The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) elected its Eastern Cape during its 10th elective congress in Port Alfred this past week.
The new executive consists of Luzuko Rawana as chairperson, Melubakho Mkweta as deputy chairperson, Xolani Presente as secretary, Thandiwe Ncipha as deputy secretary and Nyameka Joseph Lubisi as treasurer.
During the two-day conference, the union highlighted the dangers surrounding the state of patients in correctional facilities in the province, including more than 92 state psychiatry patients who needed bed space in a psychiatric ward.
Popcru president Thulani Ngwenya said that when inmates were declared state patients, they were required to be transferred immediately from correctional centres to appropriate facilities overseen by the Department of Health (DoH) for professional care.
However, the union had noted that a shortage of bed spaces in DoH facilities had caused a severe bottleneck in the system, leaving the patients among general prisoner populations for extended periods.
Ngwenya said the situation was placing its members and custodial officers at risk and compromising the safety of other inmates and state patients.
“The situation is a ticking time bomb. Our members have not received any training in dealing with psychiatric patients, placing them in an extremely difficult situation, and they have warned that a growing number of incidents in correctional centres could be traced back to this issue.”
Ngwenya said union members had reported an incident at the Butterworth Correctional Centre, in the Eastern Cape, involving the attempted rape of an inmate by a state patient whose transfer from the facility had been delayed.
Ngwenya added that the risk of violence had been worsened by the fact that correctional centres were also facing an alarming shortage of personnel.
“Our custodial officers are increasingly short-staffed, even as they attempt to manage increasingly overcrowded prisons. In fact, staff shortages and a lack of resources in correctional centres have reached crisis levels across the country.
“Stabbings of custodial officers have become the order of the day. Our members report that there are not enough staff to cover all shifts properly. Buildings are dilapidated, resulting in numerous escape attempts, and living conditions for inmates are inhumane.
“Meanwhile, some of our members are being forced to patch and mend threadbare uniforms, while others have not received uniforms at all.”
Popcru has called for urgent intervention from the DoH and regional commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services Lucky Mthethwa.
The union welcomed Mthethwa’s appointment, saying he was was an effective leader who had had several fruitful engagements with the union.
The Star