15 warders on duty during riot
Officials slam staff shortage
ONLY 15 prison warders were on duty at St Albans Correctional Centre to guard 674 inmates on the day three convicts were killed in a riot.
Had there been sufficient security personnel on duty at the Port Elizabeth prison on Monday, the loss of those lives might have been avoided.
The Saturday Dispatch spoke to two correctional services officials at the maximum security facility about the mayhem that erupted there.
According to the two, with only 15 warders on duty, it meant one warder armed with a baton had to control 45 hardened criminals.
The two officials claimed there was no closed-circuit television footage available to assist investigators as cameras installed at St Albans prison, and at other prisons, were not working. This despite hundreds of millions of rands being pumped into the Department of Correctional Services to upgrade security at prisons across the country.
Department provincial commissioner Nkosinathi Breakfast confirmed there were only 15 warders on duty at St Albans at the time of the riot. “We can confirm that we had 15 members on duty at the time, guarding 674 inmates. But only one or two cells are opened at a time, which is a controllable situation,” he said.
“We are reviewing the shift pattern of our members, but there are issues with the unions we are dealing with first.”
He confirmed that none of the cameras in prisons was working.
“Cameras are not working at all, including those in passages in our prisons, including at St Albans,” said Breakfast.
Earlier this year, the Dispatch exposed how millions of rands meant to be used to upgrade security at Eastern Cape prisons went to waste.
Poor security led to a number of escapes, and the deaths of inmates and one warder in 2009. The inmates were shot by police, while the warder was killed by escapees in Barkly East.
Prison insiders said Monday’s riot at St Albans could have been prevented. “There were only 15 of us inside the prison at the time, to look after 674 inmates. That’s a maximum security centre, where there should be tight security, but it is not happening,” said one official, who asked not to be named as he is not allowed to speak to the media.
“The cameras that are there are the waste of money; they are not working and they will not assist the current investigation, to know who started the fight and how long it lasted.”
On Monday, three prisoners were killed when a gang of prisoners allegedly tried to take control of St Albans prison.
The prison was under lockdown during the fight, in which 19 people, including five warders, were injured.
It is alleged that a group of prisoners forced their way into the administration block while others were attacking warders at the food hall.
The prison’s emergency response team responded but could not immediately control the angry inmates.
Another Dispatch source said the attack was well planned.
“If we had had the latest technology and cameras we could have seen, and been able to monitor, suspicious meetings and the movements of these inmates.
“Also the current shift system we have here is not assisting security, as many of the inmates know when there’s going to be [a small number of] staff [on duty].”
The current shift system allows warders to work 12-hour shifts for three days in a row, and take two days off.
The source said staff shortages were exacerbated by warders “constantly taking sick leave. Or at times some are accompanying inmates to courts”.
No visits were allowed at St Albans this week.
South African Correctional Services Workers Union president Toney Plaatjies said the warders who were injured should be rewarded. “We need to reward these warders who risked their lives to protect the prison from being run by inmates.
“The department must make sure that they stop the shift system ... [it’s] putting the lives of the members at risk.” — bonganif@dispatch.