Investigate prison violence, says DA
2013-01-28 16:50
Johannesburg - Independent investigations are necessary
into violence at prisons, the DA said on Monday.
"Prison violence seldom occurs spontaneously and at
levels of violence that result in serious injury and deaths," MP James
Selfe said in a statement.
"Such violence is usually a symptom of systemic
failures - the absence of good management, the absence of intelligence about
what is going on, persistent overcrowding and the dominance of prison
gangs."
Selfe said a thorough investigation was needed, not only
by the correctional services department, but by independent institutions or
individuals who would provide a report to Parliament.
Last week, 10 inmates were injured in two fights between
rival gangs at Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town.
On Wednesday, a fight broke out in the juvenile section
of the prison and inmates were injured.
In a second fight the next day, another five inmates were
injured.
Correctional Services Regional Commissioner Delekile
Klaas told the Cape Times on Monday that the control of illegal items being
smuggled into the prison was behind the fight.
On 18 January, a fight broke out in six cells, each with
around 38 inmates, at the St Albans prison in Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern
Cape.
Two inmates were killed and 65 were injured.
On 7 January, inmates at Groenpunt Prison in the Free
State went on the rampage, torching their cells as well as offices at the
facility.
Four warders and about 50 maximum sentence inmates were
injured.
Correctional Services spokesperson Koos Gerber said the
department was investigating all three violent incidents.
"We won't have details on the investigations until
they are completed. We need to let the investigations run their course, but not
waste time," he said.
"The department wants to ensure comprehensive
investigations into the violence. Last week, we heard the investigation into
the Groenpunt incident was on track and could take a month."
Gerber could not comment on the DA's call for independent
investigations into prison violence.
Selfe said Parliament's portfolio committee on
correctional services postponed a visit to Pollsmoor to "allow the centre
[the] opportunity to stabilise the situation and investigate the
incident".
While it was essential to stabilise the situation, it was
"deeply concerning" that the committee was hesitant "to discover
these conditions [at prisons] for itself".
"It is even more concerning that the department is
once more investigating itself," he added.
"The minister has the opportunity to make a
significant contribution to dealing with this violence decisively. He must make
use of this opportunity."
Selfe said he had written to Correctional Services
Minister Sibusiso Ndebele asking for an investigation that would ensure the
violence did not spread to other prisons.
- SAPA
