On Sunday, November 30 Ms Patricia Khoza went to visit a family member inside the prison.
Before Khoza could enter, she was escorted into a room with a female guard who then told her that she needed to drop her underwear.
The guard then searched Khoza, who was told to pull up her underwear again, then to leave the room.
It’s alleged two other women complained that the guard’s fingers touched the women’s private parts.
“The experience we had at Witbank Correctional Services was shameful,” said Khoza.
Khoza continued, “We were searched because people have brought drugs into the prison this way before.”
As South Africa is in the period of 16 days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children, Khoza and many other women felt violated.
“Can’t the state provide the centre with necessary mechanism to search visitors, then one would not have experienced this,” said Khoza.
Mr Moses Nkabinde, spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services, was asked for comment about the incident.
“During the visitation at Witbank Correctional Centre a female community member alleged that she was subjected to inhumane treatment when she was searched, by a correctional official, before she was allowed entry to visit her relative incarcerated at Witbank Correctional Centre,” said Nkabinde.
“This alleged incident took place on November 30. The allegation was reported to the Head of the Correctional Centre, Mr Mandla Bongwe, who in consultation with the Area Commissioner and Acting Regional Commissioner, Ms Sharon Kunene requested a Departmental internal investigation.
“During searching gender is taken into account, where female officials conduct searching on female visitors while males do searching on male visitors. Any deviation on this matter will constitute a violation of good order and corrective measures are unavoidable,” said Nkabinde.
The Correctional Service Act 111 of 1998 and the B-Order Chapter 4 section 1.0 states that all visitors must be searched properly by means of metal detectors and a manual body search before being allowed into the prison. Furthermore it states that before offenders are allowed to leave the section for a visit they must be properly identified and searched. Offenders must again be searched before they are allowed to enter the visiting area.
Section 3.1 of the order continues to stipulate that ‘Before the visitors can leave the visiting area and correctional facility they must again be positively identified against an official identification document. Visitors must be searched before leaving the prison. Offenders must first be positively identified, counted and leave the visiting area before visitors can be allowed to leave the visiting area. Before offenders are allowed back into their sections they must be thoroughly searched.’
“During this festive season and the previous years the Department of Correctional Services has launched Operation Vala for its correctional centres, where among other target objectives, safety and security of offenders to be a priority. The operation will end on January 13. Some of the key elements of Operation Vala are: heightened security at all access control points increase impromptu internal and external patrols, increase cell counts at irregular intervals, ensure adequate staff deployment, increase visitor searches at exit and entry points, strict adherence to visitation times and limit recreation activities outside. To facilitate Operation Vala, offenders will not be allowed to participate in activities that would require them to leave the correctional centre, or that will involve many external partners,” continued Nkabinde.
Smuggling contraband, cellphones and money into a correctional Centre by visitors do happen on a regular basis, more than 54 000 cellphones were confiscated in prisons in South Africa during the past three years.
The Department of Correctional Services is considering the use of electronic scanners to assist warders to notice when cell phones are smuggled into a Correctional Centre.
“Officials will continue to search visitors when entering a Correctional Centre for the safety of offenders and officials. But I also emphasized that searching should be conducted in a humane manner and visitors will be treated with respect. No member of the community should feel threatened when visiting a relative or someone behind bars,” said Kunene.
