South Africa: sounding the alarm

Zia Wasserman. We experienced difficulties within prison for long before COVID-19 came around. Our prisons are severely overcrowded, they are occupied at a 130% rate on average, up to 200% for some facilities. That creates and exacerbates a whole host of other issues. Most of the cells are communal cells. Single cells are mostly used for either punishment or by request, to protect inmates from gangs or for sanitary isolation purposes. We often hear reports of cells made for 30 inmates that actually accommodate between 70 and 80.

Five to seven people sometimes share two beds. Many sleep on the floor because there are not enough mattresses.

The cells are unhygienic. All people share one toilet, one shower, which often do not work. There is very little privacy. We have staff shortages and it is difficult for incarcerated people to have access to rehabilitation programs. Access to healthcare is an issue as well. There is a lack of medical staff, and sometimes of medication. The prisons are generally very old and have not been redone in years, the water sometimes does not work, there is often no hot water. It is frequent to see cracks and mold on the ceiling or the windows. That creates an environment that allows diseases and physical violence. There are very high rates of HIV and tuberculosis in our prisons. In term of access to legal services though, we have dedicated legal aid, NGOs and law firms that usually easily access to prisons.

ZW. The government seemed to be quite slow to react to COVID-19 in prisons. Civil society organisations were observing the spread of the virus globally, and warned the government in late March, without response at first. The first case in prison was reported on the 6th of April, if I am not mistaken. It was an official, who had attended a funeral and was later found positive. The numbers then kept going up, and up, and up and up. As of today [9th of June] there are 1,128 positive cases, and eight deaths. ¹.

No one was reporting to us what was going on inside the prisons. That was a major problem.

The courts also closed, and no inmates were transported from the prisons to the courts. Trials could not be carried on virtually because very few prisons are equipped to do so. This led to a massive backlog in the court system. People were sitting in remand, awaiting trial for a longer period.

The authorities said they were providing PPE and masks, and sanitising everything inside the prisons. However, from very early on, we received several complaints from incarcerated people and their loved ones saying that this was not happening. They were anxious and desperate. We engaged the government, we presented the complaints, but received no response. So we organized a lot of advocacy action and wrote to a lot of medias: we asked the government to do more, and do better, to prevent this plague.

Eventually, on the 8th of May, the government announced they would release 19,000 people on parole, prioritising the release of the elderly, women, children, and those with preexisting heart conditions. One month later, they still had not been released.

At first, we were more lenient, because the authorities had projected that releases would have to go through a proper parole process. After a month, inmates and families were still waiting, without information on what is happening. They said that the releases would be part of a justice initiative, but they still have not explained what that means.
We have asked the authorities what services would be offered to the people who are released. In normal times, it is difficult for prisoners to reintegrate in the society, but it is going to be even harder now, especially in the poor communities where many have lost their jobs during this time. We have not heard back on that either, so we sent a second letter to the Minister. Until recently, the government had not released an official plan on their management of COVID-19 in prison, which meant there was nothing that we could hold them accountable to. They only released a plan a month ago for standard operative procedures, with next to no reference to human rights, or protection of inmates. This aspect is still missing to this day.

The correctional services took the initiative of posting online statistics, updated almost every day. This is really good, although, to be honest, I am not sure why they did it. It would however be interesting to have access to disaggregated data and to know how many tests are actually being done.

Since the administrations is testing only people with symptoms, there is a risk of many more being positive while asymptomatic. We also need to get a better understanding of who is concerned by the testing: are women’s prisons and people in remand detention centers included, for instance?

ZW. South Africa has a tradition of a very strong civil society which holds the government accountable. A small number of organisations are working on prison and they are networked in a coalition called the Detention Justice Forum. Their modes of action are very diverse. For instance, associations such as SASAPO or SAPOHR are very vocal, to the point that they have been accused of instigating riots. They have recently been called out in the media and by the Minister of Correctional Services as “trouble-makers”. When the government announced the release of 19,000 inmates, theses associations asked for the number to be doubled. At Sonke, we try to distance ourselves from that kind of provocative advocacy in order to support the government and offer our assistance, rather than just being critical. Yet we do support certain issues advocated by SASAPO, such as the recent call to release of mothers with children in prison.

On another level of civil society involvement, you have workers’ unions representing prison officials. POPCRU for instance defends the interests of prison staff. Their needs were already important before the pandemic and have become even more so recently, since they are under immense stress in dealing with the present situation. POPCRU is demanding that all officials be equipped with proper equipment and that they be tested regularly. They are also asking for communities not to stigmatise and marginalise prison officials. We have witnessed such things happening.

Initially, most of the cases were among officials and not the prison population. It has now changed: more inmates are positive than officials. At Sonke Gender Justice, we believe a long-term plan is needed.

It should include restorative justice interventions and a support for released people and their families. We need to take this time to reassess what prisons are and what their purposes are. This is an important moment to show how prisons look like, to show the vulnerabilities that people have in prison. This happens in general, but also specifically in times of crisis.
We can release certain categories of people now. But we must also ask why they should be imprisoned in the first place.