"We don't need more prisons, we need fewer prisoners. Children under 18 should not be in prison at all and the police are far too ready to make unnecessary arrests."
These were the words of Inspecting Judge of Prisons Hannes Fagan at a symposium at the University of the Western Cape's law faculty on Wednesday.
Fagan said overcrowding in jails was a major concern, especially for children up to 17 years and juveniles (aged 18 to 20).
He said 4 000 children and 25 000 juveniles were being held in the country's 241 prisons.
"Half of them are awaiting trial and the conditions are terrible. Juveniles are subjected to gangs, sodomy, sexual abuse and HIV and Aids.
"There is no education for awaiting-trial prisoners, no rehabilitation and they sit in utter boredom in their overcrowded cells."
South Africa has 32 places of safety and four reform schools in the country for awaiting-trial children and juveniles.
"We need more reform schools. Some children wait two years in prison before being sent to the reformatory," said Fagan.
He recounted a recent visit to a prison that had the capacity to hold 38 prisoners but had 101 inmates.
"The toilet had no water and the prisoners had no drinking water or sleeping space."
A recent report by Judge Lee Bozalek on Swellendam prison's juvenile section found "grossly overcrowded, run-down and dirty" cells needing "urgent cleansing and repairs".
The report continues: "The prisoners eat, sleep and perform bodily functions in small, overcrowded cells."
Bozalek's report stated that prisoners were allowed to spend only one hour outside the cells and were cooped up for up to 23 hours each day.
The report also found that:
- Female prisoners were not held separately in George prison because of a lack of space.
- Pollsmoor prison was also overcrowded - it should hold 1 111 prisoners, but houses 2 090.
- Pollsmoor maximum security prison has a 205 percent occupation rate - 3 773 prisoners fill cells designed to hold only 1 872.
The cost of keeping a prisoner each day is R114, resulting in the state spending R19,5-million a day on incarceration. And 60 percent of all prisoners were below the age of 30 and unemployed.
Fagan said the reasons for the overcrowding were: unnecessary arrests by the police; unaffordable bail amounts imposed by district magistrates on the poor; and unnecessary postponements of cases.
This resulted in, among other actions, the release of 16 500 prisoners each month, as cases were withdrawn due to unnecessary arrests.
"We are putting far too many people in prison unnecessarily and have to get the numbers down. The alternatives are 'diversions' such as rehabilitation courses, victim compensation paid by the offender and community service. But these diversions are not being used effectively.
"Many people are unable to afford bail. At the moment 13 000 people are incarcerated because of poverty. For example, if they cannot pay R50 bail, they are sent to jail where the state pays R114 a day to have them in prison. People lose their jobs and children are taken out of school to go to jail."
Asked if fewer arrests would mean an increase in crime, Fagan said: "No, they learn about crime in jail and that creates more crime. They cannot be rehabilitated in jail because it is completely overcrowded."
In 1995 South Africa had about 23 000 awaiting-trail prisoners. The latest figure is about 54 000. In 1995, 500 prisoners received life sentences. The latest figure is almost 5 000.
Ten-year sentences in 1995 amounted to 10 000 cases, but the figure has climbed to 40 000.
"We only need long sentences for the very bad offenders. But in 1997 parliament compelled the courts to give a minimum sentence, although circumstances may be different in each case. I believe sentencing should be left to the judge's discretion," he said.