At least 101 of the more than 16,000 inmates released last year as part of a special remission programme are in trouble with the law again.

The programme was designed to relieve overcrowding in prisons across the country.

But Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has revealed to Parliament that some of those released did not even manage to steer clear of the law for a week before being re-arrested.

By the end of the remission programme in early November, a total of 16,472 offenders were released from the country’s prisons.

More than 14,000 of them were released unconditionally.

Nut in written responses to parliamentary questions from the Democratic Alliance (DA), Justice Minister Ronald Lamola revealed that 101 of them have been rearrested.

Fifty-nine of those arrests took place in the Western Cape, followed by the Eastern Cape with 18.

Twenty of those arrested have already been found guilty of their new crimes while another 59 are awaiting trial.

Many of those re-arrested have been charged with housebreaking, theft or shoplifting, within a month of being released on special remission.