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7/28/2019 The mother of inmates_Luyanda Majija.pdf
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MARTHA Kekana hadfinished work and waswalking across the
Medium A lapa atJohannesburg Correctional Cen-tre, informally known as Sun City,
when an inmate grabbed her frombehind, put his arms across herchest and whispered: I am going to
rape you.Are you stupid? All thes e men
are going to kill you if you hurt
me, Kekana warned as hundredsof men advanced on them, ready topounce on the attacker.
She begged the other men not tokill him and also went from cell tocell asking inmates to lend him
clothes because his were tattered.Unlike sentenced offenders, await-
ing-trial detainees dont wearprison uniform. Most wear theclothes they were wearing when
they were arrested. Kekanasattacker was no different and shefelt compelled to help him.
A heavy-set, confident, bubblywoman with albinism, Kekana, 54,has blue eyes, pink-hued skin and
blonde cornrows. She has devel-oped relationships of trust withthousands of male inmates during
her decade of service as an inde-pendent correctional centre visitor(ICCV) at Sun City.
Kekana is one of 304 ICCVs who
are members of the JudicialInspectorate of Correctional Ser-
vices, established in 1998 to comple-ment the Department of Correc-tional Services.
ICCVs visit correctional facili-ties for 69 hours each month toinspect and report on living condi-
tions in the facilities and to ensureinmates are treated human ely.
The work of these visitors is
pivotal in highlighting the prob-lems in correctional facilities.Their quarterly reports are used by
the inspectorate to compile anannual report submitted by theinspecting judge of prisons to the
portfolio committee on correc-tional services and the department,which is then tabled in Parliament.
Unlike the warders dressed inbrown or the inmates in orange,Kekana does not wear a uniform.
However, her unusual, male-domi-nated work environment meansshe dresses modestly.
Visually impaired because ofher albinism, Kekana wears 1970s-style, round glasses with thick,
orange-tinted lenses. She obtaineda commerce degree (at 43), but cantwork as an auditor because her
visual problem prevents her fromgetting a driving licence.
Kekana now works with about
3 500 men serving maximum termsfor crimes like murder and rape.When she enters the cells, she
wears her cap of boldness.This enables her to deal with
complaints ranging from the
assault of inmates by warders orother inmates, to corruption.
According to the Judicial Inspec-torate of Correctional Services2011/2012 annual report, the inspec-
torate received 424 717 complaints
from inmates, an 11percentincrease from the previous year.
On being appointed, ICCVs get
five days of training on their pow-ers, functions and duties, the com-plaints system and security and
safety measures. Since 2011, theyalso receive on-going training ondealing with basic legal matters
affecting inmates and evaluatingcomplaints.
Judge Deon van Zyl, former
inspecting judge, believes thisextended training was a goodinitiative.
Overcrowding is one of the most
pressing problems in SouthAfricas correctional facilities.
Prison capacity averages 133per-cent nationa lly, according to theJudicial Inspectorate of Correc-
tional Services most recent report.At Sun City, cells designed to
house 40 men often accommodate
up to 100. The cells are riddled withlice and bed bugs.
There are all types of odours
rubbish bins are inside the cell, thetoilet, urinal, rotting food
When people live in cramped
spaces, problems like poor sanita-tion lead to the spread of diseaseslike tuberculosis which, is easily
contract ed by people with HIV.According to Scott Spiegler of
Sonke Gender Justice Network, the
prevalence of HIV/Aids in thecountrys inmate populationis higher than that of the general
population.Spiegler says the prevalence of
HIV/Aids is 40 to 60 percent in our
correctional facilities, whereas theinfection rate of people older than15 in the general population is
17.8 percent, according to the HIV& AIDS Media Project.Most of the deaths in prisons
were due to HIV/Aids, TB andpneumonia, said the report.
High HIV/Aids and TB infec-tion rates make ICCV work poten-tially high-risk for Kekana, partic-
ularly if she were to be raped.Though ICCVs visit sick
inmates in cells that warders
refuse to enter, they are not pro-vided with masks to prevent TBtransmission. Kekana once visited
an inmate with drug-resistant TBand asked him to wear his mask toavoid infecting her.
