/ 29 March 1999

CHAUKE ON HUNGER STRIKE

CASH-in-transit heist suspect Collin Chauke and four of his fellow prison inmates embarked on a hunger strike in Pretoria’s C-Max prison over the weekend. Correctional Services spokesperson Rudi Potgieter says that Chauke is dissatisfied with both the quality and the quantity of the prison’s food. Asked whether prisoners were adequately fed, Potgieter said that all South African prison inmates received balanced, nutritious meals. Chauke also told prison authorities that he would resume eating if they transferred him from the prison’s maximum security wing to the central prison.

Meanwhile, Chauke’s lover, Dudu Nkosi, is expected to be arrested early this week after she failed to attend a court hearing on Friday. Her R1000 bail for charges of harbouring a known criminal has already been revoked and she was charged with an additional eight counts of fraud on Friday. Police said that they plan to arrest Nkosi when she attends an identity parade on Monday or Tuesday.