These facts were taken from the White Paper On Corrections in South Africa and the stats are as at August 2004. One thing I can say... at least they are honest when they point out their mistakes.

A few facts that are not mentioned in this paper are that our prisons all 231 of them in South Africa are about 163% full - that means they there are 63% more prisoners than they can accommodate. At least 45.2% of these prisoners have HIV/AIDS.

On average, 25,000 people are released from South African prisons and jails each month.

In South Africa, over 40 percent of prisoners are incarcerated for less than a year, with only two percent serving life sentences, according to a study by the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies

WHO ARE SOUTH AFRICA’S OFFENDERS?

7.1 Introduction

7.1.1 At the end of the first decade of democracy, South Africa has one of the world’s highest ratios in terms of offender population in relation to the actual population total. Four out of every 1000 South Africans are in correctional centres. In the United Kingdom, the same total is 1.25 out of every 1000 UK citizens. In two thirds of the world’s countries, there are less than 1.5 out of every 1000 citizens in correctional centres.
7.1.2 In 1996, the National Crime Prevention Strategy team conducted an in-depth comparative study into the reason for this and to find the causes of crime in South Africa. In this study, they compared the causes of crime in South Africa, with that in other countries. The study found that there are many factors that South Africa have in common with other countries, but that there are also some factors that were unique to South Africa.

7.2 Unique factors contributing to crime in South Africa

7.2.1 All forms of crime normally increase during periods of political transition. South Africa’s had a rapid transition from apartheid to democracy. Because of this, the existing (and illegitimate) mechanisms of social control were broken down without immediately replacing them with legitimate and credible alternatives. This weakness has been worsened by the historical breakdown of other vehicles of social authority, such as schools, the family and traditional communities.

7.2.2 The 1993 Government of National Unity inherited, intact, the entire public service. Including with it, was a racially-based, disproportionate distribution of Criminal Justice resources. Personnel were insufficient and ill-equipped, systems outdated and departments were fragmented. This resulted in a system that was not able to cope with the demands created by the need to provide services to all the people of South Africa.

7.2.3 The political transition generated substantial material expectations, many of which were largely beyond what the new Government could immediately deliver. These very high, and often unrealised, expectations associated with transition have contributed to the justification of crime.

7.2.4 South Africa's violent history has left us with a "culture of violence", which contributes to the high levels of violence associated with criminal activity in South Africa. Violence in South Africa has come to be regarded as an acceptable means of resolving social, political and even domestic conflicts.

7.2.5 Historically, factors like poverty and underdevelopment were key factors in understanding increasing crime levels. Poverty alone does not directly lead to higher crime levels. However, together with a range of other social, political and cultural factors, it contributes to conditions conducive for an increase in crime and the growth of criminal syndicates and gangs.

7.2.6 Historically, also, the youth of this country has been marginalized. This, combined with the slow growth in the job market, has contributed to the creation of a large pool of young people who are considered to be "at risk".

7.2.7 The absence of appropriate role models for the youth, combined with substance abuse, gender violence and immorality amongst the youth have a significant impact on crime amongst our younger generation.

7.2.8 The problem of rising crime levels has become something of a "political football". The tendency of political parties to use the issue as a vote-catcher, has resulted in the situation where people are under the wrong impression that the solution to crime and violence is very simple and lies in tough justice and more policing.

7.2.9 The absence of services to victims of crime means that the negative impact of crime on individual, family and community is largely ignored.

7.2.10 The number, and easy accessibility, of firearms is a major contributor to violent crime. The fact that a large proportion of the citizenry is armed, serves to escalate the levels of violence associated with robbery, rape and car theft.

7.2.11 Gender inequality (inequality in terms of the power relations between men and women), in terms of popular attitudes and beliefs in favour of male domination, and the inadequate service offered by the criminal justice system to women, contributes to the high levels of violence perpetrated against women.

7.3 Changes in the composition of the South African offender population

7.3.1 The profile of the offender in South Africa is also changing, in particular since 1994. Some of the changes in the composition of our offender population, are:
a particular increase in the aggressive and sexual crimes categories;
an increase since 1994, in the number of offenders that serve long sentences; and
a significant increase in the post-1994 period in the number of children sentenced to correctional centres (with transgressions showing an increasingly violent nature).

7.3.2 Factors that were found contributing to the changing profile of the offender population, were:
the abolition of the death penalty;
the introduction of a system of minimum sentencing by courts; and
an increase in the prosecution of serious aggressive crimes.

7.3.3 The changing profile of the offender population is presenting crucial challenges for the Department. These challenges include:
an increased need for accommodation of an increasing population of maximum security and long-term offenders;
a slower turnover rate of individuals in the correctional centres, and
a need for a rapid increase in the accommodation for youth offenders in separate youth correctional centres.

7.4 People under correction are human beings

7.4.1 Profiling and offender management must begin with recognition of the offender as a human being, as a product of society, and as a potential valued member of the community. Reference to people sentenced to the care of the DCS, whether to incarceration in a correctional centre or under community correctional supervision or probation must be consistent with this approach. A variety of terms are used to refer to people in the care of the Department. These terms include inmates, prisoners, detainees, convicts, criminals, offenders, etc. This plethora of terms masks the fact that such people are indeed the primary responsibility of the Department’s correctional services.

