Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

age of 18 with their own age groups. The socialworker was of the opinion that all age groups shouldbe held together, while the institutional committeeperson thought the policy was to separate theyounger inmates from the older ones.Despite this, most of the really young boys were heldin one cell, although the cell also contained juvenilesof 18 years old. At the time of the visit, this cell,designed for 28 prisoners, had a population of 36.In most of the other cells, the ages 'were mixed andincluded 17 year olds to juveniles aged 21 and older.' At Pretoria Central, all the juveniles are accommpdatedon two floors of the prison. Each cell is spacious andhouses 11 or 12 inmates. However, no attempt hadbeen made to separate the young children from theolder juveniles, and there were many prisoners therewho were older than 21 years. Despite this, thechildren interviewed did not complain of harassmentby the older inmates.At Malmesbury,. juveniles are locked up after a shortrecreation, period in the morning to avoid associationwith adults.At Pretoria Central, the sentenced male juveniles areaccommodated in a block behind the main prison inMedium B. This a four-storey building which, at thetime of the visit, had not been completed. Juvenilesare accommodated on the middle two floors. The topfloor is .used for education and training. Adult maleswho are teachers, monitors and on work teams areaccommodated on the ground floor. In Barberton, thejuvenile prison is situated just outside the town, whilethe adult and maximum security prisons are on afarm some distance away. In Boksburg, sentencedjuveniles are accommodated in the former hospitalsection, separate from the main body of the prison.Within this section, juveniles are accommodated in aseparate cell.In contrast, it was clear that at other prisons thatinsufficient efforts had been made to keep childrenapart from adults.At Odi Prison, one young boy was in a cell with 39other youth, some aged 22 or even 25. He said hehad been told that the juvenile section was full.Another boy of 15 was accommodated with 40inmates of different ages. Although he said he wasnot badly treated, he would have preferred to be withchildren of the same age as himself. A third boy wasin a smaller cell with two boys aged .20. He had beenmoved there because he had been "called names" inhis previous cell.Sometimes the prison is organised in a way thatmakes complete separation impossible.At Pollsmoor Medium A, despite the separation ofsections, juveniles have to pass through the adultsection on their way out of the prison, or whenattending school or visiting the doctor. They also