POLICY BRIEF
electric shock equipment, which results in pain with some incapacitation, and
projectile electric shock weapons, which operate by overriding the neuromuscular
system, causing pain and resulting in collapse and incapacitation.
Direct contact electric shock equipment includes hand-held devices, such as stun
guns, stun batons and stun shields, as well as devices that are attached to the
detained person and worn on the body. These are commonly referred to as stun
belts, stun cuffs and stun sleeves. These are activated by remote control and are
often used during prisoner transport, in court room settings or to control prisoner
work groups.
Projectile electric shock weapons (such as the widely known Taser International
brand weapon) deliver an electric shock by means of wired projectile darts, enabling
a greater distance between the operator and the target. However, projectile devices
may also have the ability to be used as hand-held stun weapons when set to the
‘drive stun’, or contact, mode.
Electric shock belts and other forms of stun devices
have been available for use in South African prisons
since 1999
Use of electric shock equipment in South African prisons
With a national population of more than 54 million, South Africa has 243 active
correctional centres.3 As of March 2015, the total prison population was 159 241.4
South Africa has the third highest incarceration rate in Africa.5
Electric shock belts and other forms of stun devices have been available for use in
South African prisons since 1999.6 Electrified riot shields have been supplied to the
Department of Correctional Services (DCS) as early as 1994.7 Golden Miles Bhudu
of the South African Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights said: ‘When prisoners
were protesting for the vote in the mid nineties, stun guns, stun belts and stun batons
were introduced into the prisons. These gadgets have been used periodically to
“play” with inmates.’8
According to South Africa’s Correctional Services Act, ‘non-lethal’ incapacitating
devices may be used only by officials trained specifically in their use.9 They must be
deployed only when the safety of inmates or the correctional centre is threatened,
or to prevent escape. However, there are many documented cases of electric shock
devices, as well as other forms of ill-treatment, being used in South African prisons to
extract confessions, coerce compliance or punish inmates.
Stun belts
243
THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE
CORRECTIONAL CENTRES IN
SOUTH AFRICA
Authorised for nationwide use under Article 18 (1) (e) and 18 (2) of the 2004
Correctional Services Regulations, as amended, ‘electronically activated high security
transport belts’ are available for use ‘for the purpose of restraining a prisoner when
outside a cell’10 and during ‘transfer/escorting’.11 The DCS policy states that stun belts
‘can be used on male and female prisoners (excluding pregnant women)’ and that
they ‘must only be used in the most extreme cases’.12
A 2009 news report detailed a DCS acquisition of 900 body-worn electric shock
devices to be used countrywide. According to the report, this purchase ‘more than
double[d] the number of belts that Correctional Services uses’.13 South African
2
COMPLIANCE THROUGH PAIN: ELECTRIC SHOCK EQUIPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICAN PRISONS