The Number

The Number

by Jonny Steinberg

Finished another RA Favorite Book, this one written by a journalist in South Africa who wanted to learn more about the prison system and how one managed the challenge of being identified by only a number.  The book The Number by Jonny Steinberg shares the inside secrets of the 26’s, 27’s and 28’s (as they are known) within those incarcerated in South Africa.  Steinberg follows the life of Magadien Wentzel, who, at one time, had a promising future as a student, but was arrested and put in jail after the riots on his college campus.  At that moment, he needed to make a decision: how shall he respond to the inmates who want to know his allegiance?  The journalist spends 18 months (a year while he is in jail and the six months immediately following his release) with Magadien, learning what happens between the three notorious groups: the 28’s – the more aggressive group; the 27’s – the in-between “peace keepers”; and the 26’s, who work toward bettering themselves.  Steinberg also interviewed others with whom Magadien engaged: inmates, wardens, family members, some of his intimate partners (former lovers), and his daughters.  The story was written in the early 2000s post-Apartheid where the issue of blacks vs. whites remained.  The details of the sex-slaves while in jail, the abuse, aggression, fighting, drugs, and other issues raised clearly showed how the government was not interested in rehabilitation, but simply holding people they declared dangerous to others in prison forever.  This exposé gives valuable insight into the culture within a country which has been ravaged by racial issues.  Sad read.