The mother of inmates_Luyanda Majija.pdf

7/28/2019 The mother of inmates_Luyanda Majija.pdf

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MARTHA Kekana hadfinished work and waswalking across the

Medium A lapa atJohannesburg Correctional Cen-tre, informally known as Sun City,

when an inmate grabbed her frombehind, put his arms across herchest and whispered: I am going to

rape you.Are you stupid? All thes e men

are going to kill you if you hurt

me, Kekana warned as hundredsof men advanced on them, ready topounce on the attacker.

She begged the other men not tokill him and also went from cell tocell asking inmates to lend him

clothes because his were tattered.Unlike sentenced offenders, await-

ing-trial detainees dont wearprison uniform. Most wear theclothes they were wearing when

they were arrested. Kekanasattacker was no different and shefelt compelled to help him.

A heavy-set, confident, bubblywoman with albinism, Kekana, 54,has blue eyes, pink-hued skin and

blonde cornrows. She has devel-oped relationships of trust withthousands of male inmates during

her decade of service as an inde-pendent correctional centre visitor(ICCV) at Sun City.

Kekana is one of 304 ICCVs who

are members of the JudicialInspectorate of Correctional Ser-

vices, established in 1998 to comple-ment the Department of Correc-tional Services.

ICCVs visit correctional facili-ties for 69 hours each month toinspect and report on living condi-

tions in the facilities and to ensureinmates are treated human ely.

The work of these visitors is

pivotal in highlighting the prob-lems in correctional facilities.Their quarterly reports are used by

the inspectorate to compile anannual report submitted by theinspecting judge of prisons to the

portfolio committee on correc-tional services and the department,which is then tabled in Parliament.

Unlike the warders dressed inbrown or the inmates in orange,Kekana does not wear a uniform.

However, her unusual, male-domi-nated work environment meansshe dresses modestly.

Visually impaired because ofher albinism, Kekana wears 1970s-style, round glasses with thick,

orange-tinted lenses. She obtaineda commerce degree (at 43), but cantwork as an auditor because her

visual problem prevents her fromgetting a driving licence.

Kekana now works with about

3 500 men serving maximum termsfor crimes like murder and rape.When she enters the cells, she

wears her cap of boldness.This enables her to deal with

complaints ranging from the

assault of inmates by warders orother inmates, to corruption.

According to the Judicial Inspec-torate of Correctional Services2011/2012 annual report, the inspec-

torate received 424 717 complaints

from inmates, an 11percentincrease from the previous year.

On being appointed, ICCVs get

five days of training on their pow-ers, functions and duties, the com-plaints system and security and

safety measures. Since 2011, theyalso receive on-going training ondealing with basic legal matters

affecting inmates and evaluatingcomplaints.

Judge Deon van Zyl, former

inspecting judge, believes thisextended training was a goodinitiative.

Overcrowding is one of the most

pressing problems in SouthAfricas correctional facilities.

Prison capacity averages 133per-cent nationa lly, according to theJudicial Inspectorate of Correc-

tional Services most recent report.At Sun City, cells designed to

house 40 men often accommodate

up to 100. The cells are riddled withlice and bed bugs.

There are all types of odours

rubbish bins are inside the cell, thetoilet, urinal, rotting food

When people live in cramped

spaces, problems like poor sanita-tion lead to the spread of diseaseslike tuberculosis which, is easily

contract ed by people with HIV.According to Scott Spiegler of

Sonke Gender Justice Network, the

prevalence of HIV/Aids in thecountrys inmate populationis higher than that of the general

population.Spiegler says the prevalence of

HIV/Aids is 40 to 60 percent in our

correctional facilities, whereas theinfection rate of people older than15 in the general population is

17.8 percent, according to the HIV& AIDS Media Project.Most of the deaths in prisons

were due to HIV/Aids, TB andpneumonia, said the report.

High HIV/Aids and TB infec-tion rates make ICCV work poten-tially high-risk for Kekana, partic-

ularly if she were to be raped.Though ICCVs visit sick

inmates in cells that warders

refuse to enter, they are not pro-vided with masks to prevent TBtransmission. Kekana once visited

an inmate with drug-resistant TBand asked him to wear his mask toavoid infecting her.

