In terms of South African law, children can stay with their mothers in prison for up to 2
years and later can be taken by their families or transferred to foster parents. At the time of
the visit, there were about 202 children in prison with their mothers – 88 one year olds, 81
between the ages of 2 and 3, 8 between the ages of 3 and 4 and 5 four year olds.
Lindela Repatriation Centre
The female section of the Lindela Repatriation Centre was also visited. It is reasonably
equipped. Unlike the male section, the female section is less crowded and has additional
facilities such as lockers and a play room for children. Females are provided with sanitary
towels whenever they need to use them. Soap is provided on request. There is a log book in
which all the items and the names of the detainees are registered.
In Lindela, there were no children because children of illegal immigrants and unaccompanied
children are referred to the Dyambu or the Leseding Youth Centre. However, there were
about 7 young girls who claimed to be below 18 years who had been detained with adults for
several days. There were also about 5 pregnant women, some about seven months pregnant.
Police stations
In the police stations the Special Rapporteur met few female detainees – six in the Durban
Central Police Station including five Chinese and one in the Alexandra Police Station.
Female detainees are separated from the males.
(b)
Juveniles
Under South African law, the juvenile age has been extended to include persons of up to 25
years old. There are 76,954 juveniles – 3,882 aged 18 years, 24,663 between 18 –21 years and
48,409 between 21 – 25 years.
The Special Rapporteur visited juvenile centers in the Drakenstein Management Area, St
Alban’s Prison, Durban Westville, Stanger Prison, Leeuwkop, the Dyambu and Leseding
Youth Centres. The juveniles sections in most of the correctional centers are reasonably
equipped. Most of them have formal and vocational education and recreational activities.
Drakenstein Medium B Prison
In the Drakenstein Medium B, there are 680 juveniles engaged in formal education and other
informal education such as HIV/AIDS peer education programme and computer training
programmes. They also have recreational activities such as dominoes, cards, pool, rugby,
football, cricket and athletics. There is a clinic in the section with a nurse and a doctor who
visits once a week. There are minor incidences of gangsterism with pockets of incidences in
sections C and D. The juveniles have good relationships with the warders, as the latter give
them encouragement and support. There are also religious groups such as Touching Hearts
Ministry which visit the prison to minister to the inmates. The juveniles are allowed visits
twice a week – on Saturday and Sundays between 9am to 3pm.
43
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