About 6 000 of the 10 000 prisoners released monthly from South African jails are HIV-positive, according to Judge Johannes Fagan, the inspecting judge of prisons.
Briefing the National Assembly’s correctional services committee on Tuesday, he said the situation had worsened because HIV-positive prisoners leaving jail were more likely to spread the disease.
It was thus essential for the general fight against HIV/Aids that infected inmates received proper treatment.
The Correctional Services Department was beginning to ”turn the corner”, providing anti-Aids drugs to infected prisoners. These included AZT, 3TC, and nevirapine, he said.
The number of ”unnatural” deaths in prison, such as those due to violence, remained low and absolutely ”rock-steady”, while the number of ”natural” deaths were rapidly increasing, Fagan said.
Almost all of these ? 1 169 last year — were Aids-related. Conditions in overcrowded prisons were ”not conducive to (the) longevity of those who are HIV-positive”, he said.
Aids-related deaths in prisons peaked during the winter months, particularly during July and August.
?It is not only sentenced prisoners who are dying. Awaiting trial prisoners are also dying.”
HIV-positive prisoners had not all been infected in prison, Fagan said.
It had been found that the disease was being brought into prisons, especially by HIV-positive young offenders. Long-term prisoners, such as those who were inside for about 15 years, were free of HIV.
Overcrowding remained the root cause of health problems and the spread of contagious diseases, including HIV/Aids and tuberculosis, he said.
It was ”totally unacceptable” that prisons were so overcrowded.
”There are far too many prisoners in our prisons. Building new prisons is not the answer. The problem is getting the numbers down. Community corrections is the way to go,” Fagan said.
Of the about 175 000 inmates in South African prisons, around 55 000 were awaiting trial, many for years. This was a ”shocking indictment” of the country’s justice system, the judge said.
Forty percent of those awaiting trial (20 692) were in prison ”only because of poverty”, as they could not afford to pay even the very low bail amounts set for them.
Each of these accused had been found by a magistrate to pose no threat to the community, should he or she await trial outside of prison.
Apart from the social cost of locking them up in what had been referred to as ”universities of crime”, it was costing the country about R2-million a day to keep them behind bars.
”This is crazy,” Fagan said. – Sapa