The Centre also lacks recreational facilities. There are no sporting activities, the recreation shop (canteen) opens only once a week and the prisoners claim the prices are too high, there are no television sets in the cells. The juveniles are locked in their cells for almost the whole day and only come out to eat or go to school or the workshops for those who take part in these activities. There was a complaint to the effect that Muslims are not provided with space for religious purposes and their religious leaders such as Imams are not allowed into the premises on suspicion that they will smuggle drugs into the prison. The juveniles reported that instead it is the warders who smuggle tobacco (commonly known in prison as BB) into the cells. They also complained that officials also smoke cigarettes in front of them even though they (the authorities) have banned juveniles from smoking. It was also observed that authorities adopt a policy of generalise punishment. For instance, when a juvenile in a certain cell does or says something and the others do not want to identify the culprit, the entire cell will be deprived of certain privileges – no contact visit, lesser number of telephone calls, lesser number of visiting hours, etc. Prisoners in general and juveniles in particular do not seem to know their rights and enough effort does not seem to have been made by the authorities to properly inform them about their rights. They are scared or ignorant of the proper complaints channel and procedure. There is a large number of young offenders – about 60% of the total prison population is between the ages of 14 and 30. There is also a large number of juveniles both sentenced and those awaiting trial. A major concern here is the delay in disposing with cases involving children. At the Dyambu Youth Center, children stay on awaiting trial for a period of 12 – 18 months on average. (c) Death row Following the Constitutional Court decision in Makwanyane v RSA,17 the death penalty was abolished in South Africa. However, there are still a number of persons who had been sentenced to death before the 1995 decision whose sentences have not been commuted or converted. Some have been in this uncertain position for almost a decade and this could be psychologically and mentally disturbing. (d) Foreigners There are about 1,300 foreigners in South African prisons, (excluding those detained in the Lindela Repartriation Centre) most of them in three provinces, Gauteng, Kwa Zulu Natal and Western Cape. The prisoners have full access to and receive services from their families. South Africa and Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries are exploring the possibility of repatriating prisoners to serve their sentences in their countries of origin. According to the South African authorities, such exchanges must be voluntary and there must be guarantees that the prisoner shall be in the same or better prison condition as would have otherwise been offered by South Africa. The foreigners are separated from the locals. According to the authorities, this is to prevent them from getting involved in the gangs and also because of the incidences of xenophobia. 17 The State v Makwanyane and Another, CCT/3/94; 1995 (3) SA 391 (CC). 46

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