Conditions at the Johannesburg Prison were ”totally unacceptable,” Correctional Services Portfolio Committee chairperson Dennis Bloem has said.
Speaking after an inspection visit to the jail on Sunday, Bloem said the facility’s infrastructure was ”suffering” as a result of overcrowding.
”In the awaiting-trial prisoners section which I visited, there were 7 000 inmates, three times more than what that area can accommodate.
”The one prisoner I spoke to said he has been awaiting for his trial for seven years now, which is unfair.
”What will happen to him should he be tried and found not guilty after such a long time behind bars?”
Bloem said in one cell, 90 inmates had to share one toilet and shower.
”The sewage system there is suffering and toilets are blocked and everything. The conditions are really appalling,” he said.
Bloem said Johannesburg Prison was designed to accommodate about 6 000 prisoners but currently housed 14 000.
He said there needed to be an investigation into why courts were taking so long to have prisoners tried.
”This is why we support the Minister’s (Ngconde Balfour’s) decision to have some prisoners arrested for petty crimes released,” Bloem said.
He said the government was currently in the process of building prisons in Kimberley, Leeuwkop, Klerksdorp and Nelspruit which were expected to be completed during the current financial year.
Bloem said he would be visiting more prisons around the country this week. – Sapa