ICCVs believe inmates are often
neglected by health-care profes-sionals and left to fend for them-selves, or to rely on other inmates
for help.Last September, SABCs Special
Assignmentfeatured a wheelchair-
bound Sun City inmate with skincancer, who was left alone in hissingle cell and forced to keep his
septic wounds clean with waterfrom a basin and bandages hebought from other inmates.
Though complaint channels doexist within the department,inmates voices are rarely heard.
The latest Judicial Inspectorate
of Correctional Services reportrecords 71 complaints of assaults
by officials on inmates which mayqualify as torture.
The inspectorate has completed
six investigations. Only one inci-dent of assault led to disciplinaryaction.
ICCVs provide a lifeline forinmates to express their griev-ances. But prison rights activist
Golden Miles Bhudu believes theycant always carry out their man-date effectively because they are on
the departments payroll.Geoffrey Mnisi*, a former
inmate who served most of his
eight-year sentence for armed rob-bery at Krugersdorp CorrectionalCentre, says many assaults by
warders go unreported. Prisonauthorities always encourage you
to report on inhumane treatment,but if you go to the prison head,you will be treated badly by the
officials.Sibongile Dladla*, an ICCV in
Sun Citys Medium A section, says
she and her colleagues face hostil-
ity from prison officials andnurses.
The warders dont like havingus there because they have to pro-tect us in addition to protecting
themselves and because we are alsothere to report on their treatmentof inmates.
One day Dladla was walking inher section when an inmate with abloodied face rushed past her. He
had been assaulted by a warder.No medical exam was made sothere wasnt enough evidence
against the warder who assaultedhim.
Van Zyl says the female ICCVs
are highly regarded. I am glad thata majority of ICCVs are
females because they do a greatjob They are far more reliableand accountable.
He says their capacity to helpinmates is because they are mater-nal and detainees are more open to
ICCVs than anybody else in prison.Kekana started in the Medium
A awaiting-trial section where she
has worked for eight years.Until November last year, seven
of the eight ICCVs at Sun City were
women.Today, there are only three
ICCVs serving more than 5 000 Sun
City inmates.However, eight newly trained
ICCVs will soon join the team.
Medium B, where Kekana nowworks with maximum-term sen-tenced offenders, presents different
challenges: One of the inmatesIm working with is serving timefor eight counts of rape, which
means that he raped someone eighttimes I had to listen to him tellme (in detail) how he raped her I
could be consulting with an inmatewho murdered someone I know orwith a drug dealer when many peo-
ple in my community are addictsMy job is not to judge.
The main challenges faced by
the awaiting-trial detainees are
poor sanitary conditions and thefrustrations caused by the length of
time taken to conclude trials repeated court postponements canextend trials up to five years.
ICCVs support the rehabilita-tion of inmates encouraging behav-iour change to reduce prison
returns.One of Kekanas major achieve-
ments, with the help of threeSoweto prosecutors, has been topioneer a plea-bargaining initiative
aimed at reducing overcrowding atSun Ci ty.
In the process, she received
paralegal training and has trainedother interested ICCVs.
Kekana proposed that some
courts in Soweto open on Saturdaysto hasten the appeals process forlong-term inmates.
Though the opening of courtson weekends did not last long dueto a lack of government funds, the
initiative almost halved the inmatepopulation.
It also reduced expenditure the
state spends more than R45.8mil-
lion a day to incarcerate SouthAfricas 158790 inmates.
Van Zyl says: Martha is asuperb ICCV and as far as Im con-cerned, they should give her a topjob in the Department of Correc-
tional Services.Despite her stresses, Kekana
remains fiercely enthusiastic about
her work. Seeing the smiles on theinmates faces when they see mewalk into their cells, and when I sit
on their beds to speak to them, ispriceless
Names have been changed to pro-tect identities.
The mother of inmates
Luyanda Majija is a graduate of the BA HonoursJournalism programme at Wits University. This article wassupervised by members of the Wits Justice Project, which
investigates miscarriages of justice.
She is the voice of
the voiceless at the
iniquitous Sun City,writes Luyanda Majija
AGENT OF CHANGE:Martha Kekana is a gifted and kind person and shes made some importantimprovements to the lives of awaiting-trial detainees. PICTURE: LUYANDA MAJIJA