7.4.2 In order to avoid the social branding of such people, generic reference to them as offenders should replace the plethora of terms. Where reference to the nature of a person’s sentence or status is relevant in terms of correctional management, this should be indicated by reference to:
inmates for those in residential correctional centres;
parolees for those released under the parole policy; and
probationers for those directly sentenced by the courts to community correctional supervision.

7.4.3 At the essence of rehabilitation and correction is the ability of the Department to separate the person or the offender from the offending behaviour and to enable both the offender and her family to perceive this separation.

Thanks for posting Keltria - our prisons are really overcrowded...the one I visit was originally built for about 1,800 prisoners and now houses about 3,500 or so that means those prisoners are without facilities, beds toilets etc. Pretty awful, the guys who are waiting for trial suffer alot this way, and as we all know here it's no secret they can wait for up to three years....like this

Just a bit of info on how prison gangs operate......these same gangs operate in prisons across the country. They are a pretty strong presence.


The numbers are the keys of fate


The gangs that control South Africa's prisons are known as "The Numbers".

The most powerful are the 28s, which are known for keeping "wives", and the 26s, known for smuggling contraband goods.

The 26s rob, steal and smuggle. They are also known for stabbing other inmates - a practice called "phakama".

Members move up the gang hierarchy through "phakama", with their level of promotion dependent on the severity of the stabbing.

The 27s or "Hollanders" are recruited predominantly from the ranks of inmates convicted for violent crimes - they are mediators between the different gangs and they enforce The Numbers. They are notorious for their involvement in gang violence.

Much smaller are the Airforce gangs (numbers 3 and 4), with their trademark plotting of escapes, and Big 5, known for informing prison authorities of what is happening.

The gangs control much of prison life, including access to food and assignment of cells. They are so feared that even warders sometimes become members. For warders, the gangs present not only protection, but a possible source of income through smuggling of contraband goods.

The gangs have a strict militaristic hierarchy. Members work their way up prison ranks and "wear" imaginary military uniforms depicting their position.

In the 28s, the "red-line" are soldiers involved in fighting and protection of the "white-line" (the gang's wives). Red-line soldiers wear red hats and belts. They have to commit certain acts of violence - such as assaulting a rival gang member - to move up in rank.

Each individual can describe his uniform in detail - right down to the imaginary insignia on his helmet. These are the secrets passed on to him by the gang's "blackboard" (or teacher) and are the way he proves his gang membership.

When a prisoner is moved to a new jail, he first takes his belongings to the neutral territory of the communal toilets immediately after admission - and waits.

Negotiators - called "Glas en Draad" (glass and wire) - will meet him there and question him to prove his gang membership. The "Glas" does the talking, the "Draad" merely listens. But it is the "Draad" who reports back to the gangs.

News of the new arrival might well have reached local gangs in advance by word of mouth. But the gangs refer to the transfer of the prisoner's imaginary file, which
gets stored in an imaginary cabinet in the new jail.

Strict procedures are followed when punishments are meted out. The "parliament" of the wronged gang convenes to hear the case with a prosecutor and defender.

It convenes without the knowledge of the accused.
Once a case is decided, the "judge" signs an imaginary warrant of execution. The gang's "doctor" is then instructed to examine the accused and prescribe a cure for his illness - the length of the blade to be used in a stabbing or the number of blows required for a beating.

Although the 28s are known for keeping "wives", all the gangs - even those whose constitution opposes homosexuality - are involved in prison sex.

The 28s, however, are known as the only gang which will fight to keep their "wives" from rivals. Members are divided into "soldiers" (who fight and enforce the gang's rules) and "wyfies", who are the "wives" of senior gang members.

"Wives" are used for sex and, once a prisoner is labelled as a wife, it is almost impossible to become a "soldier".

Soldiers, however, have sex with other prisoners when they mete out punishments in the form of gang rape.










Human conduits

"Poking" refers to the forced smuggling of contraband goods into jail by hiding them in the rectums of awaiting-trial prisoners. The victim is held down by two or three men while objects such as weapons, dagga or mandrax are shoved inside him. The objects are so large they are difficult to insert - normally they are kicked in. They are not easy to remove either. Gangs use anything from toothbrushes to coathangers to forcefully remove the smuggled objects, and may even jump on the victim's stomach to get them out. Some victims have had to undergo surgery to remove the objects, which cause so much damage those unfortunate enough to be inflicted with serious wounds have to wear colostomy bags. These collect faeces through a hole in the stomach while the anal area is healing.

And of course prison rape does not help the huge problem/challenge of HIV/aids either. Many are dying of it on a weekly basis ...........
I know of a mother who was trying to get her young son to come right and stay out of crime, so she had him arrested - to give him a fright. He got raped while waiting for trial and is now HIV Positive. He is 19.........really sad hey and now she's beating herself up over that....