CHILDREN living with their convicted mothers in prison will not be taken away, says the Department ofCorrectional Services.
CHILDREN living with their convicted mothers in prison will not be taken away, says the Department ofCorrectional Services.
Department spokesperson Sonwabo Mbananga was commenting on recent information that emerged in the South Gauteng high court that the children will be removed from their mothers' care from Tuesday, September 1.
"There is no such thing. I understand that information came about in a certain woman's bail application before the high court, but we don't know where it came from," Mbananga said.
In a bail application, Celiwe Mbokazi, accused of murdering her husband, argued that it would have a negative effect on her 18-month-old daughter, who was born in prison and is still being breast-fed, if they were to be separated.
Last week, Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Maphisa-Nqakula proposed a bill that would allow convicted mothers to raise their children under correctional supervision but return to custody to serve their sentences once the children were grown up.
If passed, the bill will only come into effect next year.