Management of Remand Detainees in South Africa - DCS-Home

Other challenges associated with overcrowding include inadequate space for sleeping, high
rate of breakages of ablution facilities leading to high maintenance cost and high rate of skin
diseases. The latter has not been researched in DCS.
Several challenges that were reported by managers of RDFs in DCS are:
o Inadequate off load points for trucks/vans delivering RDs from courts;
o Lack or inadequate space for searching RDs at the off loading point;
o Inadequate telephone facilities;
o Inadequate space for accommodating family visits and legal consultation, recreation,
and several programmes rendered by external service providers;
o Inadequate or lack of laundry facilities and dining halls;
o Lack of library facilities and literature to assist RDs who provide their own defence. In
mixed facilities, if library facilities are provided, they are only accessible to sentenced
offenders;
o Delay in attending to regular breakages due to lack of internal maintenance team and
reliance on DPW.
In SCFs the major challenges were the high rate of breakages of furniture including doors
and inadequate space for accommodating visits.
9.7.1.2 Recommendations
Management of overcrowding should be the CJS responsibility because the drivers of the
population of RDs are beyond the control of the detention institutions
If additional accommodation is considered in DCS, the regions that should be prioritized
based on population growth over the period of 14 years are Gauteng and Western Cape.
A prototype for the RDFs should be developed so that new facilities can cater for the
services and programmes of RDs and the prototype should also be informed by legislative
provisions.
Upgrading of RDFs in DCS to align them with minimum facilities standard.
With regard to SCF, the blue print should be included in legislative and policy frameworks
for RDs.
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