It may therefore be necessary for these rights to be read and explained to the detainees before they are detained. There seemed to be a lack of a human rights culture in some of the facilities. For instance, training in human rights seems to be offered to junior officials and new recruits only. Most of the “old prison authorities”18 seem to have the same old “anti-human rights approach” in dealing with prisoners. Without extending human rights training to include all officials including senior prison authorities, it would be difficult to instill a culture of human rights in the correctional system. In spite of the policy change, and the seemingly gradual attitudinal change, there are still some officials who are more security conscious at the expense of rehabilitation and reintegration. Officials are quick to indicate that there have been no incidences of violence or escapes in their institutions over a certain period of time. But little is said about the number of ex-offenders successfully reintegrated into their communities or the reduction in recidivism. Without compromising security, authorities should be made to understand that their success would be measured by the number of people they rehabilitate rather than the number of people they succeed in keeping in their facilities. G. Major challenges The prison regime in South Africa is besieged by a number of challenges, chief amongst them are the following: gangsterism, overcrowding, poverty, lack of community involvement and corruption. (i) Gangsterism Most, if not all the prisons have gangs. These are criminal groups formed out of prison that continue to operate in prisons. They go by the names the 26s, the 27s, the 28s, Air Force and the Big Fives. The 26s main characteristic is to rob other inmates of their belongings like money and other property. The 27s are known for stabbing other inmates. For instance, to join the gang one must stab a fellow inmate. The 28s are more interested in having force sexual relationships with other inmates which they refer to as vypies (meaning wives). They join by either being sodomised or like the 27s by stabbing. The Air Force is noted for prison escapes and the Big Fives are regarded are informants who spy on other inmates on behalf of the prison authorities. The gangs are structured in a hierarchical manner from the newest recruit to the highest rank being the General and they communicate with members in other prisons. Given their power and influence, there is little doubt that they exercise control over various aspects of prison such as allocation of jobs, recreation, control of the marijuana (commonly referred to in South Africa as dagga) trade in prison, etc. They enjoy the de facto recognition 18 By this I mean those managing prisons during the Apartheid days. 52