Johannesburg -
Prisoners with disabilities are treated with dignity and enjoy the same rights as able-bodied inmates, the Correctional Services department said on Wednesday.
“No prisoner's human rights are taken away from them. They are treated with the dignity they deserve,” said spokesman Koos Gerber.
In the case of double-amputee Oscar Pistorius, who is facing murder charges following the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, Gerber said Pistorius's prosthetics would not be taken away from him should he be sent to jail.
“The department (of correctional services) is a responsible organisation and takes care of inmates in an appropriate manner,” said Gerber.
Disabled people were therefore treated like everyone else.
“We only assist in providing for the special needs that a specific disability requires,” said Gerber.
“A blind person will, for instance, be incarcerated with people with sight so that they can assist him and so on… they certainly are not locked up separately as a group.” - Sapa