Poor food, bad air — and a lot of violence
UN body paints a grim picture of South Africa’s overcrowded jails
SOUTH African jails are overcrowded, violent and unsanitary, says a report by the UN Human Rights Committee.
But the Department of Correctional Services believes it can change these “deplorable” conditions over the next three years.
Department spokesman Manelisi Wolela said R2.6-billion would be spent during that time aimed at improving prisons.
“This will help reduce pressure on our infrastructure, while creating a more humane condition of incarceration,” he said.
Until then, South Africa’s prisons are places of dilapidation where food, exercise and ventilation are inadequate, according to the UN committee, which said the “deplorable” situation was marked by gang violence, sexual abuse and torture. Overcrowding was at the core of its concerns, it said.
There are just under 160 000 people in South African jails, according to a study by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research. This is about 40 000 more than the prisons could accommodate, according to figures provided by Justice Minister Michael Masutha to the National Council of Provinces.
The UN committee’s report is based on submissions from NGOs, including a joint one from the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, Just Detention International, Lawyers for Human Rights and the South African National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders.
The organisations’ document said violence among prisoners was commonplace.
“The overall impression . . . is that South Africa’s prisons are particularly violent and that interactions with police and experiences in police custody are also frequently violent
The state needs do much more to reach the standard [of prisons] that itself aspires to reach
and too often fatal,” said the submission.
“Sexual abuse in places of detention is a widespread problem that directly infringes on the right to personal safety and freedom from violence for far too many inmates in South Africa.”
It said conditions in detention did not meet the standards set by the government, which, according to the Correctional Services Act, must be safe and hygienic, and provide inmates with adequate food, bedding, clothing, exercise and healthcare.
“In reality, however, prison conditions in numerous facilities across South Africa are a far cry from those required by law,” the report said.
“Many facilities battle with extreme overcrowding. This results in crowded cells which hold double or up to three times the number of prisoners they were designed for.”
This meant that, in some cases, as many as 90 prisoners would share a single shower and toilet, it said.
South Africa’s commitment to the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — which the country ratified in December 1998 — was reviewed in Geneva last month.
A panel of UN experts questioned the South African delegation on the treatment of prisoners, particularly on allegations of torture. This followed claims of torture in St Albans Prison, Port Elizabeth, made by former prisoner Bradley McCallum.
McCallum alleges that he and other prisoners had been sexually assaulted with batons, kicked and punched, and had dogs set on them following the murder of a warder. The Department of Correctional Services is being sued by 231 inmates over these allegations.
UN Human Rights Committee member Yuval Shany said: “The state needs to do much more to reach the standard that itself aspires to reach. The problems faced by South Africa are not unique, but they are on the more worrisome side.
“We have asked the state for some explanations, and we did receive explanations to say that they are taking measures to address this. But it seems to be a very long process.”
Wolela said the prison population had been reduced from 187 000 in 2004 to 158 518 in September 2015.
He said, however, that there was still “bed space” for only 119 134 — a shortfall of 39 384.