional withdrawal of cases via community service, and early plea and sentence agreements.
• There is a stark disparity in sentencing proportionality between the poor and the wealthy; a comparison shows that while Morgan Matlala faced a potential 37 days in prison for every R1 stolen, Schabir Shaik, convicted of fraud and corruption exceeding R500,000, spent approximately 0.01095 days in prison per R1 involved.

APA

Muntingh, L. (n.d.). Very Expensive Milk and Cookies. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/very-expensive-milk-and-cookies

Chicago

Muntingh, Lukas. Very Expensive Milk and Cookies. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/very-expensive-milk-and-cookies.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Muntingh |first1=Lukas |title=Very Expensive Milk and Cookies |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/very-expensive-milk-and-cookies |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{muntinghndvery, author = {Muntingh, Lukas}, title = {{Very Expensive Milk and Cookies}}, publisher = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/very-expensive-milk-and-cookies}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }