Correctional Services commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale. (DCS)
The national commissioner of the department of correctional services, Makgothi Thobakgale, has appointed an investigation into claims that affluent prisoners are bribing their way into stays at private hospitals.
This is after the Mail & Guardian last week revealed whistleblower claims that politically connected corruption accused Thoshan Panday and sentenced murderer Rajivee Soni had unlawfully spent time in private hospitals.
According to the whistleblowers, Panday, who is on trial for separate charges of tax fraud and corruption in providing accommodation for members of the South African Police Service during the 2010 World Cup, has spent most of the time since he was arrested in private hospitals.
They also claimed that Soni, who is serving 23 years for orchestrating the murder of his former wife’s lover, bribed officials at the Pietermaritzburg New Prison to allow him to spend lengthy periods in private hospitals based on a false diagnosis supplied by a cardiologist friend.
In a statement on Monday morning, department of correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Thobakgale had taken “decisive action” in response to the allegations of preferential treatment of affluent inmates and Panday in particular.
Nxumalo said a deputy commissioner had been appointed to conduct a “thorough investigation” into the validity of the accusations.
It will focus on “determining whether any inmates have received privileges or treatment inconsistent with [department] policies and standards” at the Westville Correctional Centre.
“The department of correctional services is committed to upholding fairness and equality in the treatment of all incarcerated individuals, regardless of their financial or social standing,” Nxumalo said.
“Beyond this specific investigation, the appointed investigator will study the standard operating procedures within the facility in order to ensure that they align with the principles of integrity, impartiality, and fairness that are fundamental to the correctional system.”
He said operational practices must be consistently applied across all 243 correctional facilities in the country and that the department “remains steadfast in its mission to administer corrections with accountability and transparency”