People who know Diepkloof prison say the AWB men could never have escaped unassisted, reports Justin Pearce
While Correctional Services remain “embarrassed” about four alleged bombers who escaped from prison last week, people who know the jail have poured scorn on initial claims that the men escaped by sawing through security gates.
“I’ve welded those gates myself, and I know how heavy they are,” remarked a former inmate who asked not to be identified. He was talking about Diepkloof Prison, where the men were being held.
In response to the jailbreak by four Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) members, the department moved 12 other rightwingers to the maximum security Pretoria Central Prison.
Immediately after the escape, the department suggested the four had sawn through security gates and broken down a service door at the back of the prison. Since then, Correctional Services has kept quiet about the escape, pending the completion of an investigation.
People who know Diepkloof are adamant that the idea of prisoners escaping by sawing through the gates is completely implausible.
When prisoners receive visitors they are separated by a glass window, so any saws or other tools which they might have used during their escape could only have come from within the prison.
If the prisoners did indeed escape through the service entrance, they would still have needed the help of a prison official to unlock the gate outside. The service door opens on to a yard enclosed by a high wall, with a gate which is normally unlocked only to admit vehicles.
There are widespread allegations of corruption among prison warders. One paralegal worker who often visits the prison told the Mail & Guardian how inmates regularly ask him for money to exchange for favours from the guards.
Right-wing white warders are also said to be a powerful force in the prison. At least four prisoners told the legal worker about warders wearing AWB insignia while on duty. In an affidavit submitted to the Transvaal Supreme Court last year, former prisoner Lucas Bennie Gae stated that he had been called “kaffir” by two officers.
Senior officers at the prison are largely white, while the warders standing guard at the gates are black and of low rank. A senior officer escorting a prisoner through a gate would not be stopped by a junior officer guarding the gate.
Carl Niehaus, chair of Parliament’s Select Committee on Correctional Services, has expressed frustration at the department’s failure to supply information about the breakout, and said his committee “would take the matter further” if the department does not offer a satisfactory response.