Several political prisoners who have spent long periods in prison have been released in the past two months. Where the prison authorities have expected publicity early releases have been granted. Since May 1982 over 80 political prisoners have been given remission. No political prisoner with a life sentence has yet been given remission.
Ian David KITSON (64) was released from Pretoria Prison on 11 May, seven months before his 20 year sentence was due to expire in December.
Kitson was sentenced in the Rand Criminal Court on 18 December 1964, together with four other people, Wilton MKWAYI, Laloo CHIBA, John MATTHEWS and 'Mac' MAHARAJ. They were sentenced for more than 58 acts of sabotage. Kitson was charged with sabotage, 'furthering the aims of communism' and joining the high command of Umkhonto we Sizwe.
Mkwayi was sentenced to life imprisonment, Chiba to 18 years, Matthews to 15 years and Maharaj to 12 years.
As Kitson is a dual South African and British national, repeated representations for his release were made by the British government over the years. A number of campaigns for his release were conducted in Britain especially by the trade union of which he was a member when he worked in Britain in of which he spent as a research fellow at Ruskin College. He returned to South Africa in 1959.
At a press conference which he gave in London on 21 June he described conditions in the Pretoria Prison where he spent most of his sentence. He disclosed that he began his sentence in the lowest classification category — a category normally reserved for prison rule offenders. At that time he was allowed one visit from one person for half an hour every six months, and send one letter not exceeding 500 words, at the same interval.
It took another four years for the prisoners to be allowed to purchase a film projector; six years to obtain a refrigerator; 16 years to gain the right to receive a daily newspaper. He explained that at the end of his sentence prison conditions for the few white political prisoners were relatively comfortable but that the concessions granted over the years had been the result of long and hard fought battles for improved conditions.
At the end of his sentence he could receive 36 visits a year by two people at a time and for 45 minutes. He was allowed to write and receive 40 letters of 500 words each per year.
Kitson corrected a misconception expressed in the media that he was the longest serving white political prisoner. Denis GOLDBERG was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial in June 1964 and remains in the Pretoria Prison (RDM 12.5.84; GN 22.6.84).
- Johnson MLAMBO (42) was released from Robben Island in May after serving a 20 year prison sentence.
He was charged with seven others in the Rand Criminal Court in 1964 with possessing weapons and plotting to kill whites and destroy property, and with visiting Lesotho to receive instructions from the Pan Africanist Congress headquarters to launch a violent campaign to overthrow the state. He was a branch chairman of the PAC in Benoni before his arrest.
At an interview given at Harare airport in May he spoke of conditions on Robben Island. He recalled that he had once been buried up to his neck by warders who then urinated on his face. He said that on other occasions warders had choked him until he became unconscious and also starved him. He also said he was assaulted with a pick handle and that warders had ordered other prisoners on the Island to attack political prisoners (S 16.5.84).
- Jerome Vusi KOLISANG (KODISANG) (33) was released from prison in June after serving five years. He was one of 16 sentenced in the Bethal Trial of PAC members in June 1979.
Kolisang was convicted of receiving military training in Libya. He was arrested at Witkleigat, near Zeerust, in 1977. He was kept under section six of the Terrorism Act for six months before being charged (CT 26.6.84; see FOCUS 23 p.9).
In FOCUS 45 (p.7) and 49 (p.11) details were given of the incident in which three prisoners died and 32 were injured after being beaten by warders at the Barberton Prison farm in December 1982. The consequences of the incident have been far reaching. Eight warders responsible for the deaths and beatings were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one year to eight years; the former acting head of the prison at the time was charged and sentenced for complicity in the assaults; and an investigation into conditions at the prison has exposed brutal treatment meted out to the prisoners.
The former acting head, Lieutenant Niemand, appeared in the Witbank Regional Court from February to April. A number of the prisoners who were beaten in the December 1982 incident as well as a number of warders gave evidence that Niemand had ordered the work party to the dam site where the prisoners died. Niemand claimed that his own superiors, including the officer commanding the prison, had given the go-ahead to proceed with the expedition. He claimed that the prisoners, who had only arrived from Durban the day before, had behaved badly and that he decided to send them to the dam 'to help them get rid of their frustration'.
A warder who was acquitted in the earlier trial disclosed that Niemand visited the scene of the deaths twice and a prisoner claimed that Niemand had ordered a warder to beat him and two other prisoners to death. Other warders claimed that Niemand had warned them 'not to breathe a word to the police' about the incident.
On 3 April Niemand was found guilty of common assault and fined R900 (or 360 days imprisonment) and given a further two years imprisonment, suspended for four years. He was also demoted to a storeman by the Prisons Service.
In the 10 months after the incident 12 more prisoners died violently at the prison. The report of the investigating committee disclosed that violence was 'normal' at the prison. The report, which was released on 16 May by the Minister of Justice, disclosed a number of incidents of abuse of prisoners by warders and gave details of severe conflict between warders and inmates.
Among the disclosures it was revealed that it had been a 'tradition' for many years to 'initiate' new prisoners by forcing them to run naked through a gauntlet of baton-wielding warders. Assaults by warders on prisoners also took place regularly at other times.
Gangs and gang conflict were rife in the prison and little was done to stop it. An incident was reported in which warders locked two hostile gangs in an enclosed area so that they could 'kill each other'. The gang members clubbed each others with hammers and the fight had to be broken up with teargas.
Five prisoners died in 1983 in what were described as 'escape attempts', three died after a 'brawl' and four more during a 'battle with warders' (RDM 14.2.84; DN/RDM 15/16.2.84; RDM 17/18.2.84; DN 4.4.84; RDM 19.4.84; RDM 17.5.84).
