THE Ombudsman Advocate Tlotliso Polaki has unearthed shocking revelations at 40 police stations and posts that she inspected in the country. The inspection whose objective was to establish whether the conditions prevailing at these cells are conducive to or fit for human habitation was done between May and September 2023.
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Advocate Polaki said the focal point was on overcrowding, cleanliness, buildings and cells, hygiene, bedding and ablution facilities.
Also, the focus was put on lighting and heating, security, feeding, clothing, healthcare services, retention of detainees’ properties, discipline and sanctions strategies, information to and from inmates, contact of detainees with the outside world, their challenges and staff welfare.
The inspection, she said, established that detainees were rarely offered or provided with an opportunity to wash or shower including those held overnight or those attending court.
Advocate Polaki said in almost all police stations and posts, male detainees did not take baths because of lack of bathing facilities and cosmetics.
The report showed that female detainees were the only ones provided with washing basins and soap to bathe.
“That being the case, this did not happen all the time but only if they were on their monthly periods,” the report said.
For the bathing area, they had to use one of the offices or buildings used for other purposes because there was no provision for a bathing facility.
They were expected to put their used clothing back on and for the most part, their relatives brought them change clothes.
Advocate Polaki said for most stations and posts, the cell structure was bare concrete floor, walls, and roofs.
She said they were generally dirty and had no lighting, and ventilation was inadequate.
“As a result, there was a bad and unbearable smell,” she said.
“Most of the stations and posts had only one cell designated for male detainees,” Advocate Polaki said.
Female detainees were kept on benches at the reception area day and night, the report read.
Most station cells, the report showed, were not equipped with mattresses and blankets and those that had them were dirty while some were in a poor state of repair.
In cases where there were still some left, they were torn, very thin and contributed to a bad stench in the cells.
No one was certain as to when they were last provided because it was a long time ago, she said.
This meant that detainees slept on bare concrete floors and as blankets were limited, most relied on families to provide.
It was established that detainees in almost all police stations and posts were not fed at all.
In the rarest of cases, where they were still provided for, they were poorly fed.
The report unearthed that the detainees were given only bread or pap (maize porridge) and soup every day.
Advocate Polaki said the police officers resorted to requesting that the family members of the detainees bring them food when they came for visitations.
Otherwise, the police officers feed the detainees from their own pockets.
Majara Molupe
