University Of Crime

An intimate look inside Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison.

- Bernadette Mccabe

A massive 80% of the prisoners I met during my photographic documentary at Pollsmoor have been involved with the ‘Numbers’. The apartheid relocation of Coloured and Black people from inner-city Cape Town to the Cape Flats and surrounding townships had a powerful effect on gangsterism, which is rife. This social dislocation enabled the burgeoning street gangs of the early 80s to thrive. Once sentenced by the South African Department of Corrections, prisoners are divided into three different categories: economic, sexual or crimes of violence. Criminals will join gangs on the inside according to these categories of classification.

Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, Tokai, Cape Town. After three months of proposals and meetings, finally, the morning arrived to enter the personal cells in the Maximum B section. Above the main gate are written the words, ‘Seize the moment, touch someone, rehabilitate.’ A far cry from the truth inside.

That first day I could smell my own fear. When the main gate was unlocked, I entered with my camera, two lenses, pen, paper, and my phone as a voice-recording device. Between two rows of leering eyes, I walked, escorted by five wardens to meet the prisoners who’d agreed to share their stories. A smell of smoke, bodies, and the thickness of stale air hit me.