Pollsmoor Remand Detention has been overcrowded for the last decade, hovering between 200 and 300 percent capacity. In April 2015, in terms of section 99 of the Correctional Services Act, Justice Cameron visited the remand section, which holds detainees awaiting trial and unsentenced inmates. Justice Cameron and his law clerks were deeply shocked by what they witnessed during the visit. He released a damning report on his findings, detailing extreme overcrowding and ‘deplorable’ living conditions. Following the Cameron Report, Sonke, represented by Lawyers for Human Rights, launched court proceedings in December 2015. The litigation is challenging the extreme overcrowding and appalling conditions of detention in the remand section.
In ‘Pollsmoor Remand’, former detainees speak about the deplorable conditions in the overcrowded Cape Town facility, being denied access to essential medication, and contracting diseases like TB.
