Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

are virtually unoccupied for long periods of the daymay exacerbate their feelings of hunger.In certain prisons, particularly the women's prisons,the children did not complain of hunger. At thePietersburg Female Prison, for example, the childrendid not complain of being hungry and said they couldsave bread for when they felt hungry. In one or twocases, such as at the Thohoyandou Female Prison,the meals were reported to be filling and adequate.The member of staff in charge of the kitchen at thisprison agreed that the food was adequate, but said hewould like a larger- budget in order to make it tastier.At Pietersburg, where the third meal was served laterthan elsewhere (at 5pm), the food was agreed to benutritious, balanced and filling. This was one of thevery few prisons in which there were no complaintsabout the food.There were many complaints about porridge, which .thechildren complained gave them sores or made themsick. At both Pretoria Local and Central, the childrenclaimed the porridge gives them 'sores on their skins'.At Pretoria Local, the children said the food served tothem was 'unhealthy' and sometimes contained hairand nails. The food at Barberton was described asdirty and smelly. At the Johannesburg Medium Afacility, the children said that it tasted bad and wasnot well cooked, and one boy complained that it hadgiven him a stomach ache. At Pretoria Central, a boyalso said that the food wasbad for his stomach andanother said he did not likesteamed food. One of theboys said he had foundworms in his food but hadbeen told not to complain.At Stanger, too, the boyscomplained of worms intheir food.There were repeatedcomplaints about the juicepowder. At the Westville Women's Prison, the girlslinkedit to outbreaks of vaginal discharge, and atthe Westville Youth Centre to symptoms of sexuallytransmitted diseases. The girls at Westville toldresearchers that the district surgeon had advisedthem not to take the powder. The researchers submitteda sample for testing but reported that this hadbeen difficult to follow up and that they were awaitinga report from the Department of CorrectionalServices which was investigating the issue.There appear to be differing policies about allowingfood in from outside the prison. At Pretoria Local,sentenced juveniles said they were not allowed toaccept food from their families. At Stanger, childrenare not allowed to receive food from their families,although certain warders allow the children to receiveuncooked food. At the Rustenburg Jgvenile Section,only tinned fruit may be taken into the rooms.In some facilities, unsentenced children may receivefood, and some share what has been brought to them.At Thohoyandou, for example, the unsentenced malechildren were allowed to keep food in their cells.Cookjng is frequently done by inmates who usuallyoccupy a separate cell and may enjoy special privileges.At Rustenburg Juvenile Prison, the seven prisonerswho do the cooking have two television sets, a videocassette recorder (VCR) and a small'stereo. Unlikeother prisoners they are allowed to watch televisionduring the day if they have finished their duties.Sometimes food is prepared elsewhere in the prisonand brought to the juvenile section by other prisoners.At Thohoyandou, for example, meals are prepared bytwenty-two adult long-term prisoners who are HIV-free.These prisoners work in shifts and live in a separate cell.At Ekuseni, by contrast, catering is contracted outto a private company.According to the chef incharge of the kitchen, thefood is of a much betterquality and variety than innormal prisons. Asmentioned earlier, threefull meals a day areserved at 'reasonableintervals'.The children are usuallyserved separately from adults. Sometimes they eatoutside in an open courtyard or, if it rains, undershelter near the cells. In rare cases, the prison mayserve meals in the dining hall. In Thohoyandou and atPietersburg, the sentenced prisoners eat in the dininghall, but the unsentenced male prisoners said thattheir dining hall had been shut because of fightsduring mealtimes.