Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

AssaultAs part of their mission statement, the Department ofCorrectional Services commits itself to the safe custodyof prisoners.Yet, at many of the prisons, the children seem to livein fear,At Leeuwkop, almost every inmate mentioned his fearof something happening to him. Some of them feltthe 'binneplaas' (courtyard) is not safe: 'anything canhappen'. Others spoke of the threat of assault and. rape. Three said they had been raped by others inthe prison. Others said they had witnessed rapes,sodomy, assaults and stabbings. As mentionedearlier, one child had a black eye which he said hadbeen inflicted by a cell mate. Others are forced todo work by older cell mates, and sometimes bygangs. Many of the fights are instigated by gangs.At the Westville Youth Centre, the staff said thatassault by fellow prisoners was a major problem,but its extent is difficult to assess. The staff thoughtthat it happened during the afternoon lock up andat night, although the children deny it. The staff saidthat they separate the children by age and keep the14 and 15 year olds together and separate from the16 and 17 year olds and that, despite this, there aremany assaults. They say their only means of controlis to remove the television.It seems that the children will come forward wheninjured but will not give the name of the assailant. Theresearcher at this prison checked the complaints book:"assault by unknown prisoner" was a frequent entry.The Head of the Youth Centre has a collection ofweapons made from sharpened toothbrushes, glass,razor blades tied together with plastic bags, metalplates from the soles of shoes, the inside of a doorlock etc.At Westville Women's Prison, the juveniles say they arenot abused or assaulted by anybody. There is occasionalfighting amongst the inmates, but this is rare. It is alsoalleged that there is no access to weapons, althoughthe female prisoners do sometimes have or makeweapons. Searches only occur if something is suspected,and there are no regular searches for contraband orweapons. It was reported that the warders do roundsapproximately twice a night. They remain withinearshot so that they can be called in an emergency.