HEADLINES:
R/€ Does the government care about the state of prisons?
April 15, 2005 Edition 1
The SABC3 Special Assignment programme on overcrowding in prisons was excellent and deserves congratulations.
In view of all the negative publicity the government has attracted over the years as a result of the poor state of our prisons and the overcrowding associated with it, I am amazed at the lack of leadership shown by our various correctional services ministers in this regard.
What is the use of having one of the most liberal constitutions in the world when you treat your prisoners worse than animals?
It is a well-known fact that many prisoners are being raped.
What has our government done about this?
It is a well-known fact that prisoners far outnumber the warders in every prison and correctional facility in this country, a situation which certainly places the lives of warders and non-violent prisoners at huge risk.
What has the government done about this?
What has it done about the HIV/Aids crisis in our prisons?
Does the government care at all about the wellbeing of our inmates?
The government has appointed Mr Justice Hannes Fagan as Inspecting Judge of Prisons - has it ever taken any of his recommendations into account?
It is vital that we always take into account the rights of the victims of crime, but at the same time we need to look at our constitution and strike a balance between the rights of the victim and the rights of awaiting-trial accused or prisoners.
Two wrongs will never make a right.
This ANC-led government should never forget some of its own members stand accused of serious crimes, and that these prisons could soon become home to some of them.
I do believe the time has come for the government to act swiftly and deal with the overcrowding, staff shortages and HIV/Aids
crises in our prisons.
The ANC should also speed up the transformation process within the justice system. As long as we have these arrogant, white, apartheid-era judges and magistrates in our courts, direct imprisonment of our people will remain their preferred form of punishment even for less serious crimes.
R Brown
Mitchell's Plain
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