1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:07,200 [tense music playing] 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,960 [Rowe] Brandvlei Maximum Security Prison {\an8}in South Africa. 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,000 Home to some of the country's most violent gangsters. 4 00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:18,880 Murder, money laundering, kidnapping... 5 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:21,760 But they aren't just any gangsters. 6 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:26,040 Most of the men here belong to the notorious Number Gangs. 7 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,760 It's a hard place to love, man. Not your mother's house, this one. 8 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,520 They live by a violent code... 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:38,360 My number requires one of the wardens to also die. 10 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,720 ...which puts the guards here in danger... 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:42,200 I was stabbed. 12 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,680 ...and threatens outsiders like me. 13 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:48,040 We keep people murdering. 14 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:50,600 My name is Raphael Rowe, 15 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,160 and I'm spending a week locked in this South African prison 16 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,320 controlled by the Number Gangs. 17 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,920 But it's not my first time behind bars. 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,240 I was convicted in the UK of a murder I did not commit 19 00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:07,200 and sentenced to life with no parole. 20 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,520 It took me 12 long years to clear my name. 21 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,280 Now I'm traveling the world 22 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:16,560 to discover what life is really like 23 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,240 inside some of the world's toughest prisons. 24 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,120 Cape Town, South Africa, 25 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,600 a thriving coastal city. 26 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,800 But on its outskirts are the Cape Flats, 27 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,000 a relic of the apartheid era. 28 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,920 People who were classed as colored were forced to live here in poverty. 29 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,040 And many still do now. 30 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,000 It's become blighted by gang violence, 31 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,240 with an average of eight murders every day. 32 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:54,160 [gunshots] 33 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:59,080 It got so dangerous, the army was sent in to try and restore order. 34 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:00,680 Attention! 35 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,480 Cape Town has one of the highest murder rates in the world, 36 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,120 and tonight I'm going with their Anti-Gangs Unit. 37 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:12,040 I'm joining the AGU, who are raiding an armed drug gang. 38 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:13,320 [shotgun clicking] 39 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:14,760 [siren wailing] 40 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,920 Captain Althea Jefra is leading the raid 41 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,040 into one of the Flat's most notorious neighborhoods. 42 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,680 [Rowe] Do you often come up against gangsters 43 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,320 who themselves carry weapons 44 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,240 and threaten your officers with those weapons? 45 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:32,160 [Jefra] Yes. 46 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,320 A week and a half ago, the area that we're going to now, 47 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,680 a police officer was shot on duty by gangsters. 48 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,560 So it is a real threat. 49 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:44,600 Game face. 50 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,400 Into the place and close the door. 51 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,440 They're telling people to get inside. 52 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,960 There's over a hundred thousand gang members in the Flat, 53 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,560 fighting for control over these neighborhoods. 54 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:01,480 So what is that MG 13? Mongrel? 55 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:02,560 -[man] Mongrel. -Yeah. 56 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:04,720 [Rowe] What are they doing with these guys? 57 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,040 Certain gangs have certain markings, 58 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,160 certain abbreviations on their bodies. 59 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,280 -You can see they're Mongrel gang. -He has an MG tattoo. 60 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:13,880 -That's Mongrel Gang. -Correct. 61 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,240 In this specific block of flats, this is one gang. 62 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:18,920 [dog barking in distance] 63 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:20,440 That is a different gang. 64 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,680 -This is his domain. He cannot move. -Right. 65 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,280 We head into one of the blocks of flats 66 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,360 where they've received intelligence that the residents are drug dealers. 67 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:32,440 I'm Captain Jefra of the Anti-Gang Unit. 68 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:34,880 I believe you have a large amount of money here. 69 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:38,680 How much money is in there again? 70 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:40,520 [man] Wash powder money. 71 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:42,280 -[Jefra] Wash powder money? -Yeah. 72 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,240 -[Jefra] I wanna buy washing powder. -Sir, what are you out on parole for? 73 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:47,240 [man] Murder. 74 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,000 [Jefra] Can we go in? I need you to remove your shirt. 75 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,760 We need to see what gang markings you have, sir. 76 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:56,840 The man has numerous tattoos. 77 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,720 Some from his street gang, but one with a solitary number. 78 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:03,280 -[man] 26. -[officer] 26, yeah. 79 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:15,160 The man that lives in the premises is on parole for murder, 80 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,520 and he has the number 26 marked on his body, 81 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:25,000 which I assume means he is part of the prison's Number Gangs. 82 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,640 These men's lives are totally controlled by the gangs they belong to. 83 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:30,920 [man speaks Afrikaans] 84 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,560 And if they end up in prison, they simply swap their allegiance 85 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,280 from their street gang to the prison gang 86 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:39,040 they're affiliated with. 87 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:41,880 The infamous Number Gangs. 88 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:43,440 [door clangs] 89 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,920 {\an8}Many of the men arrested in last night's raid 90 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,480 will eventually find themselves here, 91 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,280 Brandvlei Maximum Security Prison. 92 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,120 I'm sweating in the back of this truck, 93 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,080 about to spend a week here to find out what it's like 94 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:05,800 being an inmate in a prison dominated by the Number Gangs. 95 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:08,640 As a foreigner, as a new prisoner 96 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,800 who doesn't have any affiliations to any of the gangs 97 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:13,560 that run these prisons... 98 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:16,880 I don't know how they're gonna take to me. 99 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,080 I want to find out how this prison can operate 100 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,320 when the gangs hold so much power. 101 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,440 How do they maintain control of prisoners 102 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,040 that have their own system, their own hierarchy, 103 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,840 their own rules, their own way of doing things? 104 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:36,880 How do the guards keep themselves safe 105 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,200 and new prisoners like me? 106 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:45,840 -[guard] Sir. -Yeah? 107 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,720 Men here are transferred from prisons all over the Western Cape 108 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:56,600 to serve out their very long sentences for the most serious crimes. 109 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,680 The simple fact that they need to not only handcuff you, but ankle chain you, 110 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,680 suggests that they're dealing with hardened criminals 111 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,320 who they take maximum measure to secure. 112 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:17,000 Just follow our orders. Once I release your hand, put it on your right knee. 113 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,520 What is gonna take place now is, we're gonna do a strip search. 114 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,120 So you will need to remove all your clothing. 115 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:26,840 Just keep on your underwear. 116 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:28,840 [Rowe sighs softly] 117 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,120 What we're doing while you are undressing, 118 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,800 we are checking your body for tattoos. 119 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:35,280 Turn around for me. 120 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:37,000 Lift up your arms. 121 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,160 The Number Gang, as we have in South Africa, 122 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,520 normally put gang tattoos on them. 123 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:46,240 It is to identify who they are. 124 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,680 -[Rowe] You can see I don't have tattoos. -Yes, sir. 125 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,200 So, there is no sign that I am a member of a Number Gang? 126 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:57,760 Yes. They call it in Afrikaans a frans. So, it's non-gang member. 