Letter from a prisoner - The ladies prison

                                                Picture taken from nicroinaction.co.za

Crime is not confined to any one race, culture, age or gender. Just across the road from my concrete home is a slightly smaller version of the prison I am in, but it houses something most male inmates miss- ladies.
There are around 300 ladies at any given time. The ladies prison has separate sections for awaiting trial, maximum and minimum sentenced inmates. There is also a section for mothers and their infants; whom they can keep until they are 3 years old.

The 2 prisons are only separated by 2 walls and a few fences. To me, it wouldn’t make a difference if the 2 were separated by light years but for some the ladies provide the motivation one needs in a place like this.
There is almost no possibility of meeting the ladies in person. The only time that there is limited possibility of meeting is when the ladies visit our hospital, as I understand their hospital is very basic.

Communication with the ladies is possible. Sending and receiving of letters is not only legal but efficient. This medium is the most popular. In their letters both male and female inmates will write about their friends who are also looking for ‘love;’ in this way the communication circle always grows.
Due to English being my first language, many inmates come to me to edit their letters or sometimes even write it for them. The letters are one of the rare mediums through which inmates truly express their feelings and by which they let down the guard we unconsciously keep on full alert.
Perhaps it is due to my conservative upbringing and Islamic background that I am constantly amazed at the brazenness and directness of the correspondence. After just a couple of letters, ‘love’ is expressed in the most endearing ways and promises of a blissful life together are elaborately detailed. I put it down to just another form of escapism.
For a brief period, I wrote to a lady who was doing a very short sentence for fraud. From what she conveyed, it seems that the way female prisons are portrayed in movies is pretty much the way it is in reality. Fighting, rape and contraband is far more common as compared to a male prison; especially considering the vast disparity in numbers. My communication ended the day she wanted to “take the relationship further.”

Another means of communicating is through “facebook.” Not the Facebook you know! The top floors of the prison buildings are enclosed by concrete walls which are lined with small holes (about 10 by 10 cm). One such wall faces directly at an identical wall of the female prison, about 150m away. Inmates on either side get the attention of their ‘partners’ by waving a sock in a specific way through the holes. Once they receive a reply signal they each wear a sock on one hand. The socked hand is visually clear from their vantage points. They communicate and often have sessions lasting for hours during which they spell out each word by signalling out the word letter by letter.
I have sat and watched and but too slow to make out the words but am told by the users that they love their means of communication. Each ‘couple’ also have unique ways of saying ‘”I love you,” and other short sayings; they even have ways of blowing kisses!
Cell-phones are also present in the ladies prison so some are able to be in touch through more conventional methods.
Whilst these means are effective; nothings compares to being face to face, looking into each other’s eyes and whispering sweet I love you’s. This is a difficult proposition but not impossible.
At the hospital there are male inmates who work as cleaners and assistants to the nurses or doctors. They make money by sneaking males into the hospital toilets when the ladies come for treatment.
Unfortunately for them, they are unable to be with the ladies. They can only hold hands and chat through the toilet windows which overlook a courtyard which works as the waiting room.

There is one male inmate who works in the reception area and he has access to pretty much anywhere in the prison without any escort. This is the only guy who I know of that actually gets more than a handshake. Rumour has it that he is in fact a gigolo who ensures some of the women get a lot more than medical treatment. It could possibly be true as the inmate he replaced recently got Aids.

In the recent past, more intimate opportunities were possible from what I heard albeit restricted by a fence. When male and female inmates took the dustbins out to the dumping area, they were engaging in sexual intercourse through the wired fence. Recent visitors to the prison have noted that new fences are being installed, with significantly smaller gaps.
Whilst I don’t feel that many, if any, of these relationships are based on true love, it is evident that love truly knows no bounds.

Letter from a prisoner ---- My pied-a-terre

                                                               Picture taken off the net

My Pied a Terre

Interaction with people from the free world is something that every inmate looks forward to. I thoroughly enjoy finding out about people I knew, places I frequented and events that I would have loved to attend. As much as I want to know about the happenings beyond the walls that imprison me, I generally do not get much time to be the questioner as everyone wants their own curiosities about prison satisfied.
The most common questions I am asked are with regard to; where I sleep/stay, what I eat, what I am allowed to have, what I do in all the time I have, is there violence, did anyone try to rape me and many more. As the images or ideas you probably have of prison, from watching TV shows and the media, is very different to the reality of the situation I will try to paint the real picture.
My 1512 days in prison thus far have been spread over 3 maximum security prisons. All 3 prisons are absolutely different, not only in their physical layouts but in every way imaginable. Currently, I am at a centre which is supposedly one of 4 national “Centre’s of Excellence;” due to the educational activities.
My home is a triple story building. It has 5 main wings, a hospital section, reception/visit area, kitchen and management offices. All the different sections are linked by a central walkway. Each of the 5 main wings house roughly 100 inmates over 2 floors. The wings or units as we call them have their own managers who oversee the day to day running of their units. Each unit has 2 courtyards; generally one is used for soccer and 1 for hanging washing. The units each also have a dining room, recreation room, washing room, store rooms, a managers’ office and 2 communal showers.

