No food for prisoners

04 August 2015 - 09:28 By Gareth Wilson

Alarm bells have sounded over an increase in crime in Eastern Cape after police officers admitted to avoiding arresting petty criminals because police stations could not feed them. Police officers are forced to dig into their own pockets to buy food for prisoners or to transfer detainees to other stations because of the breakdown in funding. They also admit to releasing suspects on warning to ensure fewer mouths to feed.Stations across the province say they opt not to arrest people for petty crimes because there is no food available for the suspects.The lack of funds has been an issue for more than a month, but police top brass said yesterday they had taken action and blamed hiccups in procurement processes.In the past, police stations' tea clubs have provided food or hired providers, who would be reimbursed at a later stage.At least 16 stations are known to be in a cash crisis but the figure could be far higher. They include Addo, Despatch, Jeffreys Bay and St Francis Bay.Kareedouw police officers confirmed that they were transferring detainees to avoid having to feed them."We transport all our prisoners to Humansdorp for them to deal with. We then don't have to feed ours," the officers said.Hankey police officers said they bought meals for people behind bars. "There is no food here for prisoners. The commander has gone to buy food with his money to feed them," an officer said.Senior police officials said "red tape" in approving providers meant all food supplies had ceased.Detainees are fed two to three times daily. Police stations estimate the daily food budget at R45 per detainee.Criminologist Rudolph Zinn warned it was a "serious issue" that could result in lawsuits against the police. "It is a violation of human rights to not feed detainees. It has a serious knock-on effect and forces the release of suspects. This means no one gets justice," he said. "If this continues it will lead to a spike in crime as criminals will know they can get away with crime."Provincial spokesman Brigadier Marinda Mills said: "In the past the provision of meals to detainees in custody was mostly done by local police station tea clubs. In April 2015 the policy changed and instruction was given from our national head office that the normal procurement procedures must be followed for the provision of meals."Tea clubs that wanted to continue providing meals were required to register as a service provider and to participate and compete like any other business or institution by means of the prescribed procurement process."Mills said commanders had been instructed to put interim measures in place...

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