Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

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a time. The programme'is voluntary and anythingfrom two to thirty children attend at any one time.Help from outside the prisonsAt some prisons, NGOs and outside organisationsarrange programmes for young prisoners.At Pollsmoor, 'outside' community projects aimed athelping juveniles, include visits to the prisons, addressingthe children and organising events like talent competitions.The prison is also involved in the Presidential Awards,a project of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, whichconsist of a series of'stepped programmes aimed atdeveloping the social, physical and intellectual wellbeingof youth. They include, for example, courses inkarate, business and hiking. Bronze, silver and goldmedals are awarded on completion of each courses.At Pretoria Central Medium B, there are also 'outside'programmes. NICRO, for example, offers life skillsclasses and a pre-release programme. However, notone of the boys interviewed said he had attended asocial work programme, although some said theyhad been interviewed by social workers, either in thePretoria or Johannesburg prison.At the Westville Youth Centre, NICRO runs morninglife skills programmes for unsentenced children,focusing on decision-making and consequences,assertiveness training and cultural activities. TheKwaZulu/Natal Youth Builders Association, an NGOfrom the Verulam area, has also been brought inbecause of its experience in working with politicisedyouth in areas affected by violence. Its programmesinvolve helping youth organise cultural activities suchas gumboot dancing, gospel singing and sports. Thesocial workers in the Youth Centre have bought 12pairs of gumboots for the children.The NICRO programmes cover some of the aspectsrecommended by researcher Anne McKay, but shecomments that, at one hour a week, they are unlikelyto be effective. She notes that, in any case: "Rutter (1983)suggests that it is not only, or even primarily in thecontent of a rehabilitation programme that rehabilitationoccurs, but also in the structure of an institution, andin its officials having an understanding of their role inunderstanding delinquency and promoting pro-socialPehaviour." The small number of social workers andthe overcrowding of the awaiting trial section at WestvilleYouth Centre keeps Correctional Services staff frombeing actively involved in rehabilitative work, undercuttingtheir ability to make prison a rehabilitativeexperience for the children.Release Policy and Pre-Release Programmes"All juveniles should benefit from arrangements designedto assist them in returning to society, family life,education or employment after release. Procedures,including early release, and special courses should bedevised to this end... Competent authorities shouldprovide or ensure services to assist juveniles in reestablishingthemselves in society and to lessen prejudiceagainst such juveniles...." (ON RULES 79 & aojAt many prisons, such as Pietermaritzburg, there areno separate release procedures, and children aresubject to the same procedures as adults. TheDepartment of Correctional Services does not have aseparate policy for children on remission, parole orother related issues.At the time of the research, the Head of the RustenburgPrison advised the researchers that the inmates qualifyfor parole after serving one third of their sentences. T-However, because most relatives either cannot be tracéeor because of the time taken to trace them, the juvenilesmay end up serving longer periods. To qualify .for parolethe prisoner must either have demonstrated 'sterling'good behaviour throughout his stay in prison or beserving a sentence for a minor crime.At this prison, as mentioned above, the social workerreported that inmates undergo a community reintegrationprogramme. At Barberton, it was reportedthat the community re-integration department issupposed to run a pre-release programme but hasnotdone .so. Pretoria Central Medium B offers a prereleaseprogramme which commences six weeksbefore release.7 A subsequent amendment to the Correctional Services Act, however, now.requires that at least half asentence be served before parole can. be considered.REHABILITATION PROGRAMMES
At Westville Youth Centre, there is no pre-releaseprogramme for the awaiting trial and unsentencedchildren. The social workers say they do not know whena child will be sentenced or released. The children goto court and may or may not come back to theprison. Those who are sentenced to reform schoolsare sent back to prison and may wait many weeks oreven months to be transferred without any programmein place for them. Some of the sentencedchildren at the Youth Centre, however, are helped bythe social workers during the pre-release period,although they are greatly constrained by a shortageof staff as mentioned above.There is no pre-release policy at the Westville Women'sPrison due to the fact that no social worker is employedat the prison at all.At Stanger, such systems as had existed, such as thepre-release programme, had collapsed due to the staff/management programmes.The monitor who visited the Westville Women's Prisonconducted the following checklist against internationalstandards for conditions of imprisonment of children:8 In most of the interviews conducted across the country, according to the children, no probation officer hadseen the child during his or her hearings.
Page 2 and 3: • ContentsINTRODUCTION 1ACKNOWLED
Page 4 and 5: almost certainly because they tear
Page 6 and 7: Figure 2 gives a breakdown of child
Page 8 and 9: THANKS ARE DUE TO:The children and
Page 10: .Ekuseni Youth CentreThe Ekuseni Yo
Page 13 and 14: 1• Definition of Children andJuve
Page 15 and 16: age of 18 with their own age groups
Page 17 and 18: Dedicated facilities for JuvenilesT
Page 19 and 20: At the Pollsmoor Admission Centre,
Page 21 and 22: Separation of sentenced and unsente
Page 23: Beds and bedding"Every juvenile sho
Page 26: At Pietersburg, the researcher was
Page 29 and 30: are virtually unoccupied for long p
Page 31 and 32: At Rustenburg, a qualified, nurse i
Page 33 and 34: At Pretoria Central, a new prison,
Page 35 and 36: offers them a 'good opportunity of
Page 37: The South African Constitution ensh
Page 40 and 41: Leeuwkop were extremely demotivated
Page 42 and 43: trial- are the responsibility of th
Page 44: Where programmes are jn placeIn som
Page 50 and 51: VIOLENCE IN PRISONS
Page 52 and 53: AssaultAs part of their mission sta
Page 54 and 55: of 24, sometimes without even a tel
Page 56 and 57: "Personnel should be qualified and
Page 58 and 59: the night at 3pm. In some instituti
Page 60 and 61: the ages of 15 and 17. In an emerge
Page 62 and 63: Generally, serious problems are ref
Page 64 and 65: Alternatively, if a charge is to be
Page 66 and 67: One of the consistent patterns that
Page 68 and 69: Often children say that they are, n
Page 70 and 71: the names of their lawyers. Three o
Page 72 and 73: Bail"Every child has the right not
Page 74 and 75: Postponements and finalisation of c
Page 76 and 77: Figure 7 shows the length of senten
Page 78 and 79: How the Children are Cared For8. An
Page 80: Trial40. Parents or guardians shoul

Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

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