Prison Journalism: A glimpse inside Barberton Prison

Warning: This article features content which readers may find disturbing

This story is about my time in Barberton Prison in Mpumalanga, South Africa. I had somehow convinced myself that smuggling marijuana would be a good idea. It turned into six months in prison, obviously a bad idea. I picked up the marijuana— a lot of it. I decided to stop at a fast-food place, which is when I noticed a white sedan had been following me. A guy looking just like Chuck Norris arrived at my door and produced his badge and gun. I did not resist. He took me in handcuffs and arrested me.

First days and scams

A lot of guys that are in prison, be it for a long stay or a short one, try to scam the new arrivals. So, on arrival, myself and the guy next to me were engulfed by their attentions. Most mornings, they use of their phones in exchange for airtime or favours. Other guys offer the new guys information on how things are run and what the lay of the land is. Overcrowding is a huge issue, so the wardens have little control. Myself and the guy next to me, also a white guy who had the misfortune of being shot in the face, were allocated a cell and were introduced to King Zuzu, the highest-ranking gang member and room or cell overlord.

Life in the overcrowded cell

The cell is meant to handle 20 guys, but mostly we had 50 guys, so two to three in a bed. Zuzu, being a raging pedophile, had arranged himself two juveniles that he would swap every few weeks. Every day he would do God knows what to those kids. The guy I came in with decided after a week to try to contact his mother with King Zuzu’s phone. Being a heroin addict, this guy had worked out a way to get someone to smuggle in his drugs. Sadly for him, it included Zuzu’s people. They did smuggle the stuff in for the guy, but then Zuzu, not being stupid, started rationing the stuff to this guy for favours.

Threats and extortion

They also called this guy’s mother back and threatened that they would murder his son unless she pays them a weekly sum of cash. Lucky for me, I had no one on the outside, so they left me alone, but the guys around me were desperate for luxury, so got scammed constantly. My advice to people is always to forget about friends or family on the outside because the guys on the inside are desperate to get money sent to them. Just keep your head down and do your time, avoid looking around and getting involved in people’s scams because you will come short.

My six months concluded, thank God, and I made my way back home in a daze due to all that goes on in these places. I even got thrown back into prison again at a worse place, but that is another story.

DISCLAIMER: Submission published as received

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