When children are arrested for a crime they are often remanded to prisons or so-called places of safety, to wait for their day in court.In the past these facilities were all run by the state and their traditional image has been one of over-crowding, neglect and abuse. These are places where children are not safe from each other and where, instead of rehabilitation, they in fact learnt the finer arts of the criminal underworld.
But some time back the government took a decision to stop children from being held in prisons and outsourced some of these awaiting-trail facilities to private companies. This Tuesday we spend time inside two of these new generation facilities – one in the rural town of Clanwilliam and the other in the badlands of the city of Cape Town. It is a story about crime and punishment. But it is also the story of remarkable commitment to the rights of children and the almost unbearable heartbreak of those who are trapped by crime before they can even write their names.
Many of the children you will see have committed the most heinous of crimes – from rape and hijacking to murder. Some are hitmen, others drug dealers. Some have simply stolen cell phones.
We talk to the children, their parents and those who care for them on the inside. Their stories will open your eyes to a side of the crime debate you have never even considered.
This moving documentary is produced by Anneliese Burgess.
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