All prisons
All in South Africa →
Breakwater Lodge
Low
Verified
Fresh · 2mo ago
Sources last reviewed on
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Breakwater Lodge
Step-by-step guidance using the South Africa system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Gallery
From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).
Photo by HelenOnline via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by HelenOnline via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by HelenOnline via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by HelenOnline via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by BKP via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by HelenOnline via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Photo by Rodw via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Lennon Fletcher via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Background
The Breakwater Lodge in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa was built as a prison in 1859. It is now part of the University of Cape Town and a hotel. The original prison was built in 1859 for convicts from Britain at the suggestion of John Montagu who was the colonial secretary to the Cape of Good Hope from 1843 to 1852. They were transported to The Cape to work on the construction of the breakwater which would allow the harbour which is now the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront to be built. The remains of a treadmill on which prisoners were punished can still be seen.
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
—
Current population
—
Occupancy
—
Year opened
—
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 29 May 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
—
Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
—
Region
—
Security level
—
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
No major issues documented in our database.
Contact & address
No public contact details available.
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
—
Insufficient data
We don't have enough public data on this facility to score it. Have something to add? Send us a correction.
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Pollsmoor Maximum Security PrisonTokai, Cape TownMaximumMaximum180% occupancy
- Mabatlane Community CorrectionsCommunity Corrections
- Middelburg Community Corrections (E-C)Community Corrections
- Vanrhynsdorp Community CorrectionsCommunity Corrections
- Jansenville Community CorrectionsCommunity Corrections
- Riebeeck West Correctional CentreCorrectional Centre
Data completeness
16%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata (Q4959707)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
APA
World Prisons. (2026). Breakwater Lodge. Retrieved July 23, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/breakwater-lodge
Chicago
"Breakwater Lodge." World Prisons. Accessed July 23, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/breakwater-lodge.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-breakwater-lodge,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Breakwater Lodge},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/breakwater-lodge},
urldate = {2026-07-23}
}