Dewani's UK judge may do us a favour: iLIVE - Times LIVE

If the British judge decides that incarceration in South Africa constitutes cruel and inhuman punishment, then bravo.

Perhaps such a decision will cause the South African government to become more serious about the horrific conditions in South African prisons, where gross over-crowding, violence, rape, corruption and a dominant gang culture have become the accepted norm.

The police now apparently sometimes use these barbaric conditions as a weapon to frighten wrongdoers and possibly innocent people whom they are investigating.

The anti-drunk driving Papa wag vir jou TV advert speaks for itself and shows how inured South Africans have become to our shameful prison system.

The time has come to think out of the box. Incarceration of nonviolent offenders in over-crowded South African prisons is not in the public interest and is more likely to exacerbate the crime problem.

Innovative solutions involving unpaid work and community service will achieve much more than shoving nonviolent offenders into the Polsmoor crime machine.

Even if it seems likely that Dewani is guilty, the British judge may do more for justice in South Africa by refusing to extradite Dewani and thus force South Africans to confront the barbarisms that we accept as "normal".