Mother's Day woes for inmates
2005-05-08 19:04
Johannesburg - The Pretoria female prison is faced with mass overcrowding largely due to awaiting-trial prisoners, parliament's committee on correctional services chair Dennis Bloem said on Sunday.
He said the awaiting-trial section of the prison was supposed to house 40 only women, but there were currently 76 women and five babies.
One woman had been awaiting trial for three years.
"This is very bad. It's Mother's Day today and what I saw makes me totally unhappy," Bloem said.
He was speaking to Sapa after visiting the prison earlier in the day.
In the section of the prison where women were serving sentences, three women were sleeping in a cell meant for one.
"You cannot have situations where many woman are sharing one toilet.
"Women are very sensitive about their privacy."
Bloem is inspecting several prisons across the country to determine conditions.
On Tuesday he will visit Thohoyandou prison after receiving reports that the building is 500% overcrowded.
Once Bloem and his team have completed their inspections, a report will be tabled in parliament making recommendations on the matter.
- SAPA