Prison means uninvited sex, diseases, drugs, violence and gangs: Mapisa-Nqakula pleads to be kept out of jail

The embattled former speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who has spent 24 years in government, on Thursday expressed little faith in the country's prisons, and instead begged the Pretoria magistrate's court to keep her out of jail.

In her affidavit where she requested that she be granted bail, she listed a number of reasons why prison would be unsuitable for her, saying they were riddled with violence and were unhygienic. 

She said sending her to a prison cell would be a “cruel punishment”. 

Mapisa-Nqakula faces 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering for allegedly receiving kickbacks valued at more than R2m for a contract when she was defence minister.

Through an affidavit read by her lawyer Graham Kerr-Phillips, the former speaker slammed the prisons as she motivated why she should be kept free pending her trial.

She said there were “chronic failings” in the prison system such as the dramatic overcrowding of inmates, and prisons were subject to gang activity.

“Assault by inmates as well as correctional services officers is a constant threat. Membership of gangs is often predicated by the commission of an assault. Applying the concept of systemic failure, the South African prisons and juvenile facilities do not have facilities available to make provision for my safety and security ... Activities of gangs are to organise uninvited sexual contact or facilitate the drug trade. The chief targets of such are the old and the young.”

She said sanitation and ablution services in the prisons were “totally inadequate” and contributed to the spread of diseases.

“Access to medical facilities is virtually non-existent due to the lack of resources and underemployment. Recently, as a result of this problem, former president Jacob Zuma has been sent to a private medical facility and further has medical parole.”

Mapisa-Nqakula is on medication for hypertension, the court heard. 

While South Africa's prison facilities are known as the department of correctional services, Mapisa-Nqakula said the prisons did not rehabilitate offenders as intended and that the basic right which permits inmates to exercise for one hour per day was ignored due to understaffing and overcrowding.

Issues of diseases such as Aids and the diet inmates are subjected to make imprisonment a cruel punishment.

“The overarching impression is that South African prisons are incapable of any form of rehabilitation because correctional staff are simply overwhelmed by the task of preventing inmates from killing each other.”

After putting her case to the court, Mapisa-Nqakula was granted R50,000 bail with conditions which included handing in her passport.

The court said it was satisfied she was not a flight risk.

The case is set to return to court on June 4 where another accused person is expected to join her.

Mapisa-Nqakula resigned as speaker and member of parliament on Wednesday, but said her departure was not an admission of guilt.