South Africa is in the midst of an unprecedented crime wave which is causing very real suffering and widespread panic. Swept away by the public's fear, stories of the criminals themselves are seldom heard, and the complex and environmental reasons behind these crimes rarely properly understood. South Africa's prison system is bursting at its seams and is increasingly unable to contain the dramatically increasing criminal population. For many prisoners and former inmates, life in South Africa itself is so difficult that the wall separating prison and freedom has come to represent very little. Whether inside or out, many men and their families living around Cape Town are stuck in a desperate cycle. Die Vier Hoeke is gang terminology which refers to the inside of the prisons. It translates directly to "The Four Corners." Umjiegwana means "The Outside."