The authors argue that the legislation has had little or no effect on serious crime while fueling overcrowding in South Africa's prisons. Crime data for South Africa show a gradual decrease in violent crime rates from 1994/95 to 1997/98, after which a sharp increase occurred. There is little reliable evidence that the new sentencing law has deterred crime in general or that specific offenses targeted by the law have been reduced. Neither is there evidence that putting more offenders in prison for longer periods has achieved the rehabilitation and/or incapacitation that can reduce the number of individuals committing violent and other serious crimes. Altbeker's research has shown that increasing the length of a prison sentence is not as effective in reducing crime as the certainty that a prison sentence will be imposed, regardless of its length. Thus, for the purpose of crime control, it is more cost-effective to use prison space for more people sentenced to shorter periods than to sentence fewer people for longer terms. Under the minimum-sentence law, the sentenced prisoner population in South Africa has increased by 28,801 inmates since April 2000, even though approximately 7,000 inmates were released on parole in September 2003. The number of inmates serving sentences of more than 10 years has increased from 10,000 to 40,000 in the past 9 years. 3 figures and 42 notes