Getting Settled

I’m back people! So you thought I couldn’t manage keeping the dirt coming? Just goes to show, I mean business. As I mentioned earlier, Errol and I became good acquaintances but the poor fella was a sad case as I realized in time. He was in prison far possession of cocaine and was caught in JHB international (O.R.Thambo- or something- if they haven’t changed the name again…) and sentenced to serve 15years. Unfortunately for him being an addict with minimal supply, he did have tendencies to selfdestruct and also by renting and selling bedspace he had serious enemies… drugs in Sun City is plentiful but terribly expensive!

It was roughly two weeks after I landed with my arse in prison while sitting on my bed having a conversation with Errol and drinking coffee made with a bomb, when the shit hit the fan (just to clarify what a bomb is-it’s simply two wires with the ends separated by a metal cup or flattened coke can and the other end connected to a power source i.e. a light fitting These two wires are separated so they don’t touch with wooden pegs or a toothbrush and placed as is in a bucket of water… kettles are smuggled in and almost certainly confiscated when seen by un-bribed authorities.) Anyway, I was sitting with Errol when he was stabbed from behind in his back; with a metal rod similar to a bicycle spoke… it all happened so quickly I barely had time to register what was happening… There I was trying to help a stabbed man with other inmates just looking on or passing by without a care in the world. Eventually one of the Gatta’s came to assist me after noticing what I was doing. We got Errol to the medical wing of the prison where they stabilised him and transferred him to the Chris Hani Baragwaneth hospital. I later learned he was stabbed by members of the twenty six gang for apparently ripping them off in some shady deal… the Gatta who arrested me; Chris Lotter later informed me that Errol Botha passed away hours after being admitted to hospital. It is sad, but in prison the hard reality is that people come and go, they live and die… it’s a hard reality of probably prison that I learned very quickly. I faced each day with the knowledge of reminding myself never to get too comfortable!

I decided to join the gym and just workout. Not only is it a good pastime in prison, but also the more decent guys tend to be there, also to pass time… The gym in Sun City is extremely small. Basically it is and old storeroom emptied out with some dumbbells and barbells thrown in. No more than twelve people can train at any time, but it gets the job done…

With this new hobby I adopted I made a lot of new contacts, all of which were somehow connected to some illegal method of smuggling things in and out of prison.  There goes my theory of “more decent guys passing the time”. One has to realise that life in prison is truly is a life on its own. It is a closed community with all social rules and behaviour completely different to the outside world.  The simplest of tasks become a pain in the backside to do. I already told you about boiling water, another simple thing is making your own food. We cook on an iron turned upside-down with metal plates on top as our frying pan. Rice is made by pouring half a cup of rice into a flask and then adding water from the bomb in and leaving it for an hour and a half. Naturally speaking the shop we can use to purchase items from is only open every four to six months due to the corruption and mismanagement taking place there…

One of the guys I train with, a murderer named Theo actually suggested we sell steroids to the gym freaks… now I have no problem with that except for two things: one, I must provide the start up capital for our venture and two, I don’t trust the asshole who killed a 65year old man for no good reason and is also a certified multi-personality case… I think its called schizophrenia or something…  Hey, a dude has to make money even in prison to survive… Here in prison “money” comes in many different forms. Our main currency is phone-cards or a sealed packet of Stuyvesant filter valued at twenty rand, although it costs more to purchase with real money at the shop… yes, we have normal street cash, but carrying it is risky should the Boere find it on you, you’re sure to spend some time in the bom and even get a further charge. It’s also possible to convert your cigarettes to cash, naturally a t a price of course. So that what I did, I bought eight cartons of cigarettes and converted it into cash to the value of seven cartons and held my breath as I handed it to Theo for arranging our little product of gold…

Two days later our parcel arrived via one of our Correctional couriers… a corrupt Gatta smuggling for inmates to earn extra money. And so we introduced and sold Decca, Winstrol, Sustanon and Anabol to our faithful training partners. This venture actually went on for a very long time, proved quite profitable and then like everything else in prison got screwed up by an inmate! First the fucking 26’s tried to get a piece of our business using tactics which failed… Theo and I persevered until those useless pieces of shits; the Big five’s got wind and tried to squeeze our delicate business. By now I did give a little trust to Theo and we decided to call our business to a close, effectively ending the roid supply in Sun City.

With regards to Theo, well we remained training partners for our duration in Sun City.

By now I have pretty much fully adjusted to prison life, made my own contacts to smuggle with and am living totally independent from other inmates. There was just one problem and that was that I was tiring of the overcrowded cells, the lack of space and privacy. It was time to make a decision do I move to the single-cell section or not? Well, I decided to move in to my own pozzi for a fee of course of two hundred rands paid to the single cell’s unit manager, Mr Bethuel Monareng.

People, from here onwards you may laugh at times, cry or just sit in amazement shaking your head. My time in the Sun City single cells was very interesting to say the least. I’ll tell you mare about it in my next update.

Quote of the week: “You only live once… If you live it right – once is enough!”