Minister’s call for return of corporal punishment stirs controversy

Minister of Correctional Services Dr. Pieter Groenewald’s call for a national debate on reintroducing corporal punishment has sparked mixed reactions.

Speaking in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), the Minister proposed reviving the legislation, which was abolished in 1996.

He believes that it could be a potential solution to the overcrowding crisis in the country’s prisons.

As things stand, the country approximately has over 104 550 sentenced inmates and over 60 000 remanded detainees awaiting trial.

With a bed space of 107 067, the more than 60 000 remanded detainees who are awaiting trial have pushed the number of beds needed to 166 000, which the Minister says it’s just too costly.

He says at least 2 530 remand detainees remain in custody because they can’t afford R1 000 bail or less.

“We must consider the costs. Keeping each of these individuals in custody costs the taxpayer R463 per person each day,” he told Parliamentarians.

“I want to open a debate today and that debate is, if you look at the criminal justice, we must start the debate to say shouldn’t we bring back corporal punishment because keeping.”

ACDP leader, Dr Kenneth Meshoe, agrees with Minister Groenewald and also believes that the banning of corporal punishment is a contributing factor to overcrowded prisons.

Meshoe says the 1996 ban has fuelled lawlessness in schools.

“We have seen a number of children acting foolishly, bullying has increased in schools, rape is taking place in schools much more than before the banning of corporal punishment,” he adds.

Meshoe believes that the disrespect for teachers and other learners by fellow pupils warrants the call made the Minister.

“Many teachers need protection from their own students. Students have learned to attack teachers, some even attack their parents at home, now these children end up in prisons because there are parents who are brave enough to lay charges against their own children.”

The politician says those who think corporal punishment is abuse need to rethink their position.

“There’s a difference between abuse and correctional discipline. I know that there are some parents out of frustration, who have gone to extremes and used corporal punishment where they shouldn’t have used it.”

According to the Reverend, since the banning of corporal punishment – the country’s education system has failed to introduce ways to discipline children in schools.

“Children have become worse, they’ve become rapists, we have 13-year-olds attacking one another and some of these incidents are not reported.”

Meshoe says government must be honest with themselves and accept that they made a mistake with banning corporal punishment.

Sharing an opposing view, child protection activist, Dr Joan van Niekerk, says corporal punishment makes violence seem acceptable, further exacerbating the issue.

While she acknowledges that prisons are overcrowded, van Niekerk believes that the reintroduction of physical punishment is far from being the solution.

“I believe that if we had banned corporal punishment maybe 20-30 years ago, we would probably have less violent crimes now because children would have grown up in families and communities in which physical violence of all kinds is seen as unacceptable.”

The scholar says physical punishment has long lasting effects on children who must exist in society.

She says what’s even more concerning is the level at which incidents of corporal punishment, which still exist, often go unreported.

“We see children who are beaten, sometimes to within an inch of their lives. if you report it to the police, is not taken seriously and it becomes an extremely difficult matter to deal with.”

Van Niekerk has urged parents to explore different ways to handle their children and alternatives for corporal punishment.

“Parents begin with experimenting with talking to your children, setting down rules with them, if you treat them with respect as growing and developing human beings, they will treat you with respect, if they are involved in making the rules.”

She says setting consequences for the rules is also important in addressing the issue.

Rize Mzansi’s Member of Parliament, Makashule Gana, believes that the country needs to make use of community service instead of corporal punishment.

“There are many people that are housed in correctional facilities and shouldn’t be there, we have said this before to say, lets send them back to work in communities for free. Let us not re-introduce corporal punishment but let us make them pay for their crimes; let them clean the streets, graveyards, so that  they pay for the crimes that they’ve committed against the communities.”