Lamola was speaking at the official matric results event at Westville Prison on Tuesday the 23rd of January 2024.

With the country currently having 155 000 inmates, Lamola said if he finds an inmate's file requesting for parole he will reject the parole to be granted if the inmate has not equipped himself/herself.

"Whether you do matric, plumbing or boiler making, we don't want you to leave and go and cause chaos in our communities when you are released," Lamala said.

The minister attributed the 93% pass rate of the inmates to the dedication of educators, alluding that they were also encouraged by a good record of passes in key subjects that are in line with the country's developmental goals.

The department had also opened a women's school for female inmates in Johannesburg that was registered through the department of basic education.

While the plan is to expand these schools across the country, the school in 2023 achieved 62.5% in the overall pass rate, with more than 60% receiving bachelor's passes.

"Most of the crimes females commit are economic crimes, unlike their male counterparts and this is a life we need to change so that South Africa can be different, we need to focus on the boy child,” Lamola added.

The pass rate for full-time studies was 93.2% and of the 147 full-time candidates, 137 passed with national senior certificates.

There were 157 passes among 187 part-time candidates and of the 100 bachelor passes, 41 achieved diplomas and 16 achieved higher certificates and there was also 129 subject distinctions.

The minister was joined by provincial education MEC Mbali Frazer, provincial police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and eThekwini municipality speaker Thabani Nyawose.