Broadcasting behind bars: 702 heads inside a women's prison in Gauteng

Clement Manyathela speaks with Mokgothi Thobakgale, National Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services.

Listen below.

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What is life really like behind the walls of a women's prison in South Africa?

The Clement Manyathela Show spent Tuesday morning broadcasting from behind bars, bringing listeners a perspective from the Atteridgeville Gender Responsive Centre for Women.

The centre opened in 2022 and is the first of its kind in South Africa and the Continent. 

It responds to the specific needs of women in conflict with the law (WICL) by way of the United Nations Bangkok Rules.

"These are rules that are universally adopted as part of the United Nations programme, where countries that are affiliated are establishing correctional facilities that are repurposed for conditions that will be condusive for female inmates to serve their sentences."

Mokgothi Thobakgale, National Commissioner - Department of Correctional Services

Thobakgale explains that the facility had to be repurposed and some of the programs restructured to meet the requirements of the Bangkok Rules.

He adds that there are clear differences between male and female inmates.

"Research has shown that the types of crimes that women get incarcerated for in most instances have an element of either inducement by males, or responding to conditions that would have been forced on them by males."

- Mokgothi Thobakgale, National Commissioner - Department of Correctional Services

Recently, the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services carried out oversight visits to various facilities and found widespread overcrowding.

Many of Gauteng's prisons are bursting at the seams due to overcapacity.

That's not the case at Atteridgeville Gender Responsive Centre for Women, says Thobakgale.

"You have facilities where inmates will complain [there is no hot water] when they shower... But the facility is supposed to hold 5000 inmates and it is holding 12,000."

- Mokgothi Thobakgale, National Commissioner - Department of Correctional Services

"This facility at least is not holding that kind of weight... We have less than 600 inmates here..."

- Mokgothi Thobakgale, National Commissioner - Department of Correctional Services

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Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.