Prison protests in South Africa : A conceptual exploration

• Author: Lukas Muntingh
• DOI: 10.17159/2413-3108/2022/vn71a12709
• Published date: 01 November 2022
• Date: 01 November 2022
• Pages: 23-34

2 – 23

SA CRIME QUARTERLY NO. 71 • 2022

Prison protests in

South Africa

A conceptual exploration

South African

This article explores the nature and causes of prisoner protests, looking at it f‌irst from a sociological

perspective and second, a rights perspective. The fact that people end up in prison following

due process does not mean that their imprisonment is not a contested arena in the sense that

prisoners are generally aware of their rights, even when curtailed. Importantly, this curtailment has

boundaries - prisoners do not lose all their rights and it seems that this particular issue is frequently

the locus of tension, and sometimes conf‌lict, between prisoners and prison administration. There is

nothing in South African law prohibiting prisoners from protesting as recognised by s 17 of the Bill

of Rights. However, prisoners, with reference to the right to free speech and the right to peaceful

demonstration, f‌ind themselves in a situation where they can claim these rights, but the enabling

legislation is not only lacking, but there are strong indications that the operational procedures prevent

them from exercising these rights.

CR I ME QUA RT E R LY

Lukas Muntingh1

lmuntingh@uwc.ac.za

https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3108/2022/vn71a12709

No. 71 | 2022

Introduction

Although accurate data is hard to come by, the

overall impression is that South Africa’s prisons

are not characterised by frequent and large-

scale prison protests, as is the case in some

Latin American countries.2 In South Africa, the

most widespread prison protests occurred in

the run-up and months after the 1994 elections,

where protests occurred at 53 prisons and

a total of 37 prisoners died.3 Those protests

were f‌irst caused by uncertainty as to whether

prisoners would be able to participate in the

elections (which they ultimately did). Following

the elections, there was a further expectation