Acting Speaker, the IFP notes that serious allegations have been made against warders of Pollsmoor Prison, after two inmates stabbed a colleague. It has been alleged that senior wardens forced 300 inmates to strip in front of female warders and then proceeded to beat them with batons. In addition, dogs were also allegedly set on the inmates. From reports it is thought that at least three convicts sustained broken arms and legs, and others had to be treated for cuts and bruises. The IFP, therefore, calls on the Minister, the department and the area commissioner of Correctional Services to immediately launch an investigation into these allegations and to report the findings to Parliament as soon as possible. If these allegations are found to have a basis in fact, the involved correctional services personnel must be charged and brought before disciplinary hearings as soon as possible. If necessary, criminal charges must also be brought against them.
It is completely unacceptable that collective punishment of this violent nature can be meted out to inmates in the democratic South Africa. It smacks of the old days when prisoners were regularly tortured and abused. This has no place in our society, especially when it is considered that rehabilitation of offenders is supposed to be one of the cornerstones of our system of corrections. I thank you.