127 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:02,120 So, my advice to you is, don't go in there looking afraid, 128 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,800 and follow the instructions. Do what they say. 129 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:09,040 Because as a non-gang member, you are not allowed to do anything 130 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,320 without them telling you what to do. 131 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,120 It is the way they work. They have a code of conduct. 132 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:17,160 Code of conduct that you have no control over? 133 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:18,880 That we have no control over. 134 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:21,600 Okay. 135 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:26,200 I'm processed through the system and allocated a unit. 136 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,480 You've been identified to go to the unit we call K-3. 137 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,000 [Rowe] What can I expect in K-3? 138 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,640 [Gerber] It's the unit with the most active gang members. 139 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,760 So, all of our offenders that is related to the prison gang, 140 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:42,520 they are all housed in that unit. 141 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:48,440 I'm starting to feel increasingly nervous about the reception I'm going to get. 142 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,000 [Rowe] Who are these Number Gang members? 143 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:52,840 What will they expect of me? 144 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,600 [Gerber] This is the unit where you will stay. 145 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,520 Before I'm assigned a cell, I'm told to report to Mr. Hendry, 146 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,560 the head of K-3 for orientation. 147 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:07,240 Raphael Rowe. 148 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:09,720 Tell me, do you belong to any gangs? 149 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:10,880 [Rowe] No. 150 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,480 -Not a gang member of any kind. -[Rowe] Not at all. 151 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:15,640 [Hendry] There are three main gangs here. 152 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,600 The 26s, the 27s, and the 28s. 153 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:22,360 There are certain... 154 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:25,440 [sighs] ...rituals... 155 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,480 that do take place in South African prisons. 156 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,960 You don't go into the room and just jump on any bed you see there... 157 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:35,640 take the bed for yourself. 158 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,480 I can give you a bed and say, "Listen, Raphael, sleep here." 159 00:08:41,560 --> 00:08:45,200 When I turn my back and lock, they're gonna remove you from that bed. 160 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:46,960 -Mm-hmm. -They're gonna place you 161 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:48,520 where they want you to sleep. 162 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:52,200 You have no control over their way of operating? 163 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:54,920 We're trying our best to stop it, but... 164 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:58,000 it's no use. 165 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,320 Mr. Buetzengarke, you can take him to room ten. 166 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:03,840 I'm told every inmate in K-3 167 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,120 belongs to one of the three factions of the prison gang. 168 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:12,240 The Number, the 26s, the 27s , and the 28s. 169 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,160 Stay away from prison. This is a hard place to love, man. 170 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,280 It's not your mother's house, this one. 171 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,120 -[man laughs] -[speaks Afrikaans] 172 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:23,080 The guys are locked behind these caged doors, these iron bars. Um... 173 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:28,520 And I'm about to go into my cell and meet my cellmates for the first time. 174 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,480 I'll be sharing a cramped cell with eight gangsters from the Cape Flats, 175 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:35,880 all members of the Number. 176 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:38,520 -[indistinct chatter] -[prisoner yelling] 177 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:39,520 [Rowe] Here? 178 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:45,880 How you doing? I'm Raphael. 179 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:49,440 I try to introduce myself to my cellmates, 180 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:51,320 but they totally blank me. 181 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,320 I've never had a reception like this before. 182 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:58,360 Instead, my cellmates salute each other with hand signals 183 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,400 and hold a meeting in a strange language. 184 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:03,760 [sighs] I have no idea what they're doing. 185 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:09,720 I'm locked in the cell, and now these guys are in complete control. 186 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:11,320 -You speak English? -Yes. 187 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,000 Why you in prison? 188 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:14,080 My name's Raphael. 189 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,160 Raphael. Why you in prison? 190 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:17,600 -I'm nobody. -Nobody? 191 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:18,680 What do you have? 192 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:20,680 Money? 193 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:22,120 Anything? Coat? Anything? 194 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,000 -I don't have anything. -You don't... 195 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,720 -They took everything from me. -They took everything? 196 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:28,880 If we gonna search, we gonna get anything, 197 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,640 it's gonna be your own fault, captain. [speaks Sabela] 198 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:35,600 Pants. Now gonna talk to you. 199 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,640 What I've told them seems to be reported back to two of my cellmates, 200 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,480 Lee and Curtis, who now want to talk to me. 201 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:47,880 You sit here. You don't talk much. When I speak, you just answer. 202 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:50,000 -Okay. -[speaks indistinctly] 203 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,240 -So, your name is Raphael? -Raphael. 204 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:54,240 From where are you outside? 205 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:55,960 -I'm from England. -From England? 206 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:57,760 -From London. -From London. 207 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:00,080 I see you got a nice pair of Takkies on. 208 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,240 Because I see you didn't bring with nothing, man. 209 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,320 They took all my belongings. 210 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:07,480 All your belongings? 211 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:10,280 I don't have property, only a pair of tracks they bought. 212 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:11,800 Yeah, but you are so stupid. 213 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,800 Think about the people who are gonna come get them. 214 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,040 -I didn't have a chance. -It's not chance. 215 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:18,600 We'll talk later, me and you. 216 00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:21,400 Way I see, you got nice Takkies, everything is nice. 217 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:23,160 [Curtis] What size Takkies do you wear? 218 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:24,720 -8. -It look like your size. 219 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:26,640 -It's my size. -Let me see these. 220 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:28,560 These Takkies look very nice, yeah. 221 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:30,960 -They're a new Takkie. -This Takkie look nice. 222 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,760 This feels like it's more than just robbing my trainers. 223 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:36,600 They want to humiliate me. 224 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:38,280 [Lee] Does look like your size. 225 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,040 -Would you mind if I take these Takkies? -Put this on. 226 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,680 -I would mind. -[Curtis] Would you mind? 227 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:45,720 -[Lee] Put this one on. -You would mind? 228 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,000 [Lee] This is not a thing of asking. We are taking those Takkie. 229 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:50,320 Because you know why? 230 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,840 You are a white guy, and you got lot of money. 231 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:54,600 You can start on that Takkie. 232 00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:58,400 You don't have any say here. 233 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:00,040 You understand? 234 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:01,560 I do understand. 235 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,120 We will take your life, even if it's for a pair of Takkies. 236 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:05,720 -[Rowe] I understand. -Yeah. 237 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:07,440 So everything is all right now? 238 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:10,720 I'm not happy, but I understand. 239 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,120 You have to. We don't care about your feelings. 240 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:14,880 We two, we are the 8s. 241 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:16,640 -We are the head of the 8s. -Okay. 242 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:19,960 If you don't make problems, I won't make problems. 243 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:22,040 -I don't make problem. -Then it's fine. 244 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:23,640 [Lee] You must make your own bed. 245 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:25,920 I'll help you to show you what is going on. 246 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,600 Lee and Curtis are the 28s running the cell, 247 00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:32,200 and it doesn't look like they're going to give me an easy time. 248 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,120 The only thing you're gonna survive is with money. 