Seventeen prisoners escaped from police cells in KwaMhlanga and Dennilton in Mpumalanga, police said on Thursday.
In Dennilton, nine men cut their way out of their cell in the early hours of Wednesday, spokesperson Superintendent Malcolm Mokomene said in a statement.
They cut their way into the ceiling, sawed through cell bars and gained access to the roof.
Thirteen others remained in the cell. Two of the nine were illegal immigrants.
On Wednesday night in KwaMhlanga, eight out of 24 awaiting-trial prisoners escaped from a holding cell.
The men escaped through the roof, where police found a pair of pliers.
They had been arrested for crimes ranging from rape to armed robbery and housebreaking.
Mokomene warned the public not to try to apprehend the men but to contact the nearest police station or Crime Stop on 08600 10100. — Sapa