Just caught up - excellent as always 
Well done Kim Martin for giving the real victims a voice.
I agree with Pengy there is something strange going on.
The South African authorities have hit back at âinaccurate, serious allegationsâ in the Oscar Pistorius trial that the countryâs prisons are dirty, disease-ridden and violent.
The Department of Correctional Services made an extraordinary intervention in the case, issuing a statement saying that it did not want to interfere with the case, where arguments are being made about whether Pistorius should be sent to prison.
But it added: âThe image of our correctional centres, our department and our government in general is at stake. We therefore deem it appropriate that we register our concern.â
Annette Vergeer, a probation officer called by Mr Pistoriusâs defence team, has described the dangers of drugs, gangs and sodomy in the country's prisons, which she said are poorly-equipped for disabled people as the judge hears mitigating factors in the athleteâs sentencing.
She also warned of the risks of transmission of Aids, tuberculosis and other diseases, due to overcrowding and poor sanitation.
Prison would "break" Pistorius, and "take away his future," she said, adding: "How can we say Pistorius will not be a victim of gang rape?"
Her claims are supported by damning reports issued in recent years by Amnesty International and the Justice Project based at Johannesburgâs Wits University, which last year exposed alleged torture and other abuse at a state prison in Bloemfontein whose running was outsourced to the British firm G4S.
But in a statement entitled âSouth Africaâs correctional centres are safe and hygienicâ, the Department of Correctional Services rejected the âinaccurate serious allegationsâ made in the Pistorius trial, saying they âsought to cast doubt on the state of our correctional centresâ.
âThe reports seek to create an impression that our centres are fraught with, among other things, unhygienic conditions, gang violence and sodomy or rape,â it said. âSuch allegations about the conditions in our centres are inaccurate.â
Oscar Pistorius, 27, was convicted last month of the manslaughter of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by shooting at her four times through a locked lavatory door of his Pretoria home, thinking she was an intruder.
The state sought to prosecute Pistorius for premeditated murder, saying he knew who he was shooting and did so because of a furious row, but lost its case.
During a morning adjournment, it was reported that Arnold Pistorius, the athleteâs uncle with whom he lives, hugged Barry Steenkamp, the victimâs father, in a rapprochement between the two families.
Mr Pistorius confirmed to The Telegraph he had âhad a chatâ with Mr Steenkamp, who suffered a stroke after his 29-year-old daughterâs death and has been largely absent from the trial until its later stages.
"I think he's a good man âĶ he's a good soul,â he said.