Crime and punishment

In a country ,read RSA ,suffering from violent crime ,where murderers ,rapists ,robbers with impunity transgress the law and do not fear to be incarcerated ,can we still believe in sentencing offenders to custodial sentences with the hope of rehabilitating offenders .
I question the success rate of this rehabilitation as it is seen that a large number of offenders is repeat offenders and 1^st time offenders who are convicted is only convicted after making a mistake and have actually committed several other crimes which could not be proven in a court of law .

I am not saying our police are incompetent but that there is just not enough support from laboratory’s (CSI) and other exhibit gathering units .To prove crimes ,evidence is needed .Returning to my original thought about rehabilitation , should we as public not ask the powers that is that in conjunction with the attempt at rehabilitation ,offenders should repay a debt to society and be utilised as labour in support for example fixing our ailing road infrastructure .

These offender could even be paid ,so that when they leave prison will have a small nest egg to re-integrate them into society .Too often we see prisoners in jails seeming to have a good time ,chatting on cellphones ,consuming liquor etc .Once you have committed a crime ,Yes you should be rehabilitated but should also be punished AND REPAY A DEBT to society .

There is also a perception that prisoners once released actually commit further crimes just to return to prison ,jobs being as scarce as they are and it being easier to commit crime than to earn your keep by honest living .

Once jails are seen as a place that you really do not want to be in ,be it being put to work and for those who was involved with serious crimes ,murder ,rape robbery ,hard labour , perpetrators of crime will think twice before getting themselves involved in crime .