249 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:37,000 I know white people. They got money. 250 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:38,880 -[Rowe] I'm not white. -It's easy. 251 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:40,640 -[Curtis] You're not white? -[Rowe] I'm not. 252 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,320 My father is Black. My mama is white. 253 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,440 So, you only look white, but you... Inside, you Black. 254 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:48,760 -True. -Oh, okay. 255 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:49,680 [Lee] Come. 256 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,240 This... look, is your bed. 257 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:56,080 You will sleep here. 258 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,240 Once Lee has assigned me a bed, 259 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,000 I'm introduced to the other Numbers in the cell. 260 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:03,400 -This is Troubles. -[Rowe] Mm-hmm. 261 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:05,080 This is a 26. 262 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:06,560 He's here for seven lifes. 263 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,000 He's also here for murder. He's from Wasbank. 264 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:10,240 -You see him? -Mm-hmm. 265 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,920 The guys are obviously trying to bully me, 266 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,600 and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intimidated. 267 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:16,880 [Lee] This guy... 268 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:18,880 this is Klope. 269 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,400 -[Rowe] Mm-hmm. -[Lee] He's 27s. 270 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,000 [Rowe] Mm-hmm. 271 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,480 He's notorious guy. A hitman from Manenberg. 272 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:27,280 -Mm-hmm. -[Lee] You see? 273 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,480 You see how this guy, this guy think maybe we look like him. 274 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:33,320 He's a white guy, yeah, my bro. 275 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:37,240 They're making it pretty clear that I'm not one of them. 276 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,520 -You hear what this guy say? -[Rowe] Mm-hmm. 277 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,320 You say, "Mm-hmm." 278 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:43,680 Look how you look now. 279 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,080 Are you gonna tell the wardens we took your Takkies? 280 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:50,000 -[Rowe] Of course not. -Are you sure? 281 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:51,800 I'm not gonna tell anybody anything. 282 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:57,240 My cellmates, who have numerous murder convictions between them, 283 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,040 have got a task for me. 284 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,880 You're gonna... You see, today is your first day. 285 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,640 You're gonna wash up few of clothes here of ours, man. 286 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,680 -[Rowe] You want me to wash this? -[Lee] Wash everything on you. 287 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:10,600 Everything you're gonna wash today. 288 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:12,880 Teach you how to wash clothes with your hands. 289 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,040 [indistinct chatter] 290 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,440 I'm put in my place as the washing boy. 291 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,720 So, I'm being intimidated. 292 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:23,600 I'm being asked to do things. 293 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:29,680 I'm kind of complying with what the guys are asking me to do for now. 294 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:34,800 [Curtis] Dry off them when you finish them. 295 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:38,400 If you are frans, then you do that for us. 296 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:39,760 [Rowe] If I'm the what? 297 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,000 [Troubles] If you are frans. 298 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:47,560 Listen what I'm saying. If you don't have a stamp on you like 26, 27, 28... 299 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:49,120 -[Rowe] Okay. -You see? 300 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,760 If you don't have a stamp, then you do that for us. 301 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:56,280 But if you do have a stamp, then we don't do that with you. 302 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,960 Then you are one of us. You see? 303 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:00,720 That's how it work in prison. 304 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,480 As a non-gang member, or a frans, 305 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,360 it looks like I'm at the bottom of the pile. 306 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:09,360 [Lee] You're gonna make a phone call. 307 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,160 Give you the account number your people must send money 308 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:14,040 into my people's account outside. 309 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:15,440 We gonna survive, so... 310 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:17,400 And if I don't? 311 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:19,240 There's not a thing of don't. 312 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:21,920 -You know what I mean? -I do, yes. 313 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:23,960 Clearly, I've got three options. 314 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,880 Pay for protection, become a member of a gang, 315 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,040 or get pushed around like a servant. 316 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,000 [Rowe] Prisons I was in in England... 317 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,800 [Lee] This is not England. This is South Africa. 318 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,440 Everyone in this room, we just... 319 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,520 We just keep people murdering. I don't have time with this. 320 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,400 Can I finish with this stuff, yeah? Because I see you talk a lot, man. 321 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,440 [urine flowing, toilet flushes] 322 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,200 [Rowe] I think they're testing me. 323 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:53,040 And I'm not gonna say no to their challenges 324 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,840 because it would just provoke them into disliking me, 325 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,640 I don't need them disliking me on the very first minute 326 00:15:58,720 --> 00:15:59,960 I walked in the door. 327 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:05,760 It's only the end of my first day, and if this is the life of a frans, 328 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,240 I can see why so many join the Number Gangs. 329 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,080 {\an8}The next morning, I'm relieved the guys are paying me less attention 330 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,200 as they get ready for breakfast. 331 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:22,640 [Rowe] Everybody's taking their turn. 332 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:24,680 They'll file out, get some breakfast. 333 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:28,920 And that's how the day starts. 334 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,640 I'm looking forward to getting out of this cramped cell 335 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:37,400 and getting some fresh air. 336 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,120 [indistinct chattering] 337 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,200 You get your breakfast and eat there, or you got to eat here? 338 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:44,160 [prisoner] No, you eat in here. 339 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:46,000 [Rowe] You've never been able to eat outside? 340 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,400 [prisoner] We are the maximum security 341 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:50,360 'cause we a lot of killers in. 342 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,080 They see us like dangerous people. 343 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,800 -[Rowe] But are you? -Are we dangerous people? 344 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,320 Okay. I'm talking about myself. I am a dangerous person. 345 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,160 I don't like to be friends with them because they are not my friends. 346 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,080 According to my number. 347 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,640 We're searched for weapons just to go out and get breakfast. 348 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,840 And within moments, we're locked up in the cell again. 349 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:19,960 [electronic music plays] 350 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:23,360 [Rowe] Why's your tray bigger? 351 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:25,160 That means you get more than me. 352 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:26,480 Because I ask the guy. 353 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,920 Because I ask the guy for more. I don't like eating small, man. 354 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,480 Sitting down for breakfast with my cellmates, 355 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,000 I want to learn more about the weird initiation 356 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,200 they put me through yesterday. 357 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,880 May I ask you a question? When I first came in here yesterday, 358 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:44,680 you were talking 359 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:47,360 in a language I've never heard before. 360 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,800 It wasn't Afrikaans. It wasn't English. What was the language? 361 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:52,960 When you were having a conference, 362 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,480 -what was that language? -It's called... Sabela. 363 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:56,960 [Rowe] What is Sabela? 364 00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:58,600 Is it a special language? 365 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,000 It's the language that you learn in the Number. 366 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,160 -[Rowe] It's a Number Gang... -Number Gang. 367 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:04,200 [Rowe] Oh, really. 368 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,080 So, if I'm not a Number, you can't speak that. 369 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,680 You don't learn that... that language. 370 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:15,640 So, when my man was coming to me 371 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:19,320 and asking me questions, and he was coming back and reporting to you... 372 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:21,680 -He was like asking you who are you? -Yeah. 373 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,240 -We wanna know who are you inside prison. -Okay. 374 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,680 -And why is that important? -It's the way you'll earn your respect. 