The judgment follows an inmate Mbalenhle Ntuli’s challenge. He took the head of the Johannesburg Prison and the Correctional Services Minister to court for denying him access to a laptop for studying.

Ntuli’s counsel argued that the Correctional Services department’s policy prevented him from studying.

Delivering the judgement, Justice Steven Mahiedt, said, “Any inmate in a correctional centre, registered with a recognised tertiary or further education institution and who reasonably needs a computer to support their studies and any student, who registered for a course of studies who reasonably requires a computer as a compulsory part of the course, is entitled to use their personal computer without the use of a modem in their cell.”

--SABC--