Abstract
During the first half of the 1980s, the issue of chronic overcrowding within the South African penal system formed part of an intense ideological struggle between those who supported and those who opposed the apartheid regime. Public debate around this issue acted as a mirror, reflecting early cracks which were beginning to appear in the edifice of apartheid. Since the prisons were the ultimate instrument of social control within the apartheid system, the ongoing crises caused by chronic overcrowding within these institutions served as a kind of “canary in the mine” for the apartheid system as a whole. The debates which took place during the early 1980s around overcrowding are also important because they form part of a common theme running through South African penal discourse as a whole. This article seeks to show how the debates on prison overcrowding which took place in the first half of the 1980s fit into a long term pattern of recurring ideological crises surrounding this issue.
Highlights
In many ways, the 1980s marked a tragic time in the sad history of apartheid South Africa
The final section of part one of this article will examine the strong link which was evident in the public discourse of the early 1980s, between the crises caused by overcrowding in South African prisons, and the major cracks which were becoming increasingly apparent in the edifice of the apartheid system and its measures of social control
In part one of this article it has been argued that public debates which took place during the early 1980s in South Africa on the issue of prison overcrowding are relevant in a number of respects
Summary
During the first half of the 1980s, the issue of chronic overcrowding within the South African penal system formed part of an intense ideological struggle between those who supported and those who opposed the apartheid regime. Public debate around this issue acted as a mirror, reflecting early cracks which were beginning to appear in the edifice of apartheid. This article seeks to show how the debates on prison overcrowding which took place in the first half of the 1980s fit into a long term pattern of recurring ideological crises surrounding this issue
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