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Dina: 'Jail will be difficult'
18/06/2007 07:43 - (SA)
Linza de Jager
Cape Town - There are many different opinions on how things are going for Dina Rodrigues in prison.
One former prisoner told Cape Son: "Women inmates will protect her - she is their investment, their piggy bank. "If they want Weetbix, they will have to ask her."
Another ex-prisoner is less optimistic about Dina's future.
The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, believes Rodrigues will have a very difficult time in prison.
"She will not be a main figure" she said. "Who will protect her, except maybe a few coloured women?" she asked.
Other ex-prisoners think Dina will have the sympathy of other black and coloured prisoners. It's not out of kindness, but because they want something for themselves.
The white women, on the other hand, will feel they will get anything they need from their families. One of the women who spoke to Cape Son was in prison in the mid 1970s. She remembers it as a violent time.
Planting smuggled goods
She said: "Some of the prisoners used to stab each other with sharpened spoons. Or they used to put a bar of soap in a tin mug and use it as a weapon. It can cause deep wounds.
"Your fellow inmates can make life difficult for you by planting smuggled goods in your cell - and then reporting you."
According to this woman, female prison staff can make your life a living hell. "Sometimes they are bitchy. They will throw you into the lion's den."
What seemed to be the hardest for these women in prison was the time.
"The clock stops," said the woman. "It is part of your spiritual punishment. That feeling of guilt. That feeling of 'if only I could turn back time...' "
She says she still gets nightmares when she thinks about the sound of the prison key in the lock.
- Kaapse Son
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