Bandiete at Pollsmoor Prison are having a terrible time with tandpyn and have reported the prison’s management for failing to provide dental care.
In a letter submitted to the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, the men – who are awaiting trial – say the prison management is putting their health in jeopardy and delaying their trials at the Western Cape High Court.
In the complaint submitted by advocate Mohamed Bashier Sibda on behalf of Raeez Solomons of the Laughing Boys gang from Hanover Park, it states that he urgently needs help from a dentist, saying they are infringing on his rights.
He also claims that wardens are stealing their food and replacing it with hot water.
Sibda explains that his clients have told him that there is no resident dentist at the mang since the lockdown, leaving detainees in pain.
This has resulted in delays with trials at the Western Cape High Court as bandiete have to obtain court orders demanding treatment before a trial can continue.
“In the case of murder accused Jeremy Sias, he had to have six teeth removed,” says Sibda.
“It first started when he complained about pain in court and under Judge Elizabeth Baartman, an order was given for the investigating officer to take him to a doctor.
“It was discovered that he had a serious abscess and the doctor feared he may develop septicemia.
“The doctor put him on a course of antibiotics to treat the infection and then he had to have two sets of removals, which totalled six teeth.
“This resulted in two weeks of valuable court time being wasted because they were not given proper dental care,” adds Sibda.
But, spokesperson Candice van Reenen says that by law, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) are not required to have a dentist on site.
She says the Correctional Services Act states that DCS must provide, within its available resources, “adequate” health-care services based on the principles of primary health care.
“DCS therefore renders primary health care and outsources dentistry to the Department of Health (DoH), as it is a specialised health service,” Van Reenen explains.
“All specialised health care is referred to the Department of Health. The law states that provision must be made for access, which is made.
“The current status of referring inmates to the DoH dentistry will remain until such time that the DoH deems it necessary for a dentist to render services on site.”
However, Sibda says that prison management cannot just dismiss the complaints as they are required to send the prisoners for a referral.
“The situation at the prison is deplorable. My clients are suffering irreparable harm.
“All reserve the right to seek redress for their pain and suffering.
“And as Judge Baartman had stated in the Sias matter, the prisoners are not seeking outlandish benefits like caviar, but simply ordinary basic human rights like adequate dental care and proper food.
“The Legal Aid Board is also lodging a complaint and at the end of the day when the trials are delayed everyone, including the families of victims, will suffer,” he adds.