Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

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Often children say that they are, not told of theirrights: that legal aid entitles them to free access to a.lawyer and that the Constitution protects their right tolegal representation.Where children do ask for lawyers, they sometimes donot receive any response. An example of this was foundin Johannesburg Medium A, where an unsentencedboy reported that no-one had followed up on hisrequest for representation.The Rural AreasIn rural areas, large numbers of children were foundwho had not had access to a lawyer. The NorthernProvince had the poorest record,. At the ThohoyandouPrison, which houses both sentenced and unsentencedfemale and male children, none of the children werelegally represented. At Pietersburg, only.one of thesentenced and unsentenced children interviewed hadhad access to legal aid.At Wellington Prison in Umtata, none of the childrenwere represented. At Leeuwkop, only four out ofseventeen had been represented.A fairly typical cross-section of attitudes andexperiences was obtained at Odi Prison. None of the •children interviewed had been legally represented incourt. Two of the boys said the court had not offeredthem legal assistance. Another said that the courthad asked him if he could afford it and, when he saidhe could not, had not been offered a state lawyer.Another boy said he did not need a lawyer becausehe knew he was guilty. Two others said they did notneed lawyers because they were innocent. In theselatter cases, the children said they had been 'lookingafter (stolen) property for a friend' and seemed not torealise that this was an offence.At Barberton, most of the children interviewed hadnot been represented in court. Some had decided torepresent themselves, others said they did not wanta state lawyer, and one said he had not been informedof his right to a lawyer. Two had been represented bythe public defender and the Legal Aid Board.At Malmesbury, where eight children were interviewed,six had chosen to "speak for myself", one at theinstigation of his mother.
At Rustenburg, the majority of the children intervieweddid not understand that they did not have to pay fora lawyer. Others were unable to see that they mightbe prejudiced without one. Again, one refused alawyer because he believed he would be acquitted;another because he had no faith in legal aid lawyers.At Stanger, four children were interviewed - onesentenced and three awaiting trial. All three of thesentenced children had legal representation. One saidthe lawyer had never spoken to him. Each of the othertwo had spent one hour with 'their lawyers and werenot satisfied with the service they were receiving. Neitherof them had received the services of an interpreterwhen speaking to their lawyers. The sentenced child,who was serving three years for theft of a motorvehicle, said that he does not trust state attorneys.It was clear from the interviews that children have apoor understanding of court procedures, particularlyof the potential value of a legal representative. Manyare poorly educated and have little skill in argumentor presentation. Despite their belief, or the belief oftheir parents, that the children are able to defendthemselves, this is clearly not the case.The urban areasIn urban prisons, a marginally better picture emerges.At Pollsmoor, of the five boys interviewed, two wererepresented by private attorneys, and one by a legalaid attorney. However, one of the remaining boys saidthat his mother felt that a lawyer was not necessaryand "would not help his case". The fifth boy said hehad been represented by his mother and that:"lawyers are not good for your case". This was anopinion he had heard from adults and his friends.At the Pollsmoor Admission Centre, a similar patternemerged. Of six boys interviewed, three had beenallocated a legal aid lawyer, one had a private legalrepresentative, and one said his parents did not wanthim to have a lawyer. Only one was unaware of his rightsin this regard and said that he would get a lawyer forhis pending cases.In Gauteng, where a public defender pilot project isrunning, some of the children had been defended bythis office. 1213 A number of other pilots aimed at introducing the public defender system are planned. There is alsoproposed legislation to add a practical year to the LLB degree, requiring students to work in the justicesystem either as public defenders or as prosecutors before they qualify.
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• ContentsINTRODUCTION 1ACKNOWLED
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almost certainly because they tear
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Figure 2 gives a breakdown of child
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THANKS ARE DUE TO:The children and
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.Ekuseni Youth CentreThe Ekuseni Yo
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1• Definition of Children andJuve
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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 47: At Westville Youth Centre, there is
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 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
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Children in Prison in South Africa - Community Law Centre

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