On
Motswako this week:
Episode Title: Mothers In Prison
Broadcast date: 25 May 2009 at 21h30
Tonight's Motswako was filmed in a female prison in Kroonstad and covers the implications of being a mother in South African prisons.
If you have a baby younger than 2-years-old, when you start serving your prison sentence, you have the right to take the baby with you. This means that a number of babies are growing up in prisons all over the country. But, once the baby turns 2, it gets taken away from the mother and gets given to foster care until the mother is out of prison (if there are no family members willing to look after the baby).
Motswako speaks to a few of the women who've experienced this (one of whom gave birth in prison) and spends two days investigating the emotional drama (and trauma) surrounding what it means to be a mother in prison.
Motswako is on SABC2 on Mondays at 21h30.