Life behind bars: Four prison stories that got South Africa talking

Christmas Day and New Year's Eve festivities can also be a time to look forward to for inmates, with many of them even risking punishment by doing things they wouldn't ordinarily do during the year, such as brewing beer in their cells.

Here are four stories from SA prisons that made headlines this week.

Oscar Pistorius leads Bible studies

According to his father Henke Pistorius, Oscar has been leading Bible readings with fellow prisoners at the Atteridgeville correctional centre in Pretoria.

Pistorius senior spoke to The Times UK about what Oscar has been doing to pass the time behind bars. The former athlete is serving a 13-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in 2013. 

The prison is said to have allocated Oscar a plot to plant vegetables.

Fifteen-day walk to Pretoria via Leeuwkop prison 

A group of students have walked from Durban to Pretoria to plead with President Cyril Ramaphosa for the release of #FeesMustFall activist Khanya Cekeshe. Cekeshe was sentenced to five years in prison for torching a police van during the protests in 2016. 

The students walked for more than two weeks. On their way to the Union Buildings in Pretoria they made a stop at Leeuwkop prison in the north of Joburg, where Cekeshe is incarcerated.

Warders shut down inmates' party plans

According to DispatchLIVE, R15,000 cash and 530 cellphones were found during raids at five prisons in the Eastern Cape in December.

On Monday, TimesLIVE reported that inmates at the Westville Medium B correctional facility in Durban were planning a party to usher in the new year - but authorities had another idea: a raid.

The search was one of 40 conducted at prisons throughout the country. It began in the early hours of the morning and netted unauthorised items, including 425 litres of sorghum beer, dagga, 51 cellphones and around R1,600 in cash.

Grandfather begins life in prison

A 50-year-old Durban grandfather joined the prison population three days before the end of the year. He was convicted of raping his six-year old granddaughter in February 2018. 

The man was caught in the act by the child's stepfather. He pleaded guilty to the rape charges on December 20. Eight days later, he was sentenced to life in prison.