0n Thursday, 16 February at 9pm SABC3’s award-winning investigative show Special Assignment will air Trapped in The Chambers, the story of a now deceased ex-prisoner who never got to celebrate his innocence as a free man at home.
Produced by Adele Van Niekerk, this report is one example of the many stories of prisoners, who despite their ill-health, remain behind bars, and sometimes lose their lives without having been granted medical parole.
In 2008 Bobby Lepeng was sent to Pretoria Central prison for a crime he did not commit. Sharing a cell with sick inmates and amid overcrowded prison conditions, Bobby soon fell ill with TB. His requests to be relocated to a non-smoking cell fell on deaf ears.
For the next few years, Bobby would be in and out of hospital at the prison facility. His health soon deteriorated to such an extent that he was sent to state hospitals for more intensive treatment. Bobby tried to apply for medical parole but the prison doctors were unrelenting.
Realising that he will eventually die due to ill health in prison, Bobby pushed aside his quest for medical parole and set his sights on appealing his conviction and sentence. In December last year, Bobby won his appeal against his conviction and prison sentence. A high court ordered that he be released from prison. However, the victory and freedom were bitter sweet because a very sick Bobby was taken to the Helen Joseph Hospital a day after his release. Sadly, he passed away just more than a month after he was released.
Last year alone, 900 inmates died in jail due to natural causes. This Special Assignment report took the filmmakers to the Westville prison, where an inmate is also ill and is struggling for a release on medical grounds.
The programme asks the question – does the medical parole system mainly favour the powerful in society?
