Special Report Transcript Episode 35, Section 4, Time 13:29

In the Commission’s witness protection programme safe houses are however not an option for amnesty applicants serving prison sentences. // It’s a normal atmosphere in prison that if somebody speaks everybody else hears about it and there’s obviously going to be danger to the person. We have a safe house where we keep our witness in a safe house, but the law would not allow us to remove a prisoner… // But these men do need and get witness protection. They are usually kept in isolation cells prior to the hearings, mostly with armed guards. If necessary they are transferred to another prison out of the province. It’s basically for safety reasons because some of them they’ve committed crimes that involve the community with other prisoners that are here in prison. So, for their own safety we keep them separate. Sentence prisoners are escorted to the hearings by prison guards. It is a measure taken not only to prevent escape. The witness protection programme also tries to anticipate any other possible form of danger. // It could be people that are sitting in the audience that could harm them, so we usually try to recognize the people that will harm them and we give them protection on this day. That’s virtually what we can do for sentenced prisoners, because they are definitely under the wings of the prison authorities so we just afford them the extra protection when they are at the hearings.

Notes: Saran Govender (National Witness Protection); Dumisane Makhaye (Assistant Head: Pietermaritzburg Prison); Saran Govender

References: there are no references for this transcript