Report: Horror of SA prisons
2003-03-20 22:59
Anesca Smith
Cape Town - Their evening meal is served at 14:00. If they are sick, they are given a Panado - no matter what the illness. Their visitors may spend three minutes with them.
This is a glimpse at the lives of some inmates in South African prisons as outlined in the Law Society of South Africa's latest report on conditions in the country's prisons.
The report was handed to minister of correctional services Ben Skosana on Thursday.
Seventy lawyers visited prisons across the country and reported that inmates were subjected to worse conditions in 2002 than they were in 2001.
Some prisons, such as Kimberley Prison, were overcrowded by 24%. A 13-year-old was found in the same cell as 20-year-olds.
On the eve of Human Rights Day, the society said it was concerned that a culture of human rights had still not been established in these institutions.
Dinner at 14:00
"A few simple measures would suffice, such as separating the non-smokers from the smokers - which would save prison authorities millions in health costs in the long run.
"Dinner could be served at a more reasonable time than 14:00, and authorities should stop reading inmates' letters.
"Unless living conditions of inmates improve, we are creating super-criminals," the report stated.
Problems at Bloemfontein's Grootvlei prison were again addressed.
The attorneys reported that female prisoners complained of being abused by female warders.
"These include group punishment if one inmate did something wrong, forced stripping in front of other inmates, and reading of letters to other inmates and joking about them."
At a Pietermaritzburg prison inmates complained that they received the same type of painkiller no matter what the illness.
"Most of them said they received a Panado, no matter what was wrong with them."
In Johannesburg, where 20 tuberculosis cases were reported a month, there was only one examination table for 7 000 inmates.
Three-minute visits
Prisoners also received visits of only three minutes at a time, because 1 600 visits were scheduled per day.
In Durban the women said most of them received divorce papers within weeks from being admitted.
Pollsmoor's youth division was "particularly crowded and there were clear signs of sexual abuse by other inmates".
"The so-called hospital is nothing more than a first aid area," the report stated.
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- Die Burger