Detention In South Africa Research Articles

A Kafkaesque state: deportation and detention in South Africa

Deportation practices are commonly described through the lens of a ‘state of exception’, a condition where government assumes extra-judicial and near absolute authority over its subjects. Yet, within the contemporary deportation regime, we find examples of state fragmentation and resistance. Individual officials take decision-making power into their own hands, and deportable populations reassert control over their movement and their lives. Hence, deportation is not a ‘bare’ form of politics, but a rich and contested realm, in which officials and deportees struggle for power and freedom. This article attempts to define and describe the unique character of this realm of politics in South Africa's particularly prolific and harsh deportation system. Drawing on a wide array of survey, interview and ethnographic material, we explore both the inner workings of South Africa's deportation bureaucracy and deportees' narrative and emotive responses to detention conditions. To make sense of this material, the article draws on the unique description of state power and authority in Franz Kafka's classic The Trial. For Kafka, the power of officials in a state of exception stems from an ability to prolong administrative procedures, while individuals seek to retain their capacity to imagine and chart a broader migration story. We show that many anomalies and informal practices in the South African deportation system can be understood as part of this Kafkesque struggle.

A Review of Measures in Place to Effect the Prevention and Combating of Torture with Specific Reference to Places of Detention in South Africa

South Africa's ratification of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) in 1998 did not bring an end to the torture and ill-treatment of people deprived of their liberty. South Africa has furthermore not criminalised the act of torture, as is required of states parties under art 4 of CAT. This is a serious shortcoming, as has been commented on by the Committee against Torture in its concluding remarks on the state party's Initial Report. Criminalising torture is, however, only one important strategic component of preventing and combating torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.

The Steve Biko Affair: A Case Study in Medical Ethics

Steve Biko died in detention in South Africa in 1977. Critical ethical issues are raised both by the conduct of the doctors responsible for Biko's care and by the subsequent response of the medical profession as a whole. Because those issues are relevant to all healthcare professionals everywhere, the Biko affair provides a useful case study in medical ethics. We discuss the case in this article, describing how we use it in our teaching.

Mediation of Detention Trauma via Perceived Locus of Control

Political detention in South Africa has been documented to contain conditions inherently detrimental to psychological health. Reports indicate high levels of stress reponses associated with conditions of solitary confinement, and physical and psychological abuse — particularly in the form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Amongst the moderating variables that may mediate between detention stress and post-detention trauma is perceived locus of control. In the present study the author aimed to determine post-detention sequelae and the moderating influence of perceived locus of control in this specific context. A Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder scale was combined with an Index of Well-being scale and correlated with a Detention Locus of Control scale to assess mediation significance of experienced ‘traumatization’. Results indicated a positive correlation with those who are internal in their perceived locus of control suffering reduced post-stress sequelae, compared to those who are more externally oriented. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed with specific reference to therapeutic intervention in the clinical context.

Development and Testing of a Scale to Measure Locus of Control in South African Political Detainees

Political detention in South Africa has characteristically involved a process of systematised abuse aimed at breaking down individuals and gaining information from them. The inherent characteristics of detention have been documented as particularly pathogenic and inducing of psychological and psychiatric sequelae. Generalised perceived locus of control has played a mediating role in determining individuals' responses to particular stressors. A specific scale to measure locus of control in the detention-specific context was constructed and validated according to locus of control theory. Results indicated a valid and reliable instrument for determining perceived locus of control in detention. Ascertaining the mediating capacity of this construct in this context and therapeutic implications are discussed.

Doctors and the state: Lessons from the Biko case

The death of the well-known black leader, Steve Biko, in detention in South Africa in 1977 has continued to generate debate in the international medical literature. The three doctors who examined him during his terminal illness made a diagnosis of malingering in spite of overwhelming evidence suggesting that he had suffered extensive traumatic brain injury while in detention. The inquest into his death provided a rare insight into the manner in which state doctors function in relation to the police of a repressive regime. This article documents the relevant testimony from the inquest and explores the reasons for the doctor's mismanagement of Biko. It is suggested that failures in the doctors' judgement were a result of complex influences including the effects of their own social conditioning, the risk of habituation by state doctors to degrading prison conditions, the inroads that Apartheid has made into medical practice, the possibility of reprisal if state doctors oppose the wishes of the police, and, more speculatively, the possibility that the doctors' obedience and passivity were exploited by the Security Police who wished to absolve themselves from responsibility of Biko's injuries. Most importantly, it is argued that the repeated failure of the major medical organizations in South Africa to provide clear guidance and leadership to state-employed doctors increases the risk that individual doctors will continue to succumb to hierarchical pressures to condone acts of state-sanctioned violence against detainees.

Political Detention in South Africa: A Sociopsychological Perspective

(1989). Political Detention in South Africa: A Sociopsychological Perspective. International Journal of Mental Health: Vol. 18, Mental Health Aspects of Political Repression and Violence—II, pp. 21-37.

Detention in South Africa: A woman’s experience

Detention in South Africa: A woman’s experience

Another death in detention in South Africa

Another death in detention in South Africa

Africa — Latin America — Asia — Middle East

An ICRC team of four delegates, one of them a doctor, made a new series of visits to places of detention in South Africa, from 12 to 25 October. In eight places they had access to 515 convicted prisoners and four persons detained under Section 10 of the Internal Security Amendment Act.

Africa — Latin America — Middle East

After taking part in recent visits to places of detention in South Africa and Rhodesia, Mr. F. Schmidt, ICRC delegate general for Africa, visited Tanzania, Benin, Togo and Angola in May and June.