The unit I reside in consists of mainly tertiary students. Our recreation room is a library. We have 2 courtyards which are meticulously maintained. One courtyard is a grassed area bordered by plants. The other is broken into 3 sections; one sandy area for playing soccer, one for our fishpond and one for a vegetable garden. The inmates with green fingers put a great deal of effort into maintaining and frequently altering their meagre landscape.
Each floor of the unit is lined with 2, back-to-back, rows of cells. Between the cells is a maintenance area wherein all the piping and electrical wiring leads.
Prisons are actually relatively clean in general. Cleaning material is found in abundance (good tender to have!) and officials inspect regularly, ensuring decent standards of cleanliness. My section is thankfully the cleanest by a long way, due in no coincidence to the fact that it is the only section run by a white manager. He also ensures that there are actually fish in the fish pond. The communal areas are cleaned by inmates employed to do so twice a day. Cells are cleaned by their residents and inspected formally once a week.
The cells we stay in have one entrance accessed by an 8 cm thick steel door and solid steel gate. The door and gate are locked when the prison is closed every afternoon. During the day, inmates are allowed to lock their cells with their own padlocks. The door has a flap on it through which officials are able to look inside during the night, however this seldom happens.

The wall opposite to the door of the rectangular space is lined at eye level with windows. The sight through the windows is of the cell behind. The windows open a few centimetres before being restricted by a thick steel mesh. In summer the slight breeze through the open windows is a welcome relief, however in winter cold air finds its way in through the gaps left by windows unable to close properly.
The cell is 2.4 m long and 2.1 m wide. The floor and roof is bare concrete. The walls are made of brick and painted beige. We have some posters of dream cars and places that cover most of the drab paint. Lighting is provided by a central fitting with 2 fluorescent bulbs. The light is actually too bright for the small space so I have pasted paper over it to dim it slightly. Residents are able to determine when they want the lights on or off. The light switch is unfortunately outside of the cell. The only
way to manipulate the switch is through the flap on the door. One has to push a piece of broomstick through the flap and then hit at the switch. My coordination is not that great when I can see the target so trying to switch off the lights is a task I attempted once (for over an hour) and never again.
The other fittings in the cell are a toilet in one corner and a steel sink next to it; both under the windows. The toilet also doubles as a seat when the lid (a piece of plank) is down. The sink has a hot and cold water tap. In winter there is rarely hot water and in summer the hot water is boiling almost all day long. On the floor between the toilet and wall we keep a box for cleaning material. The prison provides green bar soap, dishwashing liquid soap, a Jeyes fluid rip off and ultra strong bleach. We also get brooms, toilet brushes and cloths.

One side of the cell is taken up by a double bunk bed and a locker. I sleep on the top bunk because the cell had one occupant when I arrived. My cellmate is serving a 20 year sentence for armed robbery and the plethora of charges that go with it. I am fortunate that we get along well. He is a dedicated student, spending many hours every day with his books. He takes schedule 6 sleeping tablets every night at around 7 pm, so by 8pm he is in dreamland until the next morning (and if he managed to get dagga then he wakes up by lunch). This gives me the liberty to do what I want without bothering my roomie at all.
We use our locker to store our foodstuff, kettle and iron. Clothing is stored under the bed in private kit-bags. Clothing that we want to wear the next day or not get creased is put on hangers and hung from a nail in the wall. I have nails all over to hang clothing, dishcloths, towels, keys and even one high up for my Qurans.
The wall opposite the bed is taken up by a desk (a typical school desk) and chair alongside a cabinet. There are only about 5 cabinets in the prison. The other cells only have desks. My cabinet cost me R100 which in prison is a lot of money, it was worth the every cent. My four shelves enable us to keep our books, tv, radio, 2 laptops, study lamp, toiletries other and odds and ends rather neatly. Without the cabinet we would have to use boxes.

Living out of boxes would not cut it, especially when I live on Millionaires row. The row of cells that I live in earned this name because the inmates living here are ones who all have tv’s and computers. We also put money together to pay for extra cleaning of our corridor and have plants lining our corridor. Most of my neighbours are ex-celebs, high profile fraudsters or cash in transit hijackers. Our row also has a view over the lawn and pond; and in the distance civilization. And if anyone is interested in moving into one of the penthouses, they are very rare and cost a hefty R200. Even in prison property is all about location, location, location!

A short weekend getaway

1st March, 2017

Over the last few days my family and I decided to spend a few days at our beach apartment located in the picturesque, quaint little town of Margate. I am not a fan of Durban city and Umhlanga. It is not my ideal holiday destination as it is merely a concrete jungle. I prefer getting away from the city appreciating the peace and quiet that nature has to offer. The Durban south coast area is definitely an area worth visiting. The area is undoubtedly a photographers paradise made up of unspoiled beaches coupled with lush vegetation and greenery.Despite the rainy weather, my family and I made sure that we took a drive to the beautiful Lake Eland game reserve that boasts a variety of activities for the entire family, such as zip-lining, hiking, walking over the suspension bridge and much, much more.

The drive to the game reserve is absolutely breathtaking, passing through waterfalls, rivers and forests. "The Oribi Gorge is situated along the spectacular forest-cloaked ravine of the Mzimkulwana river west of Port Shepstone. Oribi Gorge is the western of two gorges that cut through the Oribi Flats (flat sugarcane farmlands). The Gorge, as seen from the Caves and the Suspension Bridge, was formed when large quantities of water from Central Africa cascaded down the ravine, gouging through the sandstone mountains. It spans an area 27km long, 4km wide in places and 400m deep. The vertical sides of the Gorge are made up of Natal series sandstone layers. The slopes down to the river are granite. Two types are evident: pink Oribi Gorge granite, and charnokite which is dark green in colour and can be seen in the river bed."

Waking up in the morning to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks is a totally surreal experience. After enjoying a morning jog on the beach soaking up the fresh crisp air, it is so refreshing to head back to the apartment just in time for a delicious breakfast followed by a walk down town meeting up with the locals. In the afternoon we enjoy driving along the coast to the famous Mac Banana farm stall. Their pancakes and waffles are simply divine; awesome for my taste buds but not for my hips.... lolol.... I guess that's what a holiday is all about. Breaking away from routine is refreshing and energizing. I need to do this more often.......