[Fwd: Jackie Selebi has little to fear about being gang-raped in prison]

In fact, says a former outlaw, prison will be safer than the streets of
Joburg.

Allan Heyl is a man who knows prisons, having spent 27 years behind bars
for his crime spree with the Stander Gang in the early 1980s. He did his
time in correctional facilities in South Africa and in the UK, and he
wants to give the former top cop gone bad some pointers on surviving
jail.

"You must speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil. Don't trust anyone,
don't stick your nose in anyone's business and hope to find a friend
soon," says Heyl. Also, don't flash cash.

It is likely that it will take just a few weeks for Selebi to find his
feet, and then it will be a matter of dealing with the monotony of years
in prison. But Selebi has little to fear in prison, even though he is an
ex-policeman, Heyl believes.

Jailbirds turning on convicted cops with knives is all Hollywood, he
says. "I never saw anyone, or heard of anyone, being raped in 27 years
of prison."

Having experienced the worst of jail, Heyl feels that Selebi's sentence
is too harsh for a white-collar crime that involved no violence and will
do little to rehabilitate him.

"What does it achieve, what is the point? It is a society hellbent on
vengeance," he says.

In time, if he is well behaved, Selebi will get privileges. He can earn
the right to have a radio in his cell, maybe a clothes iron one day.

"It will be the best of what hell can offer.

"But he will have to wear that orange uniform and eat that food," Heyl
notes.

This article was originally published on page 5 of The Star on August
04, 2010