ABSTRACT
To a large extent the South African prison system has been shaped by the need for labour in the colonies out of which the Republic of South Africa developed. After the Union of South Africa was established in 1910, the administrations of the various territorial prison systems were centralized and their legislative bases were overhauled. Developments in the sphere of the application of prison labour were relatively slow in the Colony of Natal and in the republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal that is in the other three southern African territories which would eventually make up the Union of South Africa. The determination of what international human rights law has to say about prison labour is potentially very important in South Africa, for the country aspires to meet international standards. Prisoners are not regarded as employees in South African labour law. This means that they are not governed by basic national labour law.
