Jails 'bursting with hate'- Mandy Rossouw, Beeld
Posted by Memory Grace on Thursday, January 22, 2009
06/07/2004 08:35 - (SA)
Cape Town - Inspecting Judge of Prisons Hannes Fagan has painted a bleak picture of South Africa's jails and claims that four out of every 1 000 people are behind bars.
In a report released on Monday, Fagan said: "Our prisons are bursting at the seams. There is room for 114 787 prisoners, but 187 640 are squashed inside."
He said the overcrowding, at best, was problems with food, health, exercise, stress levels and rehabilitation.
"At worst, prisoners are dehumanised, they develop a hatred for the authorities and prisons become universities of crime."
According to the judge, Durban's Medium C-prison was 370% overpopulated and Thohoyandou's women's prison was 386% overfull.
Fagan found that about 28% of those in prison are awaiting-trial prisoners. Sixty percent of them are usually freed because charges are withdrawn against them.
He said that until their trials came up, they were forced to lie or sit in overcrowded cells.
Would a warning not be enough?
"Unnecessary arrests by police, unaffordable bail and drawn-out cases were the main reason for this."
Awaiting-trial prisoners waited, on average, three months for a court appearance, but some waited for years, he said.
Every month, however, 16 500 were freed.
"Why these people are arrested and held, at a cost of R1.5m a day, is strange. Would a warning to appear before court not be enough?" he asked.
Meanwhile, Fagan warned that campaigns such as "zero tolerance" could push crime up rather than decrease it.
He said that prisons cost the government R20m a day and that they should not be the only solution to crime.
He also said the four new prisons planned - for 12 000 inmates - would not solve the problem.
Judge Fagan reported that the majority of complaints the inspectorate received from prisoners was on their transfers to other prisons and about health care.
More use of community service urged
Fagan said the overcrowding led to the spread of HIV/Aids and other diseases.
Judge Fagan also found that in 2003, 1 683 prisoners had died of "so-called natural causes".
In KwaZulu-Natal, 13.7 out of every 1 000 prisoners died of natural causes in 2003. The Free State's figure stood at 12.7.
In reaction to the report, James Selfe, the Democratic Alliance's spokesperson on correctional services, said judges should rather make use of community service as a form of punishment for young or non-violent offenders.
Cape Town - Inspecting Judge of Prisons Hannes Fagan has painted a bleak picture of South Africa's jails and claims that four out of every 1 000 people are behind bars.
In a report released on Monday, Fagan said: "Our prisons are bursting at the seams. There is room for 114 787 prisoners, but 187 640 are squashed inside."
He said the overcrowding, at best, was problems with food, health, exercise, stress levels and rehabilitation.
"At worst, prisoners are dehumanised, they develop a hatred for the authorities and prisons become universities of crime."
According to the judge, Durban's Medium C-prison was 370% overpopulated and Thohoyandou's women's prison was 386% overfull.
Fagan found that about 28% of those in prison are awaiting-trial prisoners. Sixty percent of them are usually freed because charges are withdrawn against them.
He said that until their trials came up, they were forced to lie or sit in overcrowded cells.
Would a warning not be enough?
"Unnecessary arrests by police, unaffordable bail and drawn-out cases were the main reason for this."
Awaiting-trial prisoners waited, on average, three months for a court appearance, but some waited for years, he said.
Every month, however, 16 500 were freed.
"Why these people are arrested and held, at a cost of R1.5m a day, is strange. Would a warning to appear before court not be enough?" he asked.
Meanwhile, Fagan warned that campaigns such as "zero tolerance" could push crime up rather than decrease it.
He said that prisons cost the government R20m a day and that they should not be the only solution to crime.
He also said the four new prisons planned - for 12 000 inmates - would not solve the problem.
Judge Fagan reported that the majority of complaints the inspectorate received from prisoners was on their transfers to other prisons and about health care.
More use of community service urged
Fagan said the overcrowding led to the spread of HIV/Aids and other diseases.
Judge Fagan also found that in 2003, 1 683 prisoners had died of "so-called natural causes".
In KwaZulu-Natal, 13.7 out of every 1 000 prisoners died of natural causes in 2003. The Free State's figure stood at 12.7.
In reaction to the report, James Selfe, the Democratic Alliance's spokesperson on correctional services, said judges should rather make use of community service as a form of punishment for young or non-violent offenders.