3.4 Unaffordable bail On every visit to remand detention centres the Committee has come across numbers of detainees who have been granted bail of less than R1 000, but who could not afford to pay it. The JICS reported that, in the 2007/08 financial year, 8 348 remand detainees were detained simply because they could not afford to pay the bail amounts set at R1 000 or less; half had bail set at under R500. In October 2010 the JCPS cluster reported that on 31 May 2010 the number of remand detainees with bail amounts less than R1 000 stood at 4 458. This situation is unacceptable given the provisions of section 62(f) of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows for an accused to be placed under the supervision of a probation or correctional officer, while awaiting trial. In three of the four magisterial districts of the Eastern Cape a protocol exists allowing all those with bail set at less than R1 000, to re-appear before the court if, within 14 days of the court having granted bail, they have not managed to raise the monies. Despite this, the Committee, on its recent oversight visit to St Albans and Mthatha correctional centres, found 47 juvenile and 284 adults who qualified for consideration in terms of the protocol, but who had not re-appeared. Magistrates should be encouraged to make full use of section 60(2B)(ii) of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows them to consider the affordability of the bail amount set. At present, testing for affordability is left to magistrates' discretion and it is often ignored. Parliament should consider amending the provision to make it compulsory.