Prisons: Integral part of SA

2003-03-10 22:00

Johannesburg - Prisons were not islands in the South African landscape but an integral part of the country and the prison population was part of South African society, the department of correctional services said on Monday.

The department was responding to the statements made by the Democratic Alliance on Sunday that HIV positive inmates should separated from the HIV negative inmates.

DA spokesperson Mike Ellis said on Sunday the DCS should urgently become more proactive and vigorous in its response to HIV/Aids, or it would be facing a financial time bomb.

Ellis said the department should make separate space available for HIV negative prisoners who agreed to take an HIV test.

Department spokesperson Tsoeu Ntsane said the constitutional implications of some of the statements made by the DA regarding the HIV/Aids issue, like the segregation of HIV positive prisoners, could not be handled in isolation from the constitutional provisions when it came to prisons.

"Offenders have rights just like every citizen. Limitations in this regard are clearly stipulated within the country's legislative framework and therefore whatever interventions are suggested need to comply with the country's laws and the policy of government," said Ntsane.

Different approach

He said to opt for a different approach would necessitate the amendment of the Constitution.

The department had evolved a comprehensive HIV/Aids policy in the workplace, which was approved in October 2002 and was now in the process of implementation.

Ntsane said a work session was held last month in Pretoria to orientate the newly appointed HIV/Aids co-ordinators on the policy and strategy document.

"The department has approved a strategic plan for HIV/Aids for the next three years. The major thrust of this plan is prevention, care support, information, education and communication," said Ntsane.

"Our commitment, to fight HIV/Aids in prison forms part of the overall government strategy to fight this pandemic. We have accepted the challenge by putting together strategies whose aim is to reduce the prevalence of HIV/Aids in prisons, because we realise that we cannot eliminate it completely as affected people within communities will continue to be arrested and brought to our prisons."

He said the current prison population stood at over 185 000 of which over 57 000 were not yet sentenced and over 127 000 were sentenced prisoners.

Overpopulated

"Our capacity remains at 110 000, meaning that we are overpopulated by over 75 000. During 2002, there were 1389 natural deaths in our prisons and of this figure, 536 were HIV/Aids related cases constituting 38.5% of the total."

Ntsane said the department deployed major resources towards the rehabilitation of offenders to prepare them meaningfully to become productive and law abiding members of society.

"The potential to stigmatise the entire prison population is real. Negating all effort to de-stigmatise HIV/Aids will certainly result in the ostracisation of ex-offenders.

"When we do not have a solid base for serious generalisations, we run the risk of not only creating wrong perceptions but also of wasting our own limited resources which the government needs to campaign against the pandemic."

Ntsane said the department would continue to strive to fulfil its mandate.

"We acknowledge the seriousness of the state of affairs in our prisons and will continue to deploy all resources within our means to reposition our prison system for rehabilitation. Various efforts in this regard are in progress and we will see to their continuous intensification in future."

- SAPA