Why is Balfour considering the release of petty criminals?

Question

What is the reasoning behind this? It doesn't sit well with me, remembering what happened last time this was done. I agree that people need a second chance, but not that soon! And what is a "petty criminal"?

Answer 1

Here I must agree with Baldy - very well said and thought-out response - please can we have more of this high quality answer from you?

However, I think the point of why the prisons are over-crowded is not adequately addressed. Yes, there is crime - that is a given, so I will not further touch on the reasons for this or the high levels of it. And I think the problems with the police force have also been mentioned on this site quite often, so I will only briefly touch on that by pointing out that the police (who are paid next to nothing, whose colleagues are killed constantly, who receives inadequate trauma counseling) is actually doing their job by making arrests.

Where there is a problem is between arrest and court appearance at trial level. A person is arrested (and not found guilty as yet – thus trial-awaiting prisoner), put in prison where he waits for his court appearance. When this happens (which might be within a day or within several days depending on where he is arrested and when - if you are arrested on Friday, the earliest you can appear in court is Monday), the prisoner might not have legal representation, so the proceedings are postponed until this can be arranged and the next time there is an opening in the court schedule (which is overflowing), the prisoner is asked to plead and can apply for bail. Bail is set. If the prisoner cannot afford it, he goes back to jail until his trial comes up - which can take as long as 6-12 months depending on the court schedule.
A very quick research at your local jail will show you that petty criminals (shoplifting, handbag snatching, stealing an apple, traffic offence, etc) can have a bail between R50-R200, which the overall majority cannot afford. Often they will spend up to 9 months in jail (in places such as the notorious Pollsmoor prison) for stealing something worth R5.
While the person is in jail he might be in a cell with up to 20 people, of whom a few might be real hardened criminals who are willing to "teach" the novices. Anger at the system and vulnerability in the prison (where rape and other types of violent attacks are very common) might force a person who stole out of desperation into becoming a hardened criminal before he has even been found guilty ever. In nine months this person leaves the prison for stealing something worth R5 and then goes on to commit the most horrendous crimes.

The problem lies in the ineffective system between arrest and trial. The problem lies in no adequate places of safety to keep youths who are arrested for petty crimes. So they are thrown in with hardened adults, they are raped and brutalized and let out on the streets worse off than when they went in. Very few prisons have remedial programmes in place.

And yes, in areas of severe poverty people do steal or commit a crime in the hope of being arrested because they are fed three meals a day. I did a study on poverty in a very poor area of South Africa in 2002 and was told by a 19 year old man that when there really is no more food at home (no-one can find work, so all are unemployed with no or little money from a government grant), he will get drunk and cause a disturbance in the street in front of the police station so that he can be arrested. He knows it will only be for a day or two but it is a day or two of regular meals and he is less of a burden to his mother who is trying to feed many meals on nothing.
It is difficult to judge a person like this as we have not walked in his shoes - have we ever not had any money or food in our parental home???

As for Balfour releasing petty criminals - my recommendation would be that the current situation in the court system should be addressed. The situation where magistrates set bail at an unreasonably high amount forcing people to be in prison for months on end should be addressed. There should be more places of safety for children arrested on petty crimes. There should be separate places to keep those adult prisoners who are arrested on petty crime charges separate from repeat offenders.
There should be remedial programmes for trial-awaiting prisoners from day one of entering the system.

If he releases petty criminals I would recommend only those who are trial-awaiting for longer than a month.

Answer 2

My interest is 2010 so this has little to do with me but for what it is worth from my reading and what I hear then- SA prisons are overcrowded and room is needed. Buiding more prisons is not a long term answer and SA's crime needs to be addressed at a moral values level which seems to be lacking. Leadership set a very bad example in this regard whether it be defrauding the Government or supporting political figures who have been sentenced by the Courts. Arming the Police, increasing the private security business and citizens building even higher walls to protect themselves serve only to isolate communities even further. I read of an Archbishop in Cape Town who has started a programme in the communities to instil moral values in the fight against crime and that is where it needs to start but it is a long term project. Your Political Leaders need to walk the talk in the fight against crime instead of acting like Ostriches and making the odd public statement when a few noises are made. 2010 has drawn SA into the World spotlight and concerns for the safety of visitors are going to be expressed until there is a demonstrable decrease to whatever an acceptable level is considered acceptable. Not addressing the problem is going to cost your Country in terms of lost tourism on a wider scale and excusing the crime by saying it is just as bad as elsewhere will not be believed or accepted. For the residents of SA only good can come from addressing the problem head on and a concerted effort needs to be made by all no matter how small. As a small example bribing a Police Officer contributes to crime so much better to pay the fine and put the criminals out of business. Giulanni got it right in New York by starting with the petty crime and South Africans can do a lot of good by following his example.

Answer 3

Well Porgie in short because our prisons are so overcrowded that they are out of control.

A petty criminal is one convicted of any non-violent offence, so prisoners who steal (unarmed) or commit fraud or get caught for drunken driving will be elligable for release.

Its not a nice thing, let all these people waltz back into society but neither is it very humane to keep them in the prison with those murderous violent animals...

The question is what is the answer to all this? More prisons? No. The Death penalty? Maybe. A complete transformation of society and the values or lack of values that underplays our everyday lives? Now that'll do it but of course it too much hard work.

Answer 4

It doesn't make any sense to me either. I suspect he is doning it cause our prisons are over populated. Me thinks he should rather investigate the option of expanding existing prisons or maybe bulding new ones in order to handle the high number of criminals.

As far as a "petty criminal" ... a criminal is a criminal in my books! If you commit a crime and you are found guilty then you should pay the full penalty.

Answer 5

hey you!!!! i agree fully with you, the problem is that the punishment is not harsh enough. we need to make people to scared to commit crime. oh and a petty criminal is for eg: someone who stole a cd etc.

Answer 6

Yes I agree with Baldy, he hit the nail on the head

Answer 7

I will tell you why it happens cos crime pays in SA. You steel and if you you go to jail its free food and housing .you get an allowance while you in there you get a good "discount " to go and steel again........ Now isn't what that Comrade Tony try to tell to us our systems are rotten

Answer 8

the state doesn't want to pay for their food and "accommodation" they want them to feed themselves on the account of the citizens and the insurance companies.