Hope prisoners will be sent home

WHILE there was a glimmer of hope for the families of South African prisoners serving jail time abroad to return home to complete their sentences, the department of correctional services (DCS) is yet to decide on how it will facilitate the move.

The much-awaited discussion was set to take place in Gaborone, Botswana, on Tuesday.

Patricia Gerber, who heads Locked Up, an NGO that assists South Africans who have been convicted in a foreign country, has been lobbying the government for many years to enter into a prisoner transfer agreement, welcomed the discussion as a sign of good news.

Her Facebook page was lit with messages of hope and support shared by the families of offenders serving sentences abroad.

DCS spokesman Logan Maistry said the rate of overcrowding already stood at 37% nationally. There are 243 prisons spread across all nine provinces. But each facility varies depending on a number of factors including size and location.

“We have thus far implemented several measures to reduce overcrowding, including relocating offenders from over-crowded to less-crowded centres, while effecting necessary and urgent infrastructural improvements and expansion to achieve more bed space,” Maistry said.

However, he could not be drawn into commenting on whether they were ready for the influx of prisoners should the Prisoner Transfer Agreements be approved.

“At this stage, it will be premature for DCS to make any pronouncements, as there is no binding agreement between parties,” Maistry said.

He said the department was working towards redefining the jail system to ensure a humane, efficient and effective correctional system that complied with national and international standards. Meanwhile, Professor Lukas Muntingh of Africa Criminal Justice Reform at the University of Western Cape said it was probably “good news” for the families.

“If this succeeds, families will be able to visit their daughters and sons more often. But I don’t know how parole will work if someone has already served part of the sentence in another country,” he said.

Muntingh said Mauritius was where offenders were subjected to the longest jail terms for drug trafficking-related charges. “A minimum of 30 years or longer applies in that country,” he said.

Muntingh said government officials were not doing much to support families and the prisoners. “My impression is that not much diplomatic pressure and effort is fostered by the officials,” he said.