375 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,760 If me and Troubles is having a fight, 376 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,040 Curtis must... He must have the ability to stop us. 377 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,800 And when he speak, immediately, we have to listen to him. 378 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,760 He's the highest rank, and we're under him. 379 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,040 You're the highest ranked here? 380 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:44,000 True. 381 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,120 -[Lee speaks Sabela] -In the 28s. 382 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:47,600 You have ranks in Numbers? 383 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,640 Yeah, ranks in Numbers from soldier to up. 384 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,520 I can see my cellmates have various tattoos 385 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:59,200 with stars or lapels that look like military insignia. 386 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:01,320 How do you rise through the ranks? 387 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:05,480 Is it what you... Is it your diplomacy? Is it because you're good at negotiating? 388 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,240 [prisoner] Just a moment. 389 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,640 Raphael, when you talk about the Number, 390 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:13,080 you must be very careful 391 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:15,560 -what you say about the Number. -[Rowe] Mm-hmm. 392 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:17,560 [prisoner] The things you are asking... 393 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,320 -[Rowe] Mm-hmm. -...that's confidential things, okay? 394 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:23,280 You mean questions about... 395 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,080 -The Number. -[Rowe] Mm. 396 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,040 If it weren't for the Number... 397 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,560 even the wardens would not have the control they have over the prison. 398 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,000 [Lee speaks Sabela] 399 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:35,760 Because of the Number, 400 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:38,560 you see the discipline you see. 401 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:40,120 You see the order you see. 402 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,520 Like the laws they have in their books, we have laws also. 403 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:46,760 Each and every one of us, 404 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,440 we grew up in this thing. 405 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,000 We are not going to let go that easily 406 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,200 of what we know or what we have. 407 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,000 You don't want people to understand those things... 408 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,880 No, it's not a matter of I don't want them to understand. 409 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,320 It's for his own safety. People get killed for those things. 410 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:08,880 Challenge or the disrespect. 411 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,840 My cellmates, like all the men in this unit, 412 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,040 are extremely dangerous. 413 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:19,400 But if they all belong to the same gangs, 414 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,600 why can't we go outside to associate and eat? 415 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,800 When you want the guard to come over, you call him chief. 416 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,280 Chief! You mind? Chief? 417 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:31,840 Can I speak to you a minute? 418 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:36,000 [prisoner chuckles] 419 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:37,640 -Good day. -Good day. Uh... 420 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:41,840 They're never able to go out there and sit at those tables and eat their food. 421 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:42,760 Why is that? 422 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,560 It is better for us to handle ten inmates... 423 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:50,280 than to handle all 60 of them. 424 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:51,280 [Rowe] Okay. 425 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:54,240 Maybe some of them have a problem with a guy that side. 426 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:56,040 But you didn't know. 427 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:59,200 -Go stab him or whatever he was doing. -Mm. 428 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:01,760 [guard] And know what will be the outcome of that? 429 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:03,160 They will come back on us. 430 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:04,400 On the staff? 431 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,040 They will come back on us. 432 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:10,160 Prisoner's not gonna just walk out of a cell and stab a guard for no reason. 433 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,640 In 1995, they stabbed me without a reason. 434 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:15,840 -You were stabbed? -No other... I was stabbed. 435 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,240 I was passing the grill. He stabbed me through it. 436 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,560 I ask him, "Why do you stab me?" He said, "You are the closest." 437 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:25,680 We did say, "Wrong place, wrong time." 438 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:28,080 Yes. 439 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,240 But they all know, if you join the Number... 440 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,760 sometimes your one year can become 20 years. 441 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:41,240 So, that is the decision that they all make for themselves. 442 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:46,280 The only time the dangerous prisoners here get outside 443 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:49,360 is when they get short exercise sessions. 444 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,560 Breakfast over, and I'm being taken out 445 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,400 with another cell for a game of cricket. 446 00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,840 [inmates chattering, yelling indistinctly] 447 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:04,600 [Rowe] One guy there, he's, um... He's got tattoos all over his face and... 448 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,360 Oh, he's coming over to me. 449 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:08,840 Hi. How're you doing? You all right? 450 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:10,360 Fine. How are you doing? 451 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,320 -I'm Raphael. -Okay, I'm Masalino. 452 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,120 Masalino? Okay. 453 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,040 [Masalino] In prison, they call me Graveyard. 454 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:17,760 -Graveyard? -[Masalino] Ah. 455 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:19,560 -Graveyard? -Graveyard, yeah. 456 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:21,840 [man exclaims] 457 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:23,080 -You play cricket? -I... 458 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:24,880 -Yeah, I can play cricket. -Okay. 459 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,000 I'm not saying I'm good but I can play. 460 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:28,000 -Okay. -Yeah? 461 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:29,960 -[Masalino] Come. -[Rowe] Okay. 462 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:34,080 Guy's name is Raphael, oh, ne? He also want to play cricket, man. 463 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:35,520 [upbeat music plays] 464 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:37,400 [man yells] 465 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,320 His nickname, tattoo face, is "The Graveyard." 466 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:46,640 It's not that hard to work out that Masalino's part of the prison gang. 467 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,480 He's got the number 28 tattooed on his forehead. 468 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:52,880 I want to show him how. Raphael? 469 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:54,600 Just let me show you. 470 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:55,600 First... 471 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:57,600 I don't have power in the shoulders anymore. 472 00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,120 -No. How come? -No. 473 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,080 -I'm old. -[laughing] You're old! 474 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:02,920 I'm getting old. It's hard work. 475 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:08,120 Oh, that's fast. 476 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:11,960 [all cheering] 477 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:14,920 [Masalino] Raphael! 478 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,320 [Masalino chuckling] 479 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:22,280 How long is your sentence now? 480 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:23,280 Life. 481 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:24,400 You're doing life? 482 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:27,720 -What did you do? -Many crimes. 483 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:33,880 Murder, money laundering, kidnapping, attempted murder. 484 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:35,720 -[whistle blows] -All that stuff. 485 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:37,920 And what was your previous sentence? 486 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,280 I was here for 12 years. 487 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:41,080 -What was that for? -Murder. 488 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:43,240 Who did you kill? 489 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:44,280 My uncle. 490 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:46,120 -You killed your uncle? -Mm. 491 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:47,960 And who did you kill this time? 492 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:49,480 Oh, other gang member. 493 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,440 So, you've committed two murders? Or more? 494 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:55,360 More. More, more. 495 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,760 My cases, what they got is 24 cases. 496 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:01,480 -Twenty-four murder cases? -Mm-hmm. 497 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:03,840 -How did you kill people? -With guns. 498 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:05,400 -You shoot people? -Shoot people. 499 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,400 So, in prison, you're a 28? 500 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:08,480 I'm a 28, yeah. 501 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:09,600 What rank are you? 502 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:11,800 I am a colonel-general. 503 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:13,920 I have many stars. 