Cape Town – A group of students incarcerated at the Brandvlei Maximum Correctional Centre near Worcester are consulting lawyers over the limited time they are given to study and alleged lack of access to study materials.
The 18 inmates study through three universities, Unisa, UJ and UCT.
In a complaint shared with the Cape Times on behalf of the students, an inmate claimed that their study materials had been confiscated and that when they were returned, stricter rules, including only about seven hours a day study were in force.
However, Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said laptops had been confiscated as users were found to have downloaded obscene and indecent content which was against prison policies, and which amounted to a security breach.
The prison is a dedicated education hub for tertiary institutions, which are not located in all 243 centres across the country.
The inmate said: “On July 23, our study materials were taken away... we were unable to continue with our studies until August 12 when we were given the opportunity to download some of our study material from the student portals provided. This was done under strict supervision.”
He said due to Covid-19, hard copy study materials arrived late from the universities and they had to download the study material from these student portals.
According to the inmate, they are only allowed to study from 8.30am until 2pm on weekdays while inmates in other correctional centres can study any time of the day and night, including on weekends.
“These restrictions are starting to reflect negatively on our studies as we receive the lowest marks in our assignments. We have second-year students up until final-year students.
“This is quite challenging as self-studying requires a lot of hours of work. We feel that the DCS is violating our constitutional right to education because there are no grounds of justification for these restrictions or limitations,”he said.
Nxumalo said the downloading of the content was confirmed by the specialised unit from the SAPS, which assessed the laptops.
“An alternative assistance was then put in place in order to aid inmates to prepare for examination.
“This is to ensure that they are able to fully prepare to sit for exams without any form of disturbance.
“It has to be emphasised that tools used for studying purposes can only be used for that and their use must be monitored for security purposes.
“An investigation is under way and the inmates involved were supplied with other laptops that they can only use between 7am and 2pm daily,” said Nxumalo.
Cape Times