Some prisoners should be granted a presidential amnesty as part of the celebration of 10 years of democracy in South Africa, the SA Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights (SAPOHR) said on Thursday.
In a media statement, the KwaZulu-Natal chairperson of SAPOHR, Derrick Mdluli, said all prisoners with less than three months of their sentences still to serve, and those who were given the option of a fine, should be released.
He said the move would relieve overcrowding, and the spread of HIV/Aids in prisons through sexual assaults and tattooing.
”Prison cells designed to house a maximum of 20 are now housing up to sixty with one toilet and bathroom facilities,” Mdluli said.
Prisoners dying from Aids-related illnesses should also be pardoned, Mdluli said.
”We should not wait until the person is in his last days before a medical release is granted,” he added.
Mdluli also appealed to church leaders to visit prisons and see the ”embarrassing conditions in our prisons”.
”What has been shown on electronic and print media yesterday in Cape Town in Pollsmoor prison is unacceptable and prisons should not be used as a dumping ground for human beings,” he said. – Sapa