Speaker 1:

The prison is not a social club. It's a very tough security regime. We don't have televisions in our cells. There's no idle lying around, people sitting in the sun, people dancing, or playing music. The man is here because he has violated the law outside. And it is our duty and responsibility to execute that sentence. This is not his mother's house. This is a secure environment. He's not at home when he's here, putting his feet up and relaxing it. This is a prison.

Speaker 2:

They lay claim to being among the most secure places on Earth. Nothing that goes on inside their walls goes unnoticed. They run with some of the most advanced and expensive technology systems on offer. They house the country's most dangerous criminals. Yet, are one of its safest places.

Speaker 3:

I do not [inaudible] admission.

Speaker 2:

Tonight, Special Assignment takes you into what many believe to be the only solution to our high levels of crime. They are South Africa's first privately run prisons.

Speaker 2:

These are the prisons South Africans are accustomed to, under surfaced, under resourced, badly managed, and seemingly ineffective. Inside, filthy, overcrowded, and unhygienic.

Speaker 2:

Last year, there was a total of 172,000 prisoners in South Africa. Nearly a third of these were awaiting trial.

Speaker 2:

Grootvlei, the name has come to symbolise all that is wrong with correctional services in South Africa. Earlier this year, the [inaudible] Commissioner of Inquiry heard how the Bloemfontein prison had become a hot bed of corruption. Using a hidden camera, four inmates had lifted the lid on the goings on inside. The shocking footage showed warders dealing in drugs, gun running, and pimping. The commission heard that this was just the tip of the iceberg. But this could all soon change.

Ida Maphalane:

Morning.

Speaker 5:

Good morning.

Speaker 2:

Despite the icy Bloemfontein morning, Ida Maphalane wears her smile as comfortably as her uniform. She passes Grootvlei every morning on her way to work at Mangaung prison next door.

Ida Maphalane:

... change from being on a normal state of mind, to be on the red. Because when you in prison, everything you have to watch be carried twice.

Speaker 2:

Security consciousness has become second nature to Ida. Before she even starts her day, she and her colleagues have to pass rigorous security checks. Staff are not allowed to bring anything in to the complex. Everything and everybody is inspected with a fine tooth comb.

Speaker 2:

Mangaung prison's management are adamant. If any dealing goes on behind prison walls, it won't be their staff involved. After the security checks, body searches, and metal detectors, Ida is ready to begin her day. She's part of a new generation of warders with no experience in correctional services.

Speaker 2:

Mangaung Maximum Security Prison, just outside Bloemfontein houses almost 3,000 inmates. It's the country's first privately operated prison. It opened its doors in July last year as part of a public, private sector partnership known as APOPS. Group 4 Securitas, a private company, manages the prison.

Joe Maku:

Quite frankly, their services are much better. Considering the infrastructure that we have in our traditional prisons and the infrastructure that we have here. That does not demonstrate the lack of faith, we are saying that the [inaudible] correctional services [inaudible] that responsibility to improve on our services.

Frikkie Venter:

The maximum security prison is a different environment than a normal medium or minimum environment. Prisoners that come to Mangaung Maximum Security Prison is only maximum category. That means it's a higher risk category within correctional services. Group 4 have no indication of what they [inaudible 00:04:16]. We don't have choices. They just send them there. The criteria is placed in their prisons.

Frikkie Venter:

If you look at the normal operation of the prison, it's non-militaristic. We have created wide open spaces so that people doesn't feel that they are clammed in. And we have a very open approach to inmates, making us more approachable to them. But there are certain ground rules that has to be followed. As you have a discipline in society, there's a discipline in prison community. People come to prison because they haven't abided by the rules in society. And therefore, they have to be taught that they have to abide by rules, even if it's in the prison.

Speaker 2:

It's mid-morning and Ida is on patrol in her unit.

Ida Maphalane:

Hi, sweetie. Hi, [inaudible 00:05:07].

