Prison watchdog says 120 inmates died of unnatural causes in two years

A prison watchdog has revealed that more than 120 prisoners died of unnatural causes, with it receiving over 1 000 complaints of inmate-on-inmate assault during a two-year period.

This week, the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) presented a report to Parliament that unveiled the severe conditions plaguing some of South Africa’s prisons.

As an independent oversight body, the JICS is responsible for inspecting detention conditions, investigating complaints and monitoring inmate treatment.

It conducts thorough inspections of correctional facilities at least once every two years.

JICS mandatory reporting

On Tuesday, the JICS informed the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services that its presentation covered several critical areas, including deaths, sexual violations and the conduct of officials.

The report disclosed that the oversight body recorded a total of 123 unnatural deaths, 505 natural deaths, and 21 suicides across various prisons.

At least 4 800 inmates were held in “solitary confinement”.

According to the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules, solitary confinement is defined as the isolation of prisoners for 22 or more hours a day without meaningful human contact.

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This practice was prohibited in South Africa by a 2008 amendment to the Correctional Services Act.

However, segregation, a form of isolation that is limited to a number of days, is still allowed.

Inmates have the right to challenge their segregation, and the JICS report noted 10 such appeals.

The report highlighted 40 incidents involving mechanical restraints and 468 incidents of the use of force in prisons nationwide.

Complaints from inmates

Under the “urgent complaints” category, there were 81 recorded attempted suicides.

Additionally, the report recorded 1 260 incidents of inmate-on-inmate assaults.

There were also 427 incidents of official-on-inmate assaults and 13 incidents of inmate-on-official assaults.

The report further details nine cases of corruption, 60 incidents of sexual assault, 29 hunger strikes, 14 instances of inhumane treatment, and one case of torture.

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Despite these issues, JICS inspections deemed 108 facilities as “satisfactory”, while 18 facilities (12%) were rated as “good”.

Moreover, 22 prisons (15%) were classified as unsatisfactory.

The report attributed this poor assessment to severe overcrowding, deteriorating infrastructure, unhygienic conditions, poor management, inadequate medical facilities, insufficient nutrition, and substandard kitchen conditions.

The oversight body conducted a total of 148 inspections over the last performance cycle.

Challenges

The JICS, in its report, raised concerns about “unlawful solitary confinement”, excessive use of force, and issues with the parole board’s functionality and the lifer parole process.

The oversight body also highlighted several other issues, including unaffordable bail, prolonged periods awaiting trial, insufficient education and rehabilitation programmes — particularly for youth — and inadequate access to telephones.

The watchdog further addressed its internal challenges, informing Parliament that an inadequate budget and difficulties in filling essential vacancies have impeded its ability to carry out its responsibilities.

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Additional obstacles included limited binding authority, an occasional lack of co-operation during investigations, and insufficient follow-up on criminal matters by the South African Police Service (Saps) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Although the JICS makes recommendations and reports its findings to Parliament and the Minister of Correctional Services, these recommendations are not binding.