504 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:17,240 Got six-six. 505 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,440 -You have the same on the other side? -Yeah. 506 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,640 And what does that mean? That's your rank as general? Colonel-general? 507 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:24,880 [Masalino] Yeah. 508 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:27,840 How do you get to the rank of colonel? 509 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:30,480 Obviously, you must take blood. 510 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:33,080 -In prison? -Yeah. 511 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:34,200 The blood of who? 512 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:35,400 The warders. 513 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:37,520 And maybe other brother of mine, 514 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,840 he hit the 26 or 27. 515 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,760 -They have a fight. -Now they fight, and there is blood. 516 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:43,800 [Rowe] Okay. 517 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:48,440 Now, ne, since there's blood, that blood must be refill. 518 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:49,360 [Rowe] Okay. 519 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,920 I have to take a knife or something 520 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:53,320 and stab a warder. 521 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:56,720 That's the only thing that's gonna make things right. 522 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:00,920 It seems bizarre. Why the wardens, who are not involved in the Numbers? 523 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,080 Why do they become the target of blood? 524 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,320 That is the way it is. 525 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:06,480 That's the way it is. 526 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:09,960 Masalino's the first person to speak to me 527 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,600 about why the men in the gangs stab random guards. 528 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,440 I'm guessing he can do that because he's managed 529 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,160 to get to the rank of colonel-general in the Number. 530 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,960 [Rowe] And what he's had to do to get to where he is today 531 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,200 is shocking, really. 532 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:27,840 In order to... 533 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:34,440 move up the ranks, or in order to revenge the blood spilling of one of their own, 534 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:38,400 in order to keep the peace, they have to draw the blood of a warden. 535 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,120 It makes me wonder how the wardens here feel, 536 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,160 working alongside prisoners 537 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:49,040 who might stab them at any moment for no real reason. 538 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:51,480 [evocative music plays] 539 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,360 After just half an hour outside, 540 00:25:55,440 --> 00:26:00,000 I'm back in the cell where we'll spend the next 23 and a half hours 541 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:01,440 of the day. 542 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,280 The claustrophobia is unbearable. 543 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:08,040 All we've got is a crackly TV that we can't control 544 00:26:08,120 --> 00:26:11,680 and a game called Stokes drawn on a bed sheet. 545 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:12,960 [indistinct chatter] 546 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,080 [prisoners chattering] 547 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:20,640 -[Lee] Take him. -[Rowe] Both? 548 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:22,800 -[prisoner 1] Both. -[Lee] You take him. Both. 549 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:23,840 [prisoner 2] Killed him. 550 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,040 -[prisoner 3] Now kill. -Who did I kill? 551 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,200 -You killed me. -You are wanted by him. 552 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:30,720 -[Lee] You are wanted. -I'm going to get you. 553 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,760 -[Lee] You are wanted. -[Troubles speaks Sabela] 554 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,120 -[Curtis] First time in prison? -[Rowe] I was in prison 555 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:36,800 in England, murder and robbery. 556 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,040 And this robbery, did you use a gun? 557 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,160 Can I explain this once? 558 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,200 Whether you believe me or not is entirely up to you. 559 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,400 -Okay. -[Curtis] We can hear if you lie. 560 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:49,920 [Rowe] You can hear if I'm lying. 561 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,800 Fine. That's fine. You can judge me how you want. 562 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,440 -But I was accused... -Ah. 563 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,760 -...of being part of a gang. -[Lee] Ah. 564 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,680 -Not here in South Africa, but in England... -[Lee] Okay. 565 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,880 -...that was involved in robberies... -[Lee] Ah. 566 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:08,160 ...of very rich people. 567 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,200 And we ended up getting taken to court... 568 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,480 convicted, and sentenced to prison... 569 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:17,200 for life. 570 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:18,800 For the murder and robberies. 571 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:20,440 And then after 12 years... 572 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,280 they found evidence that proved I didn't do it. 573 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:28,080 -[Lee] Mm. -[Curtis] But what about all your pain 574 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:29,320 that you went through? 575 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,040 12 years, he's missed 12 years. 576 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:33,800 It's not 12 days or 12 hours. 577 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:36,760 Does anybody care about your pain in here? 578 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,240 Now the men know my history as an ex-prisoner, 579 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,600 they're finally beginning to accept me. 580 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,160 All of us here is Numbers. 581 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,640 This whole room, you the only frans here. 582 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:55,960 So, we have to decide now what position you can be put in. 583 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,360 But does it have to be like that? Is it the only way? 584 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,840 Sooner or later, you have to make a decision. 585 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,600 To yourself. To... To survive. 586 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,840 Most of us come in here, we don't go out again. 587 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,320 These guys seem happy enough in a cell together. 588 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,440 So, why can't they just get along without being in a prison gang? 589 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:22,440 We also have gangs... 590 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,000 outside that we belong to. 591 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,560 Like me, I'm American outside. 592 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:31,840 -[Rowe] Is that another gang? -Yes, many gangs outside. 593 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:33,520 We fight outside. 594 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,480 You see, over turf, smuggling... 595 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,520 You see, in prison, we are brothers. 596 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,600 [Curtis] Outside, this is a whole different story. 597 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,160 Even after you've lived the same experience in prison? 598 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:49,040 Even after 20 years we were together here, 599 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,320 if I catch him outside, I will kill him. 600 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:01,520 It seems like the Number binds these men together against the authorities. 601 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,680 No matter how much they hate each other on the outside, 602 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,560 they leave their grudge at the prison gates. 603 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,040 It's my third day here, 604 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:19,440 and I'm being sent to work in Brandvlei's medium security unit, 605 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,360 where my cellmates could be transferred 606 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:27,160 if they don't get involved in the gang violence organized by the Number. 607 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:28,800 [indistinct chatter] 608 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,280 This is feeling very different from the maximum security side. 609 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:33,800 [yelling] 610 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:38,080 Unlike the brand-new maximum facility I've just come from, 611 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:42,320 the medium looks like it hasn't been updated for decades. 612 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:45,080 [indistinct chatter] 613 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,240 In the maximum, is well-maintained. 614 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:50,640 -[men yelling indistinctly] -This is worn. 615 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:54,040 You know, and they kind of make do with what they have. 616 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,200 Um, but it has a different atmosphere. 617 00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,520 In comparison to being locked up 618 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:03,120 for 23 and a half hours a day in K-3, 619 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:08,040 here, inmates are given free run of the prison grounds for most of the day. 620 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:09,760 It's like a makeshift cinema. 621 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:15,720 While I'm waiting for my work duty, I get confronted by an inmate. 622 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,000 I'm gonna ask, who are you? What are you doing here? Here, like here. 623 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:21,320 [Rowe] Why do you ask that? 624 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,160 -This is my work to find out who are you. -[Rowe] Okay. 625 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:26,600 So that I can go tell the others who are you. 626 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:27,960 -[Rowe] Okay. -Understand? 627 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,920 I'm the 27, and this is my 28. He's my friend. 