Poor conditions hinder prison staff

CORRECTIONAL Services officials at Goodwood Prison have conceded that they are fighting a losing battle when it comes to issues faced by correctional centres in the province.

They cited gangsterism as being one of the biggest issues they are faced with.

This emerged when the Inspecting Judge of the Inspectorate for Correctional Services (Jics), Johann van der Westhuizen, visited the Goodwood Correctional Centre as part of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services’ national plan.

The visit on Friday will contribute to recommendations and reports that will be sent to the Department of Correctional Services.

The Goodwood prison management told of their battles with gangsterism.

“The centre is 145% overcrowded. The majority of inmates are remand detainees, with only 663 sentenced inmates. Whatever happens in the community will spill over to the centre.”

They said rehabilitation programmes were put in place to try to deal with the issues at the centre, particularly those centred around gangs.

Last week Judge van der Westhuizen also visited the Voorberg Correctional Centre near Piketberg.

“Jics will continue to ensure that the dignity of all inside correctional centres is upheld. These visits will give an opportunity for further recommendations and to build working relationships at ground level,”Jics said.

Jics said they had found similarities in the issues faced by the two facilities.

They found that both the facilities lacked an adequate number of uniforms for inmates and staff, contraband that was used in committing crimes was rife and there were not enough personnel to adequately do their work.