Debate over prisoners' communication rights intensifies

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said inmates do not have the right to unfettered communication beyond prison walls, while activists argue that it may impact neighbouring communities and to rather root out corrupt officials.

South African Prisoner Organisation for Human Rights’ (SAPOHR) said the issue of cell phones drove the reality of corrupt wardens and officials who allowed the devices to make its way into prisons.

The Mayor was responding to SAPOHR opposition to the City’s calls for signal-blocking and communication interception strategies to be piloted at Pollsmoor prison. 

Golden Miles Bhudu, National spokesperson of SAPOHR said: “The point is the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) must be kept entirely accountable for the proliferation of cellphones in prisons because it became a multi-million dollar business, between prisoners and corrupt prison guards.

“SAPOHR call on the Honorable Mayor to come with a viable alternative, amongst others to embark on a national campaign calling on all the different telephone service providers, Telekom, VODACOM,  MTN, Cell C, to provide their services in prison, of course with a state of the art Monitoring and Evaluating and Supervision mechanisms.

“Where some of these facilities are situated, they are surrounded by residential areas, which will pose a danger to the immediate residents.

“Emergency calls to ambulances, police,  security  services and two way radio signals of prison staff, will also be jammed, which will also pose a danger."

Hill-Lewis disagreed, stating that criminal activity continued behind bars with access to cellphones.

“Prisoners simply do not have the right to communicate freely beyond the prison walls. We have real examples of the police and prosecutors doing good work to get gangsters put away, only for them to continue to run their criminal gangs from inside prison,” he cited.

“That makes a mockery of the criminal justice system. To suggest that these prisoners have an entrenched right to do as they please while behind bars is simply ludicrous.

“Inmates should be able to communicate with family and legal representatives, using the prison’s fixed line telephones. Even then, these calls are often monitored to ensure no crime is being committed.”

Commenting on corruption he stated: “We know for a fact that underworld figures inside Pollsmoor are pulling strings on the outside, including extortion threats and disruptions of City infrastructure projects.

JP Smith, Mayco Member for Safety and Security called for wardens to be monitored to curb corruption: “Besides dealing with the use of cellphones, we further urge the Department of Correctional Facilities to consider lifestyle audits of wardens and staff."

Minister of Correctional Services, Dr Pieter Groenewald has earmarked five facilities for a pilot project announced last year aimed at cellphone signal-blocking technology including Pollsmoor Prison.

Euné Wessels, Media Liaison for the Minister said targeted searches are ongoing, and that the Department collaborates with police to act on intelligence regarding cellphone use for criminal activity. 

Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel.

Cape Argus