628 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:33,000 Okay. 629 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,840 We are gonna leave you for today. Is all right? We will come again. 630 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:38,400 -Ne? Yeah. -Okay. 631 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,960 What I've noticed here, even in medium, 632 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,360 is the moment I stand anywhere 633 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,080 and just relax, I get approached, 634 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:52,360 and on occasions, I felt uncomfortable 635 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,440 because I look into the face of a guy, and he looks at me, 636 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:59,720 and his first question is, "Where are you from? What are you doing here?" 637 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:04,640 So, even though this place is different, it has a less tense atmosphere, 638 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:09,440 it's not free of the Number ideology, culture, and behavior. 639 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,560 Men here are transferred from the maximum unit 640 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:17,840 only once they have shown they are willing to abide by the regime. 641 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:21,960 Eight-five percent of them go to work, 642 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,520 and the medium feeds the whole of the prison complex 643 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:30,000 from its 6,000 hectares of farm land, where I'll be working today. 644 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,920 -[prisoner] That is the maximum prison. -[Rowe] I've been there. 645 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,760 Driving past the maximum on their way to work 646 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:41,800 is a daily reminder of what they've earned from their good behavior. 647 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:44,320 I was there three years, six months. 648 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,600 -[Rowe] Three years, six months? -From my 14 years here. 649 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,200 -But it's tough. -It's tough there, yeah, inside. 650 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:52,640 [Rowe] Beautiful scenery. 651 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,560 I mean, if you've been in prison for a number of years, 652 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,320 and then you earn the right to go into the medium center... 653 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:00,760 [truck rattling] 654 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:03,480 ...as noisy and as bumpy as it is, 655 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:05,560 it's a privilege. 656 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:06,960 [upbeat music playing] 657 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:20,160 This is what they're producing. 658 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,440 Loads and loads of carrots. 659 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:23,920 -[prisoner] Sir? -[Rowe] Yes? 660 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:25,320 [prisoner] Break the carrots. 661 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:26,960 -[Rowe] Break the carrot? -Yes. 662 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:28,360 [Rowe] You harvest, they break? 663 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:30,680 Which is the easiest job then? 664 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:32,480 The easiest... There's no easy jobs. 665 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:33,920 [Rowe] Good answer. 666 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:35,760 -No easy job. -[Rowe] Good answer. 667 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:37,480 -[prisoner] Yeah. -[Rowe] I'm with you. 668 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,320 Convicted robber, Senador, has been allowed 669 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,560 to work on the carrot fields for seven months now. 670 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:45,520 What am I doing here then? You just... 671 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:47,680 -You just break that. -Just like this? 672 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,120 How many of these crates have we gotta fill up? 673 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:56,080 I think they said today's a hundred. 674 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:57,960 [Rowe] A hundred of these crates? 675 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,280 What are...? What is your prison sentence at the moment? 676 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:03,760 And what time are you doing now? 677 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:06,240 I'm doing five, five years for robbery. 678 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,160 -[Rowe] 5 years for robbery. -At any time, I'll be out of prison. 679 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:13,520 You're almost coming to the end of your sentence. 680 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:17,240 Actually, I've had enough of this life now, you understand? 681 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:18,840 'Cause I've been in and out, 682 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,640 and I have tried before also to change, but... 683 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:27,160 it was too hard for me, but this time I'll really make a change. 684 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:30,800 Why do you really believe that you've changed this time 685 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:32,560 and not just saying that? 686 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:36,040 By accepting my Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. 687 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,480 I'm gonna make an honest living outside. 688 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:42,440 Will people employ people like you outside? 689 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:47,480 Well, in most of the times, it's very hard for people to accept one, 690 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:51,360 especially when you have these marks on you and these tattoos, but... 691 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:52,600 [Rowe] Which mark? 692 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,680 Oh, right. So you've got "Son Op Salute Twenty-six." 693 00:33:58,760 --> 00:33:59,880 -[Senador] Yeah. -[Rowe] Okay. 694 00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:02,320 "They hate me for my pride," and all this stuff. 695 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,760 They say, by the hospital, they can remove it again, make it clear. 696 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:08,600 Yeah. Would you do that? 697 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:10,640 I would. I will apply to do it, yeah. 698 00:34:10,720 --> 00:34:13,600 [Rowe] You'd like to do it, but you don't know if you can... 699 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,440 I'm not sure if I can do it, but I'm gonna check. 700 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:19,360 I'm no longer a slave. I'm a child of God. 701 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,040 In the prison gang, they remember me 702 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:27,360 as one of their brothers, but I say to them I am no longer one of them. 703 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:32,320 Senador is the first person I've met who wants to leave the gang. 704 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:34,040 Can you leave? 705 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:38,320 Can you just stop being one if you want to just stop being one? 706 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:45,760 I'm not willing to talk about this stuff right now. 707 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:47,280 -Understand? -[Rowe] Okay. 708 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:50,200 [Senador] Is a waste of my life. 709 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,800 I want something good for my life on one day. 710 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,840 [Rowe] And only you can do that. No one can do it for you. 711 00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:01,360 I wonder if the Number Gang will ever allow Senador to leave, 712 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:06,240 and what life has in store for him when he gets back to the Cape Flats. 713 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,120 [calm music playing] 714 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:15,840 The next morning in medium, 715 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,560 and I'm told to assist a fellow inmate on his daily duties. 716 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:21,440 [guard] Bradley! 717 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:24,240 Where's Bradley? 718 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:28,640 -[guard] Good day, ne? -What is it? 719 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:30,480 -How are you? -Pleased to meet you. 720 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,520 [guard] He's going to assist you with your daily duties. 721 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,320 Okay. This is the way we put on the uniform. 722 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:37,920 -You got it correct. -Have I? 723 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,920 You look like a new one, a newbie that just arrived. 724 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,400 Everybody does this to me. This must be... 725 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,560 [Rowe] So, do you have a single room, or are you sharing? 726 00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:50,160 [Bradley] We're in a big room. 727 00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:52,920 Bradley's been in medium for seven months 728 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:57,000 and is a frans, or a non-gang member, just like me. 729 00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:58,720 [Bradley] Forty-eight in total. 730 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:00,280 -[Rowe] 48? -Yeah, 48. 731 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:02,160 -[Rowe] Okay. -This is my bed. 732 00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:05,000 -[Rowe] Wow, 48 in each cell. -[Bradley] Yeah. 733 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:07,840 And I thought my cell in maximum was cramped. 734 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:11,200 At least most of Bradley's day is spent outside, 735 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:15,160 calling inmates for meetings with officials and councilors. 736 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:17,680 [Bradley] These are the lists I get daily. 737 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:21,520 Uh, for psychology, social worker, parole board. 738 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:23,760 Do you wanna... Can you pronounce that name? 739 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:25,360 [Rowe] What's that name there? 740 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,080 [Bradley] Ampendulo Yakelo? 741 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:30,280 Ampulo Yakelo! 742 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:31,960 Ampendulo Yakelo? 743 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:34,600 -Becoming South African, you've got that... -[Rowe] He's coming. 744 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:36,880 [Bradley] Uh, Ampendulo Yakelo? Is he here? 745 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,560 Ampendulo Yakelo! 746 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:41,640 [man speaking indistinctly] 747 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:43,720 [speaking foreign language] 748 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:45,480 -[Bradley] He's outside. -Ah. 749 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:47,560 I normally just shout like a mad thing. 