Speaker 2:

She's a woman amongst 60 of the country's most violent criminals. She has to maintain order in the unit and attend to the day to day needs and problems of the inmates. Her only weapon is her two-way radio.

Ida Maphalane:

It's not that bad. At first, when you think about it, because it's a maximum security prison and the inmates being 60 and you being one amongst them, it sounds rather strange, because it was never ... it has never happened in South Africa before.

Ida Maphalane:

But while you get the hang of things, you get used to the situation, your people skills get better by the day. Then you cope. Really, it's all about being assertive. Because the moment you're too soft, they take advantage of you. So I've learned that if you work with people well, they'll treat you well. Because I believe somebody wants to attack me in this prison, the first person to save me will be the inmates.

Speaker 2:

Not that there's much chance of an assault on a warder. Every part of the unit, except the cells, is under 24-hour surveillance. Every door opening or closing is recorded. This ensures that not only inmates, but staff, are always watched.

Speaker 8:

As you can see, we are taking complaints of inmates very seriously. Especially against staff. We have created a confidential access system, it means that if an inmate feels that a staff member is intimidating him, he can confidentially complain about it.

Speaker 2:

Mangaung prison is designed so that prisoners never have to leave the area. The prison complex consists of six living units. Upstairs are the cells where the inmates sleep, two per room. And all units are equipped with their own [inaudible] facilities. The shower blocks have condom dispensing machines to cater for the sexual health of the inmates.

Speaker 2:

Downstairs is the recreation area. Which has a communal television, gym, and pool table. Inmates can use these during leisure time.

Speaker 2:

Warders work without weapons among some of the country's most dangerous criminals. This means they must be properly prepared. Group 4 conducts regular training sessions with both management and staff in areas like dispute resolution and conflict management. This, they say, will bring in bigger returns in the long run than using force to resolve incidents in the prison. And also, it humanises the inmates.

Speaker 9:

One of the things we've got to deliver-

Marius E.:

[foreign language 00:08:06].

Madelein Neser:

[foreign language 00:08:14].

Speaker 2:

Mangaung prison has made rehabilitation a keystone of its activities. This workshop teaches inmates basic skills to help them find employment upon release.

Speaker 2:

Fermented saw dust and paper are pressed into economical fire blocks, to be sold to the local community. The prison management disputes the argument that using prison labour for industries undercuts the local job market.

Frikkie Venter:

When we have done our research with regards to what industries we should take place in Mangaung prison, we have decided to go with an industry that is not available in the community. And therefore the blocks that you have seen today that's made at this prison is not wooden blocks that's made outside, or paper blocks. Therefore, nobody can say that we have taken away jobs from the community.

Speaker 2:

But education is the jewel in Mangaung's rehabilitation crown. The prison has a fully equipped adult learning centre. Inmates can use the library for study or leisure reading. Or use special computer software to prepare for their cases.

Speaker 2:

The centre also has classrooms teaching everything from basic literacy to various levels of adult eduction.

Marinda Botha:

[foreign language 00:09:58].

Speaker 2:

Miranda Botha teaches the Afrikaans first language class. Twice a week she tutors inmates ranging from the functionally literate to those doing advanced adult education.

Marinda Botha:

[foreign language 00:10:17].

Lukas Van R.:

[foreign language 00:10:50].

Speaker 2:

Lukas Van Rooyen is one of the school's success stories. He's been in and out of places of safety in prisons since he was 18 years old. He arrived at Mangaung prison last year, barely able to write his name. Now, at the age of 63, he's learning to read for the first time.

Lukas Van R.:

[foreign language 00:11:09].

Karin Jacobs:

Inmates are here as punishment and not for punishment. And it's very important that teachers don't know what crimes inmates have committed. You know, because you can never rule out the possibility of discrimination. And for us, it's important to separate the person from the crime.

Lukas Van R.:

[foreign language 00:11:28].

