Inmates 'taught to steal'
2003-02-12 22:08
Cape Town - A man who was released from Pollsmoor after 20 years, has told the Jali Commission that warders "taught prisoners to steal and swindle".
Ernest van Schalkwyk on Wednesday told the commission about alleged "smuggling" in Pollsmoor. "I realised it would be better if this thing comes to light. It is not right for warders to teach prisoners to steal and swindle. I believe I am doing the right thing."
Van Schalkwyk, who worked as a fitter and turner in the prison workshop, said wardens paid less for the work than they should have. A record is kept of all work done.
Smuggling occurred frequently, and prisoners who performed jobs were regularly paid with cigarettes and food from the prison's tuck shop. He and another inmate were once promised a chocolate cake for their effort, but they never received it.
Van Schalkwyk, who were released on parole in 2001 after 20 years behind bars, said prison did not prepare him for the "new world" that awaited him.
"I grew up under a government that encouraged racism. In prison, there was no indication from the officials that made me change my view. Outside prison I saw how people were suffering and how they were living.
"The things I always believed in were lies. I think the department of correctional services should encourage wardens and inmates to cultivate non-racialism and to interact with one another in this way," he said.
Van Schalkwyk alleged that some white wardens said Black and Coloured wardens were incompetent and they referred to them as "clowns", "baboons" or "hotnots". They sometimes referred to prisoners as "fuckers".
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