750 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:49,200 Ampendulo Yakelo! 751 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,160 -Yes? -You're on the list for a social worker 752 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:54,640 for tomorrow, Mr. Moore say. 753 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:56,840 Don't forget your appointment tomorrow morning. 754 00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:58,600 -Okay. -Thank you, Mr. Yakelo. 755 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,320 Bradley sticks out like a sore thumb. 756 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:05,800 But it looks like he's been able to find a way to do his job 757 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:08,240 without hassle from the gangs. 758 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:12,120 [Bradley] Me coming from a different life, middle to upper class life... 759 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:13,720 -[Rowe] Okay. -...not, um... 760 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:15,960 Not a Number. 761 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:19,440 Um, me also being a bit light in color, et cetera, 762 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:21,440 was extremely difficult. 763 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:25,680 At the end of the day, it took, um, a lot of... 764 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,560 [sighs] ...money, definitely money. 765 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:32,640 -Really? You had to buy... -Yeah, definitely. 766 00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:35,720 I had to pay for protection, If you wanna put it in simple words. 767 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:40,480 Yeah, but how did you navigate the challenge of more than one person 768 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:42,760 wanting what you could provide? 769 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:44,200 There's a simple routine. 770 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,240 If you go to the shop once a month, and I'll just buy, um, 771 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:50,200 tobacco, tobacco, coffee, coffee, sugar, sugar, creamer, creamer. 772 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:51,400 -That's it. -Oh, okay. 773 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:53,720 -So you bought two of everything. -Correct. 774 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:55,320 -And did it work? -Yes. 775 00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:56,680 I'm alive, yes. 776 00:37:56,760 --> 00:38:00,520 And I wasn't forcefully... whatever, molested, et cetera, whatever. 777 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:04,320 You were never physically beaten. You were able to buy your way out. 778 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:05,760 [Bradley] Buy my way out. 779 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:10,840 To survive as a frans in these prisons and avoid violence, 780 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,840 inmates like Bradley choose to strike a deal. 781 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:20,680 He's been able to navigate around becoming a Number 782 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:25,800 because he's been able to buy himself out of being beaten 783 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:29,000 or bullied or having his belongings taken away. 784 00:38:39,240 --> 00:38:41,560 Today, I'm back in maximum. 785 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,160 I want to talk to Curtis, 786 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:47,760 who's shown a tough exterior while I've been living with him. 787 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,600 But something about the way he carries himself 788 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:53,240 makes me think his rank in the Number 789 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:55,680 is weighing heavily on his shoulders. 790 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:57,760 Are you from the Cape Flats? 791 00:38:57,840 --> 00:38:59,360 I did grow up in the Cape Flats. 792 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,160 You are serving a very long sentence. 793 00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:03,440 Twenty-five years. 794 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:05,880 What did you do to get 25 years? 795 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:08,920 My case is murder 796 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:14,240 and robbery with aggravating circumstances. 797 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:16,920 There's one thing I notice, if you don't mind me saying. 798 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,960 I sense something in your facial expression 799 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:23,720 that... that is almost worry... 800 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:25,960 because of your rank in the Number. 801 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:29,640 Because of the responsibility that rests on your shoulders. 802 00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:33,080 For example, two guys, two Number guys, get into a fracas. 803 00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:36,080 One punches the other one. His nose bleeds. 804 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:39,480 You have to make a decision. 805 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:41,720 You're part of that decision processing. 806 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:43,760 -Mm. -[Rowe] Because of your rank. 807 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:47,280 And the decision has to be, blood has to be taken from the guard. 808 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:48,200 [Curtis] True. 809 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:51,840 To be honest with you, there is already a situation. 810 00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:54,360 Five years back when I came here, 811 00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:58,800 an inmate took a padlock, and he beat this warden. 812 00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:01,040 It was on the unit were I was sleeping. 813 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:02,760 [inmates chattering, laughing] 814 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,680 The 28 gang member that launched this vicious attack 815 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:10,720 later died from injuries he sustained during the incident. 816 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,000 As of yet, there's been no retaliation 817 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:17,720 -from the 28s in this prison. -[barking] 818 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:22,000 A 28 was beaten to death. 819 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:27,560 Unfortunately, my Number requires 820 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:29,680 one of the wardens to also die. 821 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:31,360 Who is going to do that? 822 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:35,880 That is something that is now upon my responsibility 823 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:37,320 because I was present. 824 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:40,000 It is still hanging like a cloud 825 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:43,040 over the 28s here by this prison. 826 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:44,880 It seems mad. 827 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,040 If Curtis gets involved in this revenge killing, 828 00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:51,200 he'll likely spend the rest of his life in prison. 829 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,120 And if you don't do something, then... 830 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:54,920 Seeing that I did nothing... 831 00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:58,720 I will be brought to book. 832 00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:01,200 -[Rowe] By your Number? -By my Number. 833 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:03,120 They have to take my blood. 834 00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:06,800 If it comes to that point, I will have to make that decision. 835 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:10,120 -Okay. -And that is like a split-second decision. 836 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:12,000 -Okay. -I go with it, or I don't. 837 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:14,080 I'm worried for Curtis. 838 00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:17,760 He seems trapped by his duty as a ranking 28. 839 00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:20,480 [Rowe] He's reached where he's wanted to reach. 840 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:22,760 But that comes at a price. 841 00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:28,000 And right now, for him, that price is the blood of a warden. 842 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:29,640 [crickets chirping] 843 00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:40,280 Today, I want to understand what it's like for the guards 844 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:43,520 who are under constant threat from gang violence. 845 00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:48,920 So, how long have you been working in this establishment? 846 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:51,160 I've been at maximum for four years. 847 00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:53,760 [Rowe] And what do you do? What is your role? 848 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:55,440 [Gerber] I am a EST member, 849 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:57,160 so Emergency Support Team. 850 00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:01,440 We are the specialized guys that come in for specialized search operations, 851 00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:04,800 um, riot control, cell extractions, 852 00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:06,040 and stuff like that. 853 00:42:07,240 --> 00:42:10,320 Gerber has to manage the gangs on a daily basis. 854 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:11,560 [inmate yelling] 855 00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:15,520 What do you see as the biggest challenge in this prison? 856 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:18,320 The biggest challenge that we are facing 857 00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:22,840 is working with the offenders that we have that is involved in the Number Gang. 858 00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:26,640 We are facing violence every day at any moment. 859 00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:28,440 We never know when it will happen. 860 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,440 One of the threats here is that, I think 5 or 6 years ago, 861 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:34,240 there was quite a dramatic incident 862 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:38,520 where a prisoner lost his life. There was a conflict between prisoners and guards. 863 00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:40,320 What's your knowledge of that? 864 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:44,880 That some of them gang members that was involved that day is still in our center. 865 00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:47,800 So, the way that they see to fix it, 866 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,200 is to draw the blood of one of our officers. 867 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:52,240 And we look out for it every day. 868 00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:55,000 Because you never know when something can take place. 869 00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:57,520 What does it feel like to be under that threat? 870 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:01,200 You just try to go by it day by day, 871 00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:03,880 not thinking about it too much because if you do, 872 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:05,760 it's gonna eat you up from inside. 