Have enterprising prison officials have set up business in the used car game, using taxpayer financed resources?
Where do you look when you need a car thief in a rush? In prison, of course. And where do you take a stolen car for a tidy-up and change of image? To a panel beater, naturally. Lawyers working on the Jali Commission of Enquiry into corruption, violence and maladministration in the Department of Correctional Services are investigating allegations that enterprising prison officials have set up business in the used car game, using the resources that South African taxpayers have set at their disposal.
A few years ago the Department of Correctional Services in KwaZulu-Natal decided that an ex-con with a trade was less likely to re-offend upon release than one without a trade, so they established a panel-beating workshop in Westville prison. There, prisoners could repair vehicles for selected clients, earn a bit of pocket money and become employable.
Then things apparently started to go wrong. “We’ve been told that prisoners have been giving ‘shopping lists’ of desirable vehicles and then let out for the night by corrupt officials,” says chief investigator for the commission Jerome Brauns SC. “They return with stolen cars, and the chassis and engine numbers are doctored in the prison workshop while the cars are given a respray prior to resale. These are just some of the allegations we’ve had, but hard evidence is difficult to come by. We’ve been given the names of some of those allegedly involved, but they, of course, deny all knowledge. Intimidation is very high in these circles and people will talk to us in confidence, but are afraid to speak on the record. Of course, it all makes sense — those people best qualified to do the job are already housed in Westville prison.”
After writing this, I uncovered a cunning plan on the part of the South African Police Services, aimed at bringing prison syndicates to an end. What do you do? Keep the buggers out of jail! When some enterprising souls jacked up the A Class Mercedes- Benz I have on test and liberated one alloy wheel before the alarm went off, they left a beautiful set of oily fingerprints on the white bodywork and a jack underneath the car that I hoped would prove fruitful ground for investigators. But it was not to be — nobody wanted to even lift the prints. “Even if prints are taken, the chances of anybody checking them are a million to one,” said the helpful inspector at my local police station. “Unless there are about five dead bodies of important people lying around, nobody has the time. Law and order in this country is up to shit.”
Of course, this method of crime-fighting has an added benefit. After a while, nobody bothers reporting offences and the official statistics start looking good.