Cape Town | Wednesday
INMATES of Pollsmoor Prison juvenile section on Wednesday complained to national Correctional Services commissioner Linda Mti that they were being beaten by warders.
Mti was visiting the prison ahead of Human Rights Day in a bid to raise inmates’ awareness of their rights.
When he asked one group of several hundred juveniles if they had any complaints, one youngster stood up and said prison staff beat them.
The youth also said warders arrived drunk at work and vented their frustrations on prisoners.
His fellow inmates echoed his words with shouts of “Yes, yes”, and loud applause.
Mti said such assaults were “not right” and should be reported to the prisons area manager.
“We must report all these things to whoever is in charge. You must report if you see anyone coming to work drunk. It’s not right.”
Pollsmoor area manager Freddie Engelbrecht told the juveniles they had already been informed that they had a right to lay criminal charges, and that the Pollsmoor authorities had said they would dismiss warders found guilty of assault.
However, he asked prisoners not to provoke warders.
Mti earlier told inmates that the department was doing its best to deal with problems of overcrowding, although the solution here was not the responsibility of the department alone.
He said inmates who had complained could take them either to prison officials or the prisons inspecting judge, Hannes Fagan.
“You need to know your rights so no one can take your rights first of all as citizens, secondly as prisoners,” he said. – Sapa
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