Naked protest throws officials
2006-09-14 10:20
Cape Town - A group of about 50 women in the Mthatha prison has revived a
unique tradition by staging a naked protest, or setshwetla, against plans to
move them to Queenstown.
The prison chief, commissioner Linda Mti, said the and correctional services
minister Ngconde Balfour would address the women at the Mthatha prison on
Friday.
"These women decided to get undressed as soon as we tried to move them to
Queenstown to make room for men in the maximum security prison," said Mti.
"It caused a lot of drama, because we were not expecting it."
"We hope the minister can use his persuasive powers to get them to move to
Queenstown," she said.
Golden Miles Bhudu, president of the South African Prisoner's Organisation
for Human Rights (Sapohr) said he was "very excited" about the women's
protest action, because it was something prisoners used in the eighties to
protest against the apartheid system.
He said women started with the protest at the end of last week, but since
Friday also decided to go on a hunger strike.
"The male prisoners are not doing these things anymore, they have given
themselves over to the system," said Bhudu.
He said the women were told they must move to make room for about 100
maximum security male prisoners.
Bhudu was of the opinion that Correctional Services determined prisoners
should remain at a prison closest to where they would be living after being
released.
The prisoners' transfer to Queenstown, about 250km from Mthatha, would make
it difficult for their families to visit them.
A local resident said there was no public transport between the two towns
and one had to take three different taxis to travel between them.
It apparently also made it difficult for warders as trial awaiting prisoners
had to be transported to Mthatha for their court cases.
Sapohr and the warders said the transfer had been decided on without
consulting those involved.
Bhudu said it might be possible to transfer the women to other prisons closer to
Mthatha.