Paul Kirk
Larger-than-life prison boss Russel Ngubo is again in hot water this time after trying to free prisoners so he could play soccer with them.
On Saturday morning Ngubo arrived at the gates of the Pietermaritzburg New prison and announced that prisoners were to be let out to play soccer on a nearby field.
He told prison guards they need not worry as none of the prisoners including hardened murderers and rapists would run away from him.
The scarred and sinewy prison boss, who was once KwaZulu-Natal warlord Sifiso Nkabinde’s right-hand man, is among the most feared men in the province.
So terrible is his reputation that, on hearing Ngubo was outside, the prison director promptly called out the army and police, locked the gates to the prison and then barricaded himself and his staff inside.
VJ Ndlovu, the head of the prison, was not available for comment, but sources within the prison said they felt Ndlovu was “perfectly justified” in calling out the army to deal with Ngubo, who is deputy director of correctional services in charge of human resources in KwaZulu-Natal.
Correctional services area manager Dumisani Makhaye confirmed that the department has laid criminal charges against Ngubo for obstructing justice.
Makhaye said after about three hours Ngubo gave up the idea of his soccer match and went home without any playmates. He confirmed that Ngubo had no right to take prisoners out of the prison compound and said he felt Ndlovu had not overreacted by barricading himself inside.
“After all, Ngubo had at least another two of his friends with him. The problem is that Mr Ngubo seems to do exactly as he wishes. He comes to work when he pleases and does what he feels like,” said Makhaye.
“The department is now doing something about the state of affairs. We have started an internal investigation, but the problem is that normally, in matters relating to Mr Ngubo, people would generally rather not talk.”
While Ngubo was outside the gates of the prison, the heavily armed warders inside were apparently reluctant to venture outside to transport prisoners to court. As a result, no prisoners appeared in court on Saturday.
Makhaye laid charges against Ngubo more than a month ago after being brutally assaulted. Makhaye and other prison officials have alleged that an enraged Ngubo beat Makhaye about the face when his leave forms were not filled in timeously by Makhaye his superior.
Makhaye said this week he had not yet heard anything from the police about his assault case, but was aware that investigators had recently taken statements from some of his colleagues relating to the incident.
A week after the alleged assault on Makhaye, Ngubo was a suspect in the murder of a 15-year-old hospital patient in an alleged botched attempt to murder a witness. The patient in the bed next to the child allegedly had information about Ngubo’s involvement in armed robberies around the Pieter-
maritzburg area. He has been placed in the witness protection programme.
The elite Scorpions investigating unit is probing Ngubo’s involvement in more than 30 murders. So far he has never been successfully prosecuted for any of his alleged crimes. Witnesses against him have died and disappeared.
Ngubo has been a victim of political violence. His wife was murdered by a suspected Inkatha Freedom Party hit squad and his child was paralysed after being shot in the back.
Makhaye said Ngubo’s life would make an excellent Hollywood movie but may simply seem too far-fetched, and too violent, to be believable or marketable.
Ngubo says it is not true that he disrupted the Pietermaritzburg New prison. He admitted taking prisoners out to play soccer two weeks ago, but denied that he had tried to do the same on Saturday.
He claimed that prisoners were being deprived of their constitutional right to exercise and were being caged like animals in crowded cells. He also claimed that the allegations against him were the work of a smear campaign being orchestrated by Chris MacAdam, the provincial head of the Scorpions, the media and former IFP strongman Phillip Powell. Powell is currently living and studying in the United Kingdom.