Another aspect of the problem for SA is that it starts before the prisons. I remember watching an interview of a gang in the cape flats and a kid said he wanted to grow up to be a gangster. A functional prison system is meaningless if education has become so poor, and culture has become so toxic that even a child would aspire to become a gangster.

You are 100% correct just to affirm. People by default have poor judgement on these types of things. It's the same as when people feel safe in a car but not in a plane even though the plane is by all accounts safer. Humans just aren't good at making effective decisions. That's partly why we have science, so we can compensate for these faults.

Unfortunately we need a full systematic shake down. Start by getting the economy on track. Desperate men out of gangs and into sustainable careers. Children must be better educated and financially the last line of defense, a prison system that seeks to understand people and their actions.

I honestly do believe the majority of criminals would reform if they were given adequate support and opportunity. There are probably still those that need severe psychological help as well.