THURSDAY, 3.00PM:
The head of Pretoria Local Prison faces suspension after accusations by two awaiting trial prisoners that he sold a smuggled a gun to inmates for R100 000.
Deputy Director Johannes Makgoba, one of the high-level team investigating recent prison escapes, has been given until Friday to respond to the allegations against him or face immediate suspension.
Another 16 prison officials also face suspension for ngeligence after a week in which there have been over a dozen jailbreaks around the country. Eight of the warders were on duty on Friday night when six dangerous prisoners broke out of Pretoria Central Prison; the other eight were on duty on Sunday when a convicted murderer and rapist strolled out of the gate with a crowd of church-goers. Yet another warder was arrested yesterday when he brought a television set back from a repair shop — and it was found to contain large quantities of dagga.
There have been 937 escapes from prison in the period from January to October, 229 of them from prisons in Gauteng. The prisons department, under political fire from all parties, has been instructed to present a report to President Nelson Mandela by Monday.
Acting Commissioner Steven Korabie said the number of escapes had actually decreased — there were 1 345 escapes last year. He said the prisons department were blamed for a situation in which the prisons were overpopulated by 50 000 inmates, while the number of prisons staff was down by 6 000. he also said many of the escapes were from courts or prison cells, and these could not be blamed on his department. *
Eight more prisoners escaped from Bronkhorstspruit police cells early yesterday. The prisoners sawed through the cell’s bars with a sawblade which had apparently been smuggled into the jail in a prisoner’s rectum. Five of the eight have since been recaptured.