Political parties on Thursday demanded to know how four prisoners, who were handcuffed and locked in leg irons, managed to free themselves and make a second bid for freedom in less than a year.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) are demanding an investigation into the escape bid of the four men in KwaZulu-Natal last week.
It has emerged that the four were part of a gang of 10 that made headlines in August last year when video footage showed the men in orange prison overalls walking through the Kokstad prison’s electronically operated doors and gates, and even exchanging greetings with a warder.
Police spokesperson Muzi Mngomezulu confirmed the escape bid by the four and said two cases of escaping from custody and two of attempting to escape from custody had been opened.
He said the men appeared in the Empangeni Regional Court on Thursday last week and were loaded — wearing leg-irons — into a van.
When the van arrived at the prison entrance the four, who had managed to unlock their leg irons, made a break for freedom.
”When they came out, the leg irons were off,” he said.
Two were immediately arrested while another two fled. Police were called in and the two men were shot and wounded.
Mngomezulu confirmed that the four men were among those who escaped last year.
The four have been identified as Mzwenhlanhla Sikhosana, Phiwanhlanhla Mbatha, Mkhosi Mdluli and Thabani Sibiya.
Mdluli sustained a gunshot wound to his hand while Sibiya was shot in the foot.
‘Absolutely outrageous’
DA crime spokesperson Diane Kohler-Barnard said: ”This is absolutely outrageous. One starts to wonder whether David Copperfield has been giving them lessons. South African citizens are being put at risk when the keys are simply handed over at will.”
She called for an investigation into the matter and said an ”independent body”, similar to the Independent Complaints Directorate, needed to be established to investigate such cases within the Department of Correctional Services.
The Zululand Observer reported that the four had travelled from Kokstad’s maximum security prison with two other prisoners. All six were originally part of the group of ten who made headlines last August.
They were reportedly appearing in court for their previous escape, but the case was postponed until July 11.
The newspaper reported that the men were being guarded by a highly trained emergency support team who were the only guards allowed to handle these prisoners.
Sybil Seaton, the IFP’s spokesperson on correctional services, said: ”This then begs the question: why are these dangerous prisoners still not being kept in a C-Max prison as we were promised last year and how did these dangerous prisoners manage to allegedly find keys to unlock their handcuffs?
”The IFP would also like to know from [Correctional Services] Minister [Ngconde] Balfour how far the investigation has progressed into the August 2007 escape and if anyone has been found guilty of corruption as yet? The IFP calls for a full probe to be launched and the guilty parties should face lengthy prison sentences.” – Sapa