Betty van Tonder*, 42, is serving a 12-year sentence for defrauding her former boss out of R1.4 million. She shares a cell with 38 other women, using one shower and a single toilet. She suffers from diabetes, but is unable to test her sugar level because she has been told the sugar testing machine at the prison hospital doesn’t work.
Lisa Vetten, researcher, and analyst at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research said in her report on “The imprisonment of women in Africa”, that women are invisible and neglected when prison rules and policies are formulated. Prison facilities are designed with men’s needs in mind and as a result, are inadequate for the needs of pregnant women and children.
“The inmates don’t see a doctor unless they are “seriously” sick. A nurse is sent once a week and is seen between 8 am and 2 pm, if you’re lucky. The nurse carries a notebook and on Mondays, inmates line up to tell her their woes, the nurse writes their names, prison numbers, and the medical problem”, says