S.A. PRISONS DEFENDED

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30826, 11 August 1965, Page 6

S.A. PRISONS DEFENDED

(N.Z.P. A.-Reuter— Copyright)

DURBAN, August 9.

South Africa’s Justice Minister said yesterday he had nothing to hide about conditions in South African prisons.

Articles have recently appeared in the “Rand Daily Mail” alleging illtreatment of prisoners, including electric shock treatment The Minister, Mr Balthazar Vorster, told the “Sunday Tribune” in an interview: “Our prisons—and I know them, I visit them regularly —are comparable to the best in the world and our integrity and the devotion of our prison officials cannot be questioned by anybody. “I have the highest regard for the way they have performed their duties and for the way they treat prisoners. “Naturally there are black sheep in any force and we have our black sheep too.

“We have never hesitated to act against any man who has ill-treated the prisoners and everybody is aware of this.”

Mr Vorster said in reply to a question that the Leader of the Opposition United Party, Sir de Villiers Graaf, had not asked to see the prisons “in spite of the fact that I have issued invitations time and again to all members of

Parliament to visit the prisons if they so wish. “And of course I have allowed Dr. Hoffman, the representative of the International Red Cross, free access to all gaols. He had absolute freedom to talk in private to any prisoner he wanted to talk to. “He visited a large number of gaols and talked to a substantial number of prisoners.” Mr Vorster said a report had been made to him “and I have repeatedly asked the Red Cross to publish that report. To date they haven't done so. “I don’t want to publish it because then it simply would be said that coming from me it would be suspect. They have done the inspection, it's up to them to publish it."