Audiences were given an intriguing look into the world of prison gangs when author-journalist Jonny Steinberg addressed about 30 people at a Winter School lecture at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown on Saturday.
Steinberg is a journalist who really believes in getting involved with his subjects.
He has spent tens of hours behind bars to research his new book, Midlands, an investigative follow up to his 2002 study of farm murders in rural KwaZulu-Natal.
The author is in his early 30s, softly spoken and even a little shy. But his research brought him into contact with some of the country’s most hardened criminals.
Prisoners must spend up to five years “training” to become a fully-fledged gang member. The men Steinberg came into contact with in the maximum security unit of Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town weren’t serving light sentences.
The book is a work in progress, and focuses mainly on the experiences of one inmate who was recruited as a senior gang member’s “wife”.
Steinberg spent more than 60 hours with the man. He said he pities his subject.
Three gangs are of particular interest to Steinberg: the 26’s campaign for better prisoner rights, the 27’s are peace-keepers, and the 28’s are warriors. He spent most of his lecture explaining the fascinating history that gave rise to the 28’s. The 26’s and 27’s sprang from the original 28’s gang.
In his book, Steinberg has used colourful first-hand explanations by prisoners, and then provided a more factual historical basis.
South African prisons are notoriously homophobic, but are also centres for gang-related homosexual activity. This paradox was a focal point in Steinberg’s lecture.
The author suggests that gangsters are given a “right” to have homosexual relations because of a prison credo that dismisses women as poison.
In another strange paradox, gang members can deny that they are homosexual because their lovers are seen as women, or “wives”. He said the “wives” were not allowed to do any physical activity and were not allowed out of their cell without permission from their husbands.
He said the book would be released “when it’s finished”.
He said he was is determined to produce writing that was “emotionally engaged”.
“It is important to write with emotion and values.” –ECN Cuewire