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Correctional Services Act, 1998 (Act No. 111 of 1998)

Regulations for the Administration of the Department of Correctional Services of the Republic of South Africa

Chapter II : Custody of all inmates under Conditions of Human Dignity

3. Accommodation

 

1) In every correctional centre provision must be made for general sleeping and in-patient hospital accommodation, consisting of single or communal cells or both.

 

2)
a) All cell accommodation must have sufficient floor and cubic capacity space to enable the inmate to move freely and sleep comfortably within the confines of the cell.
b) All accommodation must be ventilated in accordance with the National Building Regulations SABS 0400 of 1990 issued in terms of section 16 of the Standards Act, 1993 (Act No. 29 of 1993).
c) Any cell utilised for the housing of inmates must be sufficiently lighted by natural and artificial lighting so as to enable an inmate to read and write.
d)
i) In every correctional centre there must be sufficient, accessible ablution facilities that must be available to all inmates at all times.
ii) Such facilities include access to hot and cold water for washing purposes.
iii) In communal sleeping accommodation ablution facilities must be partitioned off.
e)
i) Every inmate must be provided with a separate bed and with bedding which provides adequate warmth for the climatic conditions and which complies with hygienic requirements as prescribed by the Order.
ii) In equipping a prison hospital, provision must be made for a standard range of hospital beds, bedding and clothing that specifically suit the needs for effective patient care.
f) Whenever separate correctional centres for males and females are established on the same site or on separate sites but in proximity of each other, or whenever separate sections of a correctional centre are available for the reception of male and female inmates, the following requirements must be observed:
i) The locks of the doors and gates of the correctional centre or section for males and those of the correctional centre or section for females must not correspond.
ii) The keys of a correctional centre or section for females must be permanently in the possession of a female correctional official.
iii) Any male person visiting a correctional centre or section for females must be accompanied by a female correctional official during the full period of such visit.
g) Inmates of a particular security classification must be detained separately from inmates with a different security classification.
h) Inmates between the ages of 18 and 21 years must be detained separately from inmates who are over the age of 21 years.
i) Inmates suffering from mental or chronic illness or whose health status will be affected detrimentally or whose health status poses a threat to other inmates if detained in a communal cell must be detained separately on request of the correctional medical practitioner or registered nurse.