sunshine women

by Gladys Khumalo

As an inmate of the Johannesburg Female Prison ("Sunshine"), I've become curious about the types of crimes usually committed by women in South Africa, especially black lesbians and bisexuals, and the reasons for them. I spoke to a few of my fellow inmates who have been convicted of murder, drug dealing, fraud and robbery.

Crime, the only option
From those serving time for robbery, fraud and drug dealing, I learnt that unemployment is one major problem. People turn to crime for survival because it becomes their only option.

Such women, in many cases, are victims of their selfish and abusive husbands whom they had learnt to depend on for financial support. To escape from such a marriage, with no qualifications for a specific job, illiterate and with no-one to turn to, crime becomes the only way out.

Quick gain
Some women simply try to be clever. They desire luxury and wealth, and their aim is to get all the comfort and wealth quickly without having to work hard and save money. Their crimes of fraud and robbery are done for quick gain.

Most of the ladies convicted on drug charges are not even drug-dealers. They get manipulated by the drug-lords, who use them as carrier girls to transport drugs from one place to another. They are paid big cash, but it turns out to be less than the jail term that they serve. Nobody can deny the power that money has over human beings who are needy. Actually, these women are not criminals. They are just the victims of irresistible forces joined with desperation.

Murder (Moord)
Most of the murder charges relate to the deaths of the ladies' husbands in incidents in which they say they were defending themselves. They never knew who to turn to during the abusive years they endured. Even the Domestic Violence Act seems inadequate in some cases for the protection of abused women.

Lack of support organisations for abused women is one other contributory factor. Feelings of rejection, accompanied by the desire to avenge themselves, led these otherwise loving women to attack their men, sometimes with their bare hands. They are not criminals either; they were forced by circumstances to commit these crimes. They only needed support, and guidance on how to deal with their situation. They needed to know their rights in a marriage or other domestic relationship. Now they feel safe and whole again in prison, serving sentences varying from 6 years to life imprisonment. But they are deeply sorry because they never meant things to happen that way.

The innocent…
A lot of women are behind bars for crimes they never committed. They were implicated one way or the other because of lack of knowledge of the law, and the inability to afford a proper defence.

But, whatever the reason they ended up in prison, all or most of the inmates are looking forward to their eventual freedom, and the chance to make up for their mistakes and build a better life.