ICCVs believe inmates are often

neglected by health-care profes-sionals and left to fend for them-selves, or to rely on other inmates

for help.Last September, SABCs Special

Assignmentfeatured a wheelchair-

bound Sun City inmate with skincancer, who was left alone in hissingle cell and forced to keep his

septic wounds clean with waterfrom a basin and bandages hebought from other inmates.

Though complaint channels doexist within the department,inmates voices are rarely heard.

The latest Judicial Inspectorate

of Correctional Services reportrecords 71 complaints of assaults

by officials on inmates which mayqualify as torture.

The inspectorate has completed

six investigations. Only one inci-dent of assault led to disciplinaryaction.

ICCVs provide a lifeline forinmates to express their griev-ances. But prison rights activist

Golden Miles Bhudu believes theycant always carry out their man-date effectively because they are on

the departments payroll.Geoffrey Mnisi*, a former

inmate who served most of his

eight-year sentence for armed rob-bery at Krugersdorp CorrectionalCentre, says many assaults by

warders go unreported. Prisonauthorities always encourage you

to report on inhumane treatment,but if you go to the prison head,you will be treated badly by the

officials.Sibongile Dladla*, an ICCV in

Sun Citys Medium A section, says

she and her colleagues face hostil-

ity from prison officials andnurses.

The warders dont like havingus there because they have to pro-tect us in addition to protecting

themselves and because we are alsothere to report on their treatmentof inmates.

One day Dladla was walking inher section when an inmate with abloodied face rushed past her. He

had been assaulted by a warder.No medical exam was made sothere wasnt enough evidence

against the warder who assaultedhim.

Van Zyl says the female ICCVs

are highly regarded. I am glad thata majority of ICCVs are

females because they do a greatjob They are far more reliableand accountable.

He says their capacity to helpinmates is because they are mater-nal and detainees are more open to

ICCVs than anybody else in prison.Kekana started in the Medium

A awaiting-trial section where she

has worked for eight years.Until November last year, seven

of the eight ICCVs at Sun City were

women.Today, there are only three

ICCVs serving more than 5 000 Sun

City inmates.However, eight newly trained

ICCVs will soon join the team.

Medium B, where Kekana nowworks with maximum-term sen-tenced offenders, presents different

challenges: One of the inmatesIm working with is serving timefor eight counts of rape, which

means that he raped someone eighttimes I had to listen to him tellme (in detail) how he raped her I

could be consulting with an inmatewho murdered someone I know orwith a drug dealer when many peo-

ple in my community are addictsMy job is not to judge.

The main challenges faced by

the awaiting-trial detainees are

poor sanitary conditions and thefrustrations caused by the length of

time taken to conclude trials repeated court postponements canextend trials up to five years.

ICCVs support the rehabilita-tion of inmates encouraging behav-iour change to reduce prison

returns.One of Kekanas major achieve-

ments, with the help of threeSoweto prosecutors, has been topioneer a plea-bargaining initiative

aimed at reducing overcrowding atSun Ci ty.

In the process, she received

paralegal training and has trainedother interested ICCVs.

Kekana proposed that some

courts in Soweto open on Saturdaysto hasten the appeals process forlong-term inmates.

Though the opening of courtson weekends did not last long dueto a lack of government funds, the

initiative almost halved the inmatepopulation.

It also reduced expenditure the

state spends more than R45.8mil-

lion a day to incarcerate SouthAfricas 158790 inmates.

Van Zyl says: Martha is asuperb ICCV and as far as Im con-cerned, they should give her a topjob in the Department of Correc-

tional Services.Despite her stresses, Kekana

remains fiercely enthusiastic about

her work. Seeing the smiles on theinmates faces when they see mewalk into their cells, and when I sit

on their beds to speak to them, ispriceless

Names have been changed to pro-tect identities.

The mother of inmates

Luyanda Majija is a graduate of the BA HonoursJournalism programme at Wits University. This article wassupervised by members of the Wits Justice Project, which

investigates miscarriages of justice.

She is the voice of

the voiceless at the

iniquitous Sun City,writes Luyanda Majija

AGENT OF CHANGE:Martha Kekana is a gifted and kind person and shes made some importantimprovements to the lives of awaiting-trial detainees. PICTURE: LUYANDA MAJIJA

Documents

The mother of inmates_Luyanda Majija.pdf