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South Africa (From Imprisonment Today and Tomorrow: International Perspectives on Prisoners' Rights and Prison Conditions, P 537-565, 1991, Dirk van Zyl Smit and Frieder Dunkel, eds. -- See NCJ-133824)

NCJ Number
133840
Author(s)
D van Zyl Smit
Date Published
1991
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Imprisonment is a crucial element in South Africa's system of social control: a very high proportion of the total population are incarcerated while awaiting trial or after conviction.
Abstract
Detention without trial is permitted under law which permit preventive detention, detention for interrogation, and the detention of witnesses for unlimited periods. In addition, the declaration of a State of Emergency in 1986 has given the police, the military, and the Prisons Service the power to arrest and detain for interrogation or for crime prevention for indefinite periods without judicial control. These provisions make it difficult to determine how many people are actually incarcerated in South Africa. However, the available data show incarceration rates of 92 per 100,000 population for "Whites" (people from Europe), 78 per 100,000 for "Asians," 381 per 100,000 for "Blacks" (people of pure African descent), and 851 per 100,000 for "Coloureds" (people of mixed race). The prison system is a centralized bureaucracy organized on quasi-military lines. Prison officials emphasize strict discipline and tight security, although restrictions exist on disciplinary powers. Official penal policy is cautiously reformist as shown by changes in recent years, but many factors hinder reforms. Political developments are likely to determine the extent of future reforms in prisoners' rights and other areas. Footnotes and 56 references