Pretoria - A report painting some of the country’s prisons as lice- and cockroach-infested gangster havens came under the spotlight in the Oscar Pistorius trial on Thursday.
The Paralympian’s lawyers accused prison authorities of taking for granted the well-being of prisoners.
On the witness stand was acting national commissioner of correctional services Moleko Zacharia Modise, who had been called by the State to refute a damning report presented by the defence’s witness, probation officer Annette Vergeer.
Testifying in mitigation of Pistorius’s sentencing, Vergeer had recommended house arrest with 16 hours’ community service a month as a suitable sentence because South African prisons were unhygenic and would put Pistorius at risk of being attacked and sodomised.
And on Thursday, defence lawyer advocate Barry Roux SC pulled out a story published in The Star on Wednesday, highlighting increased torture incidents in prisons as indicated in a report tabled before Parliament by the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons. The report presented before the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services showed that incidents of assault and torture had increased from 71 cases last year to 109 this year.
Roux cited an incident at Kgosi Mampuru II prison where Chris Hani’s killer Clive Derby-Lewis was attacked and stabbed by inmate Khalil Subjee on two occasions.
Subjee called the Pretoria News after the incident in March this year, saying should Pistorius be convicted and jailed for his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp’s murder, his wealth would not buy him a lavish prison lifestyle “as long as I’m around”. Instead, he would be “taken out”.
Subjee had also threatened to “take out” two of the Waterkloof Four – Christoff Becker and Frikkie du Preez – for allegedly receiving preferential treatment after a video emerged showing them “partying up a storm” in the Pretoria prison.
Asked Roux: “Do you know the head of the 26 gang… Khalil Subjee… also known as ‘the general?’”
Modise said: “We are investigating this. This person had been staying with Derby-Lewis for a long period of time. In fact, he was their cleaner… something must have gone wrong.”
The inspectorate found that while gangsterism and the assault of prisoners by officials were picked up in various prisons, only one incident was picked up at Kgosi Mampuru II prison – the Derby-Lewis incident – where Pistorius is likely to be held if he is jailed.
“Not all the allegations (from other prisons) were evidentially proven. We were unable to make findings in cases where insufficient evidence was at hand, inmates had withdrawn their complaints,” the report said.
Modise acknowledged on Thursday that they battled with overcrowding, but said they had made strides as they were sitting at 31 percent overcrowding compared to 63 percent in 2005. Overcrowding, gangsterism and incidents in which inmates were found in possession of unauthorised items were not unique to South Africa, he said, and they were common even in prisons in the UK, US and Brazil.
“I’ve visited a number of countries in the continent… to check what is it that we can learn. We also visited UK prisons… also the US (and) Brazil… We are in a position to compare favourably with other prison systems in the world,” he said.
Under cross-examination, he conceded that Pistorius would probably be held in the hospital section of the prison as this was where disabled people were catered for in terms of bathtubs and showers with support rails. Pistorius could also bring in his own therapist, as Vergeer had argued that discontinuation of his sessions would be detrimental to his mental health.
But Roux hit back, citing court rulings against the department after inmates had complained about not being given their medication. He also raised issues of hygiene, saying the hospital section could expose Pistorius to ailments such as TB.
On Friday the State and defence were to present arguments in mitigation and aggravation of sentencing.
The Star