Curbing gangsterism in prisons: briefing by Centre for Conflict Resolution

Meeting report

CORRECTIONAL SERVICES PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
12 June 2001
GANSTERISM IN PRISONS: BRIEFING BY CENTRE FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Prison Transformation Project

SUMMARY
The Centre for Conflict Resolution is undertaking a project at Pollsmoor Prison aimed at breaking the cycle of gangsterism inside and outside South African prisons. The project targets violent convicts who are given a chance to develop a positive outlook on life. This is an ongoing project that is intended to spread to other prisons in the country.

MINUTES
Ms Joanna Flanders Thomas and Mr Lionel Louw (Centre for Conflict Resolution, UCT) briefed the Committee on the Prison Transformation Project.

The Committee was shown a BBC documentary video [recently shown on Special Assignment] which documented the work being undertaken by the Centre for Conflict Resolution at Pollsmoor Prison. The film displayed how a culture of gansterism had virtually taken over the prison. Gang members were seen to be a law unto themselves in the prison.

It was revealed that Pollsmoor Prison was more than 300 percent overcrowded and that prison warders are far out-numbered and therefore no match for the rampaging gangs.

The Prison Transformation Project's goal is to help transform prisons from a militaristic culture to a culture where human rights are respected and to equip prison management, warders and prisoners to manage conflict more effectively. The project is implementing a training programme in constructive conflict resolution aimed at reducing recidivism rates. It would want to replicate the programme in other prisons.

The Centre is working with mainly dangerous hardcore prisoners who are serving long prison terms. The Centre's strategy is to establish a working rapport with gang leaders in order to win the confidence of their gang members.

So far, the Centre has been successful in breaking the culture of initiation rituals from among the prison population. It has also established a solid working relationship with hardened convicts - an achievement it hopes to build on to reach out to more of the prisoners.

Joanna Flanders Thomas spearheads this research project. The film of the project commissioned by the BBC portrays a positive image of the prison offenders and at the same time conveying a positive message with regard to the rehabilitation of prisoners to the general public.

Discussion
The Chair inquired whether there were any follow up programmes after the prisoners had been released.

Ms Thomas replied that the project was on going and that those prisoners who are released are monitored on a regular basis. She gave an example of the former notorious gang leader Mohamed with whom she had established a cordial working relationship and that there was daily contact.

Mr Bloem (ANC) decried the practice of indiscriminately cramming prisoners together which creates an atmosphere conducive for them to develop and maintain violent structures. Prisoners should be separated according to the nature of offences and sentence terms to give room for proper rehabilitation.

Mr Moeketse (ANC) urged for an intensive induction course for prison personnel to equip them with the necessary skills on how to handle prisoners. He also called for the introduction of courses related to prison issues in the school curricular to acquaint students with the reality in prisons.

Ms Thomas informed the Committee that there were special programmes at school and local government level on correctional service structures. The staff at the Centre received training in 1998 to participate in the programme.

Mr Jordan (ANC) inquired about the age of the offenders the Centre was working with. How many joined the gangs outside the prison?

Ms Thomas said that the age of the offenders ranged between 21-40 years but that the majority were in the age bracket of 20-30 years. Most of the offenders belong to some gang or other before they come to prison.

Mr Jordan (ANC) protested against the practice of mixing the old and probably hardened offenders with young ones. The former would be a bad influence on the latter.

The Chair wondered if the inclination to violence by the offenders was not a replica of the violence meted out against them by prison warders.

Ms Thomas retorted that prison warders no longer resorted to violence as a form of punishment. With the advent of a democratic society most people including prisoners insist that their rights be respected. Indeed, very few prison warders carried batons.

Mr Jordan (ANC) queried the approach of reaching out to gang leaders as a gateway to the gang members pointing out that this tends to legitimise the gangster leadership structures.

Ms Thomas responded that there were many forms of intervention. The most effective one was to gain some leverage and this could only be achieved through centres of authority. It was easier to win over the confidence of gang members through the influence of those they respected and held in high regard. This approach, had paid off well in their project.

The Chair stated that he was impressed by the approach adapted by the prison authorities in Pretoria who allowed prisoners serving as many as 100-400 years to mingle freely with those with lesser terms. The explanation given by the prison authorities was that when you isolate people they tend to develop violent and non-conformist tendencies. They have to be given some hope of going back to normality. After all, the prisoner authorities were of the view that they had to co-exist with these people for as many years as they could.

Ms Thomas agreed with the Chair and said that apart from the hope of future release prisoners were human beings needing a friendly atmosphere. The Centre had introduced a wide range of recreational activities to keep prisoners preoccupied with positive engagements.

Mr Lionel Louw, from the Centre, noted that it was not possible to change the hardened habit of prisoners in a short while. This project and others were ongoing and he looked forward to a continued interaction with the prisoners in order to consolidate training and graduate to implementation.

The meeting was adjourned.