Speaker 2:

But heartwarming as it is, this doesn't come cheap. Besides construction and running outlay, it reportedly costs taxpayers 200 Rand a day to house an inmate in a private prison. The cost in a state prison is 94 Rand a day.

Makhubetse S.:

One of the many debates around private prisons is a question of propriety. Is it proper for government to allow private companies to provide a service, that is essentially a government debate.

Makhubetse S.:

But a counter argument to that would be if a government, as it's the case with our correctional services, has been struggling to deliver the service, why shouldn't the government be able to request assistance of somebody who has got expertise and the skills to provide such a service?

Makhubetse S.:

Privatisation of prisons is new to South Africa, but international experience and the findings were that they hadn't proved that within the years in Australia that private prisons have actually performed less or better than what the government has. And it's also shown that they were expensive to run.

Frikkie Venter:

Some people will feel that we are giving services or delivering services that's not available to people outside or that as some people say, that we are ... people are living it up. I don't agree with it.

Frikkie Venter:

I think society have a few choices. One choice is to warehouse inmates by putting them in structures without giving them access to certain basic services, or even certain programmes. But what do you get in return, because some way, some how he has to be released. Or you can put him in what we call a programme rich environment, and give him every opportunity to develop himself and perhaps rehabilitate himself.

Speaker 2:

Preferential treatment for inmates at the state's expense is a burning issue. Most South Africans are treated in an ailing healthcare system. Mangaung prison has outsourced its healthcare to a private company.

Speaker 2:

This 50-bed hospital for inmates is on par with some of the country's best facilities. It has fully equipped primary healthcare clinic, as well as a dentist and pharmacist and other specialised services like physiotherapy.

Shadrack M.:

We have got two doctors that are seeing patients every day. And they are on call hours, they can be called out any time when there is a need.

Shadrack M.:

The service that is being provided here, I am certain that most of the people that are outside are note even really accessing an environment or facilities like this. So it is a better high standard facility.

Speaker 2:

In the scenic mountains of Louis Trichardt [inaudible] is the biggest privately operated prison in the world. Kutama Sinthumule is run by a local private company. South African Custodial Management, or SACM.

Speaker 17:

Wait a minute.

Speaker 2:

The prison opened in February this year and is now in a start up phase. Every Monday and Tuesday, it receives up to 100 new prisoners from around the country.

Speaker 2:

As in Mangaung prison, correctional services set the criteria for admission, not the prisons themselves. Inmates from maximum security facilities around the country are being sent here.

Speaker 2:

New arrivals are taken through thorough security checks, which can last up to a whole day. They're then admitted to the regular prison environment.

Speaker 17:

[foreign language 00:15:40].

Steven Korabi:

If you take Kutama Sinthumule Maximum Security Prison, we have a tougher security regime here. Our mission is to focus on the rehabilitation of prisoners, the development of prisoners, to enable them in the end to positively integrate into society. But most importantly, to secure a safe and a secure environment within the prison.

Speaker 2:

New arrivals part with everything when they get here. Including their mindsets. Warders screen each new inmate's background, checking to see if they match any warrants. They are thoroughly strip searched to ensure that nothing besides the inmate himself is admitted into the prison.

Speaker 2:

From there, it's to the sentence calculation office. Each inmate must be thoroughly acquainted with the nature and length of his sentence to avoid legal wrangles in future.

Speaker 2:

Everything the new arrival comes in with is take from him, including money and clothing. It's put into storage until he's released.

Speaker 2:

The prison boasts a state of the art computerised fingerprinting system. Each inmate has his fingerprints taken and stored into a central database.

Speaker 2:

After a shower, the new arrival is given his prison uniform. These are colour coded according to the unit he'll be staying in. With their new uniforms, canvas bags containing toiletries and their new identity cards, the inmates are ready to go to the induction unit.

Speaker 2:

Kutama Sinthumule prison only opened recently. Because of this, it's not running at capacity, unlike Mangaung prison. It currently houses just over 2,000 inmates. By September this year, it should be running at full capacity of about 3,000.

