Correctional Services Act, 1998 (Act No. 111 of 1998)Chapter III : Custody of all Inmates under Conditions of Human DignityPart A : General requirements13. Contact with community |
| 1) | The Department must encourage inmates to maintain contact with the community and enable them to stay abreast of current affairs. |
| 2) | The Department must give inmates the opportunity, under such supervision as may be necessary, of communicating with and being visited by at least their spouses or partners, next of kin, chosen religious counsellors and chosen medical practitioners. |
| 3) | In all circumstances, a minimum of one hour must be allowed for visits each month. |
| 4) | If an inmate is not able to receive visits from his or her spouse, partner or next of kin, the inmate is entitled to be visited by any other person each month. |
| 5) | An inmate who is a foreign national must be allowed to communicate with the appropriate diplomatic or consular representative or, where there is no such representative, with a diplomatic representative of the state or international organisation whose task it is to protect the interests of such inmate. |
| 6) |
| a) | On admission to a correctional centre and after transfer to another correctional centre, an inmate must notify his or her next of kin that he or she is being detained in a particular correctional centre, and if- |
| i) | the next of kin is unknown, the inmate may notify any other relative; |
| ii) | the inmate does not wish to notify his or her next of kin, the inmate must indicate this to the Head of the Correctional Centre. |
| b) | The National Commissioner must ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to enable an inmate to notify his or her next of kin in terms of paragraph (a) and, if necessary, steps must be taken to notify his or her next of kin on his or her behalf. |
| c) |
| i) | In the case of an inmate who is a child, the National Commissioner must notify the appropriate state authorities who have statutory responsibility for the education and welfare of children as well as the parents of such child when this is required in terms of paragraph (a). |
| ii) | If no parent is available, the National Commissioner must notify the legal guardian and if the legal guardian is not available the next of kin or other relative must be notified. |
| iii) | An inmate who is a child may not refuse to allow notification. |
| d) | If requested by the spouse, partner or next of kin, the National Commissioner must as soon as practicable, with the written consent of the inmate, give particulars of the place where the inmate is detained. |
| 7) |
| a) | The National Commissioner may allow community organisations, non-governmental organisations and religious denominations, or organisations to interact with sentenced offenders in order to facilitate the rehabilitation and integration of the offenders into the community. |
| b) | The organisations or denominations referred to in paragraph (a), must be registered with the Department and members thereof may be screened by the National Commissioner before they can be allowed to interact with sentenced offenders. |