873 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:09,280 And you're gonna have a mental breakdown 874 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:10,840 somewhere along the line. 875 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:17,600 What can be done to break up this hierarchy 876 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:21,120 and everything the Number Gangs represent? 877 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:23,160 Well, to be honest with you... [chuckles] 878 00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:25,920 ...I don't think we will ever succeed in breaking it up. 879 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:29,920 But what we can do and what we're doing at the moment as well 880 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:33,520 is implementing gang management, 881 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,160 splitting up members that need to make the decision. 882 00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:39,480 If, let's say, the decision is to draw blood 883 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:42,440 of a correction officer, 884 00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:44,080 they can make that decision 885 00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:46,720 and make it happen before we have the information. 886 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:50,320 For the moment, at least, 887 00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:54,320 it looks like the regime is dealing with active members of the Number 888 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:57,200 by isolating them in small groups 889 00:43:57,280 --> 00:43:59,360 so they can't conspire as easily. 890 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:03,880 But there are some members of the gang who are so dangerous, 891 00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:06,800 even this tightly run prison can't hold them. 892 00:44:07,720 --> 00:44:10,480 These men are held in isolation here, 893 00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:12,680 Ebongweni Super Max, 894 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:15,720 the most secure prison in South Africa. 895 00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:19,480 I'm here to meet George Thomas. 896 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:22,160 As a reported leader of the 28s, 897 00:44:22,240 --> 00:44:25,880 he was found guilty of numerous gang-related crimes 898 00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:28,080 and seven murders. 899 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:32,080 Some of those he killed were due to testify against him. 900 00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:35,640 And he was found guilty of organizing their assassinations 901 00:44:35,720 --> 00:44:39,440 through his gang connections from inside his prison cell. 902 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:46,320 Now he's serving multiple life sentences in this concrete room, 903 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:50,200 designed to throttle his influence over the Number Gang. 904 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:52,280 [ominous music playing] 905 00:44:57,600 --> 00:44:59,800 Come sit next to me. -[Rowe] Okay. 906 00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:03,400 I've read lots of things, 907 00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:05,840 been told lots of things about George Thomas. 908 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:07,560 I was not an angel. 909 00:45:07,640 --> 00:45:08,880 [Rowe] No. 910 00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:12,160 When did you first start to get involved in crime? 911 00:45:12,680 --> 00:45:14,880 I was just an ordinary kid. 912 00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:19,240 And then I became involved with the gangs. 913 00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:21,440 There was other gangs there. 914 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:22,440 They got... 915 00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:25,600 two houses where they smuggle. 916 00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:28,360 We went to that house one night. 917 00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:32,960 I think we were carrying an R4 rifle assault gun, 918 00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:35,800 three nine-millimeter Z-88s 919 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:38,200 and a hand grenade, and we attacked them. 920 00:45:39,240 --> 00:45:42,080 And then we shot some of them. 921 00:45:42,680 --> 00:45:43,880 [Rowe] Shot them dead? 922 00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:45,080 We shot nine. 923 00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:47,040 -[Rowe] Dead. -We shot 9. 924 00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:50,320 I'm not sure how many died there, but we shot nine. 925 00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:54,080 George has been in and out of prison all his life. 926 00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:58,480 Tell me about your tattoos, why you had, you know, your face tattooed, 927 00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:00,600 and your neck and your body. 928 00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:04,320 When I came to prison in the apartheid years, ne, 929 00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:08,200 we have a lot of time on our hands. 930 00:46:08,280 --> 00:46:10,920 That is how we start to tattoo each other. 931 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:16,680 George's tattoos tell the dark story of his climb 932 00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:18,680 up the ranks of the Number. 933 00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:23,680 [Rowe] So, you took the Number rank very seriously. 934 00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:26,960 [George] I was inspector that time. There's no higher rank. 935 00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:30,840 I think in 1994, 1995, 936 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:33,400 we stabbed 27 warders. 937 00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:34,440 27 warders? 938 00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:36,080 Twenty-seven warders. 939 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:38,680 -On Brandvlei at that time. -Why? 940 00:46:38,760 --> 00:46:42,520 Because of the circumstances that time inside prison. 941 00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:45,120 They didn't listen to our complaints. 942 00:46:45,640 --> 00:46:48,360 And besides, the 28 Gang, 943 00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:50,840 it was just an organization 944 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:54,600 that stems out of the system of the apartheid years. 945 00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:59,720 But now, the majority of the wardens are just like you. 946 00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:01,640 They suffered in the same way as you. 947 00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:05,160 -They went through apartheid. -I agree. That's why I'm saying. 948 00:47:05,240 --> 00:47:08,960 I don't agree with what is happening now. 949 00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:13,320 Because after democracy, we can talk. 950 00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:16,000 You know, you are in this concrete tomb. 951 00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:18,440 As a 28 general... 952 00:47:20,560 --> 00:47:24,320 what influence do you still have from this... 953 00:47:25,240 --> 00:47:26,160 tomb? 954 00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:29,880 -[George] Inside or outside? -Both. 955 00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:34,400 I am still in contact with a lot of my friends. 956 00:47:34,480 --> 00:47:39,400 But mostly now, I'm trying to encourage them 957 00:47:39,480 --> 00:47:41,880 to move away from the old ways. 958 00:47:43,120 --> 00:47:45,240 Even George Thomas, 959 00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:47,840 the highest ranking gang member I've met, 960 00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:51,880 seems to be turning his back on the Number's violent code. 961 00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:54,840 He admitted that he... 962 00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:59,840 was able to influence and can still, if he wanted to, 963 00:47:59,920 --> 00:48:01,440 influence people outside. 964 00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:06,680 Only now, he said the message he's sending out from inside is a positive one. 965 00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:10,400 I suppose the big question is, has he changed? 966 00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:11,800 Or is he still... 967 00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:16,040 a very influential and dangerous man? 968 00:48:20,040 --> 00:48:24,640 {\an8}I want to ask the governor if the prison can ever make a positive difference 969 00:48:24,720 --> 00:48:26,160 to the men's lives 970 00:48:26,240 --> 00:48:30,440 when so many of them are still controlled by the Number Gang. 971 00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:36,160 The Numbers have their own structure of how they go about doing their things 972 00:48:36,240 --> 00:48:40,160 that is different from the regime that you are trying to run here. 973 00:48:40,240 --> 00:48:43,360 Does that make rehabilitating prisoners harder? 974 00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:46,440 Yes. But currently in South Africa, 975 00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:51,120 the social economic systems, poverty is the problem. 976 00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:53,800 -There's no work outside. -[Rowe] Mm. 977 00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:57,080 Just for one example, so now they will go to the gangsters 978 00:48:57,160 --> 00:48:59,920 because somehow he needs some food on the table. 979 00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,760 And some of the offenders, especially with gangsters, 980 00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:06,320 it's mostly the offenders, uh, who got nothing... 981 00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:08,200 in life. 982 00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:10,600 This maximum unit is a new facility, 983 00:49:10,680 --> 00:49:14,320 and so, what's different now to what went before? 984 00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:17,320 There was no rehabilitation at all in the past. 985 00:49:18,000 --> 00:49:19,160 -Okay. -Years back... 986 00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:22,000 it was unlock and lock up. 987 00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:27,160 Our system now, we have a lot of changes in correctional services. 988 00:49:27,240 --> 00:49:32,080 We move from more punitive to a rehabilitative side. 989 00:49:32,160 --> 00:49:35,920 Some of them will come and change. They are not interested in gangster-ism. 990 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:37,600 -Then we take them out. -[Rowe] Mm. 991 00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:40,560 We actually take their hands and try to rehabilitate them, 992 00:49:40,640 --> 00:49:44,840 try to support them, to go out, be law-abiding citizens again. 993 00:49:47,120 --> 00:49:51,080 I've come to the end of my time at Brandvlei prison. 994 00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:54,120 [sighs] 995 00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:58,680 Gang culture is an inescapable part of prison life here in South Africa. 996 00:49:58,760 --> 00:50:03,120 The Number may keep the peace between rival street gangs inside, 997 00:50:03,200 --> 00:50:07,240 but it makes it harder for the regime to rehabilitate its inmates. 998 00:50:07,320 --> 00:50:10,360 Eradicating it is an impossible task. 999 00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:14,480 Once branded a 26, a 27, or a 28, 1000 00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:18,680 that stigma will live with these men for the rest of their lives. 1001 00:50:18,760 --> 00:50:20,760 [evocative music plays]