Convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester’s prison escape has shined the spotlight on how dysfunctional the South African prison system is.
Despite the government's inaction over the past 20 years to address corruption in these prisons, prompt action is now necessary to establish a sense of order in the current circumstances.
Thus, South Africa must look towards innovative prisons driven by fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies to bring change.
Just over 20 years ago, the ANC launched the Jali Commission, which was an investigation into the state of South African prison systems.
The Jali Commission's findings alerted the government that the South African prison system is characterised by corruption, violence, sexual violence, fraud, mismanagement, embezzlement, and the drug trade. The system is corrupt to its core, with some Correctional Services wardens actively facilitating these crimes in exchange for money.
Not much has changed since the Jali Commission’s report. There have been some allegations indicating that wardens impose charges of R10 000 to R200 000 on prisoners for their unlawful release.
In 2020/21, the Department of Correctional Services reported that 117 inmates escaped prison due to ineffective searching of inmates with cellphones (among other reasons). These prisoners used these phones to facilitate an escape.
The failure of the South African prison system negatively impacts everyday citizens in multiple ways. For example, an escaped convict – who has not been properly rehabilitated – into society will likely commit more crimes.
The ANC's failure to effect change in the South African prison system 20 years on forces us to adopt new innovative ways to generate change. The 4IR technologies can play a crucial role in addressing these challenges and bring about much-needed reform.
South Africa must invest in artificial intelligence-based video monitoring systems that alert authorities of violent prisoners or unusual behaviour.
This technology generates an activity report for every prisoner daily, making it extremely difficult to carry out corruption without getting caught.
Under this system, Thabo Bester could never have conducted a Zoom business meeting in prison, let alone escape prison.
Additionally, as seen in California prisons, biometric technology uses video analytics and facial recognition technology to instil order in prisons.
This technology records every prisoner in jail and picks up on prisoners' behavioural patterns.
The video analytics technology will automatically pick up any violent activity or suicidal attempts and flag the incident to the wardens. The warden's response or lack of response to the incident will also be on record – perhaps reducing violence.
Moreover, the advent of innovative body scanners that instantly produce images of any objects hidden within the human body will prove useful.
This technology can detect concealed drugs, cellphones, and weapons. This will solve the severe smuggling problem in South African prisons.
Additionally, the US uses artificial intelligence technology to listen in on prisoner's phone calls. This technology can detect any change in tone of voice, flag any alarming conversation and identify situations that could escalate to violence.
Thus, any discussion that speaks of escaping prison with an external party, as seen in the Thabo Bester case, would have been stopped immediately using this technology.
Furthermore, blockchain technology would promote transparency throughout the prison system. This technology will make all contracts with correctional institutions and suppliers transparent, allowing no room for foul play.
Blockchain technology will ensure all food, clothing, and medical supplies are sourced from reputable vendors. Above all, this technology will keep an unchangeable, unerasable, transparent record of prisoners' information, including their disciplinary history, release dates, and sentence details. Therefore, leaving no room for prisoners’ information to be removed or altered through corruption.
The 4IR can stop the mismanagement of South African prisons with technologies such as big data analytics that accurately predict inmates' behavioural patterns and develop strategies to improve safety in prison.
The justice system is what makes society operational by instilling order in society. A broken prison system undermines the justice system and creates adverse socio-economic outcomes. A poorly functioning prison system results in reduced public safety, increased costs for taxpayers and higher crime rates.
Plenty of 4IR technologies can bring accountability and transparency, restoring public trust in government institutions.
The morality of South African politicians, wardens and prisoners has repeatedly proven unreliable, and these technologically innovative solutions may just be the best solution to battle corruption. It is time to use innovative strategies and create smart prisons using 4IR technology.
* James Maisiri, Non-Resident Research Fellow, Digital Africa Research Unit at Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg, and PhD Candidate, UJ.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL or Independent Media.
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