Speaker 2:

Like Mangaung, the prison is also divided into self-contained living units. It's designed in such a way that the inmates never feel confined. They have space to move around. But a safety net is always there.

Speaker 2:

The induction process is where the house rules and prison procedures are explained to the new arrivals. They're also told what social services are available.

Speaker 19:

Or maybe you have been abused inside the prison by fellow prisoners. Or while you are traumatised at that moment. Or while-

Speaker 2:

New arrivals are also told where and how they can access the help of social workers, psychologists, and other specialists.

Speaker 19:

... cannot cope with that situation.

Speaker 2:

But above all else, the prison prides itself on its multi-million Rand high-tech security features.

Steven Korabi:

It is our responsibility to provide security in this prison. We do provide superior security. And we go out of our way to make sure that a prison environment is safe.

Speaker 2:

Sophisticated security systems ensure that both inmates and staff are always under the watchful eye of the camera. Each unit is divided into four pods. These are monitored by a central control tower above it. The hidden cameras record hours of footage fed into the prison's main control room.

Speaker 2:

Like Mangaung, Kutama Sinthumule prides itself on its efforts to rehabilitate inmates.

Steven Korabi:

There's a properly structured day programme through which it starts at 7:00 in the morning right up to 8:00, half past eight in the evening. Where every minute of the day it is busy with some programme. There's no idle lying around, people sitting in the sun, people dancing, or playing music, or whatever. We don't have time for those things in this prison.

Speaker 2:

Dedicated, well-trained staff are essential. Not only to maintain a tight security cordon, but to get the most out of the inmate's incarceration.

Speaker 20:

... you've been the victim of an inmate gang. But first, let's take a look at why inmate want to play games with officers.

Speaker 21:

... easy for you to say-

Speaker 2:

Every morning, a management meeting is held in the prison. It also doubles as a regular training session.

Speaker 21:

... more than what you see on the pictures.

Speaker 22:

It's a kind of confidence-

Speaker 2:

Unit managers have a chance to actively participate. Well-trained staff and conducive conditions, say Kutama Sinthumule's management, will ensure that their prison never becomes another Grootvlei.

Speaker 2:

The prison is entirely cash free. No inmates are allowed to carry money. Money is converted into a computerised credit system and it can be used in the prison tack shop or to make phone calls. This is one of the only known terms of the contract with government. The rest are shrouded in secrecy.

Makhubetse S.:

It's been incredibly difficult to get hold of the contracts. I think it's a very closely guarded secret. It's very sensitive. If you mention it, I don't think they will even answer you as to ... you know, we're going to give it to you. And I think that's quite dangerous. And that's where, I mean, transparency [inaudible 00:21:18], responsibility, accountability need to come in.

Steven Korabi:

Part of that contract is also not to disclose those figures. There's a contractual obligation that we have to. And I would strongly advise that the control operational services or the department of correctional services be contacted in connection with that.

Frikkie Venter:

Some people will say that because we are a private company, we are here for profit. That is not wrong. That's the way that private companies operate. But I would say in terms of service delivery, we have cut it to the bone when it comes to pricing. And I can unfortunately not say what my cost is per inmate per day, because there's a confidentiality clause in the contract.

Speaker 2:

The Institute for Security Studies has researched private prisons. They say there's an additional risk, prisons for profit. Private companies could lobby government for harsher correctional services policies and lengthier sentences.

Speaker 2:

In this way, if state prisons are unable to handle the load, it could push more business their way. But the private companies say you can't put a price on humane detention. They say the taxpayer is investing and inmates will return to the community, if not entirely rehabilitated, at least better off than had they been in a state prison.

Makhubetse S.:

And so I don't think the state of our prisons, as we have evidenced from a number of sources, does require an alternative to our prison system. And I think the [inaudible] any less. And I think we need to give a chance to any alternative. And if private prisons, by any chance, you'll be able to perform a function. I think we should welcome any innovative, new idea that promises to deliver services better.