Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

At Pietersburg, the researcher was struck by the factthat several of the unsentenced children were wearingthe same set of clothes in which they had beenarrested. The children said they had no opportunityto'wash them and had no soap. Two of them, however,said it was possible to wash clothes and thatthey had managed to get soap for the purpose.At Pietersburg, the boys have one set of clothes. When,they are dirty, they wash them at night or borrowfrom other prisoners while they are drying. Soap andwashing basins are available. However "most of the.children interviewed were quite scruffy and allegedthey do not have soap to wash their clothes."At Rustenburg, each child has on average one and ahalf sets of clothing. They are provided with soap andare able to wash their clothes at night or over weekends,and use night clothes to change.Juveniles at Rustenburg complained of insufficientsoap to do their washing and said that there wasnowhere to dry their clothes. At Stanger, the childrensaid they had to hang them on the windows and thatthey took a long time to dry.At Ekuseni, juveniles are issued with attractive tracksuits.At St Albans, a decision had been made todistinguish the juveniles from older prisoners bygiving them a uniform different to that of the adults,but this had not happened at the time of the visit. Atother prisons, like Thohoyandou, however, juveniles .are issued ordinary green clothes.The girls seemed to be slightly better off than the boys.At Pietersburg, the sentenced girls each have at leasttwo sets of prison clothes. They are also allowed to keeptheir own civilian clothes for use when prison clothesare dirty. Inmates have access to clean water and soap.At Thohoyandou Women's Prison, each girl had at leastthree sets of clothes. Soap was available for washing.At the Westville Women's Prison, the sentenced girlsare given clothes and towels but say that the jerseysare 'too thin'.Clothing for unsentenced children is the responsibilityof the Department of Welfare. In all but a few cases,the children had been given no clothes or towels.At Westville Prison, it appears that the clothes thatwere provided for this section before 1994 were takenout by the released children, and the stock has not beenreplaced. The warders at this facility have suggestedthat they would like to issue children with underwear,tracksuits, shorts, t-shirts and shoes on arrival andkeep the children's own clothes in safekeeping untilthey return to court. At present the children wearwhat they.arrive in, unless families bring them clothes.Many Of the children have no shoes, and some haveworn torn t-shirts for months. The clothes are washedwith bath soap and hung out of the window to dry.There are no laundry facilities,.and it is up to the childrento keep their own clothes clean. The researcherexpressed concern about the situation, stressing thatthe approach of winter and the fact that the sleepingquarters are below ground made it extremely urgentthat warm clothes be provided for the children. Followingthis visit, the Department of Welfare provided 250tracksuits, blankets and eight oil heaters for thechildren awaiting trial.Many other unsentenced children are not so fortunate.The children awaiting trial at Pollsmoor, for example,wear their own often 'bedraggled' clothes, and. oftenhave no shoes, even in the cold of winter.Diet and Meals"Every detention facility shall ensure that every juvenilereceives food that is suitably prepared and presented 'at normal meal times and of a quality and quantity tosatisfy the standards of dietetics, hygiene andhealth... " (UN RULES 37)There were complaints about food and meals atalmost all the prisons.One of the most persistent cojnplaints, and indeed acause for some considerable concern is that, at most,prisons, the last meal of the day is served in the earlyHOW THE CHILDREN ARE CARED FOR