South Africa’s stigma against ex-offenders fuels recidivism
Our country has a recidivism rate of about 90% compared to 6% to 8% for China, an authoritarian regime where mass executions of re-offenders is common
Prison
Bester case: court grants bail to suspended prison officer
Two other accused will return to court on 11 July for formal bail applications
Thabo Bester’s escape shows how privatising harms crime control
We should question the issue of prison outsourcing when the motive is profit and not public safety
Son of former Mozambique president sentenced to 12 years in prison
No Credit Suisse executives have faced criminal prosecution, despite the company admitting liability
Prisons have R385 a day to care for prisoners
How many law-abiding citizens reliant on state grants might be better off in prison rather than trying to feed and fend for themselves on less than $1.25 a day, or R624 a month? The income threshold for the means test for the social relief grant is R624, the food poverty line. “A food poverty line […]
Neglected and abused, state patients endure prison ‘nightmare’
They should be in hospitals but because of system failures they languish in jails. Mothers tell of their suffering
A new lease of life for Zimbabwe’s HIV-positive prisoners
Peer support has been pivotal to inmates taking responsibility for their health
Seventy-five African journalists imprisoned for doing their jobs
Across Africa, 12 countries were keeping at least 75 journalists behind bars as of 1 December ― not counting those who were detained and released
Escape from Pretoria: ‘Our cells were on the first floor, so there was nowhere to dig to’
How Tim Jenkin, Stephen Lee and Alexandre Moumbaris escaped Pretoria Central with a handmade wooden key
Former French president Sarkozy handed jail term for corruption
The conviction sets a new low-point in the tumultuous political career of the right-winger who remains a dominant political figure in France, admired by fans for his tough talk on crime and immigration
Zondo to ask the Constitutional Court to send Zuma to jail for flouting summons
The deputy chief justice says he has to act because Zuma’s defiance risks inciting lawlessness
Why the Big Fish escape the justice net
The small fish get caught. Jails are used to control the poor and disorderly and deflect attention from the crimes of the rich and powerful.
Peacemaking criminology as ubuntu: A reply to Thuli Madonsela
If the rich and powerful are afforded amnesty, then so too must the poor who are often pushed into lives of crime
Convict Andile Lungisa resists calls to quit city council
Former youth league leader Andile Lungisa cites ANC constitution, and argues assault is not corruption in a bid to keep his party membership
Behind the Covid-19 spiral in the Eastern Cape
‘Port St Johns and Port Elizabeth funerals are the cause of rising numbers,’ says the department of health
Too little too late for Malcolm
Doccie Who Killed Malcolm X? has led to a belated reopening of his murder investigation
Cruel warders target trans inmates
A trans woman held in a male prison says she is being harrassed by staff and authorities won’t take her case seriously
Six women show up Madagascar’s infamous justice system
Poor Madagascans are left to rot in prison awaiting trial very often for crimes that they never committed
Prison company stalls court actions
G4S has belatedly sought to prevent the release of medical records of inmates who say they were tortured
Transgender rights: Vital case heads to Equality Court
The Equality Court in Cape Town will soon hear a groundbreaking case on the rights of transgender prisoners
Jail time for Vicki Momberg sets new precedent
Past cases indicate that verbal crimen injuria is not that serious. But a landmark sentence in South Africa has changed that
Life behind bars: An inspecting judge of prisons unlocks inmates’ stories
South Africa’s jails have one of the lowest percentages of women prisoners in the world – but among the highest number of men
Fire-damaged KZN prison up and running again despite not being fixed
Glencoe wardens are fearing prisoner escapes after the department demanded that they return to duty despite the jail’s near-derelict state
Gang war drives prison bloodbaths in Brazil
Control over cocaine trafficking routes and markets in Brazil and to the world lies behind the mass killings.
Tortured Mangaung prisoners seek justice
Lawyers for inmates held at the notorious Mangaung prison are suing the state – as well as the British firm that runs the prison – for abuses.
Hope dwindles for women imprisoned in Thailand for drug trafficking
Govt seems reluctant to agree to allow South Africans sentenced abroad to serve part of their sentences at home. Hazel Friedman reports on two cases.
Crime and punishment don’t add up
Life imprisonment sentences cause social harm, are not reducing crime and cost the taxpayer.
Bra Chicks: Cool lessons from the cooler
A drive to a funeral gave insight into a plan to adopt young offenders and guide them back into society.
Pistorius’s five year sentence ‘significant’ – expert
Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for culpable homicide and three years suspended jail time for negligent firearm use.
Prisoners reveal brutal torture, beatings to a court
In a test case for new torture laws, inmates who were serving time at a prison near PE have told a court of routine mistreatment by prison officials.
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Break the silence on HIV in prison
Prisoners are being deprived of treatment, and punished for speaking up about it.
Bail system penalises the poor
But electronic tagging may ease the plight of inmates and lighten the burden on state coffers.
