The Wits Justice Project investigates miscarriages of justice and raises awareness of issues within the criminal justice system with an aim to advocate for change, strengthen procedures and build on reform efforts. This is achieved through investigative journalism, advocacy, research and education.
Investigative Journalism
Tortured behind bars
In March, Kgolofelu Khoza was allegedly chained in a crouching position to a door in an isolation unit – also known as the “bomb cells” – at Johannesburg Correctional Centre. He claims he was kept there for two days and a night.
“Those Prisoners Had to Feel Who Was Boss. And We Made Them Feel.”
I broke the story on a private prison in South Africa where guards inflicted horrendous abuse. But to really understand what happened, I needed to talk to the torturers themselves.
Lifers, Riots and Parole
Daily Maverick
At the start of this month, prison guards at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria injured inmates sentenced to life who were protesting against the delays in their parole processes. The Wits Justice Project (WJP) has seen pictures of four prisoners with head wounds and large bruises on their limbs.
Outreach & Education
Public Engagement
Community outreach
Multimedia
Art for Justice
Citizen Justice Network Radio
Inmate Support
Reporting wrongful conviction,
Reporting abuse / rape,
Reporting poor conditions
Roundtable Discussion on Wrongful Convictions
Please join the Wits Justice Project as we host a Roundtable Discussion on Wrongful Convictions, 27 July 2017 from ...
Insights
Knitting broken lives together stitch by stitch
The “Massive Mandela Masterpiece” (MMM) project, aimed at creating the largest portrait blanket in the world, was launched at Zonderwater Correctional Centre near Cullinan last week. Participating inmates at eighty prisons around SA will help knit a 4,500 square meter blanket resulting from a unique ...
Law Focus: Parole Protests
Law Focus, a show on the Wits University radio station, VowFM, together with the Wits Justice Project produced a radio show on the ongoing parole protests happening in South African prisons. For various reasons, the release of a prisoner is a contentious issue in any society. This week Law ...
FACTSHEET: The state of South Africa’s prisons
South Africa’s most famous ex-prisoner wrote in his autobiography that “no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails”. In this factsheet, we provide data to show what’s going on inside South African prisons.
