Prison breakouts in WC: time has come for heads to roll, say unions

UNIONS have called for heads to roll at the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) in the province, after it emerged that nearly 100 prisoners had escaped from its facilities in the last five years.

DCS said 97 offenders escaped from correctional centres within the province in five years, all of whom have been successfully rearrested.

This total excludes the three convicts who escaped on April 13. While two were rearrested, one man is still at large.

According to DCS spokesperson Candice van Reenen the escapes occurred at 14 centres across the region, with Pollsmoor Management area recording the highest number and Malmesbury on the West Coast accounting for the most offenders escaping due to a mass escape.

Of the 97 escapees, 68 were among inmates who escaped from the Malmesbury Medium B centre (Remand Detention Facility) in 2020 and in February last year, two prisoners escaped from Malmesbury Medium A Facility.

“The Malmesbury mass escape is also the only escape where members of DCS (officials) were injured during the escape. Some of their injuries included lacerations and fractures. “In the period under review, 43 officials received sanctions relating to misconduct associated with the escapes, none of whom were dismissed as their actions did not warrant dismissal,” said Van Reenen.

She said investigations had revealed that there had been no definitive trend for escapes, as the modus operandi including evading officials at court; during internal transit or preparation for transit; during team work exercises, such as gardening work on the terrain and directly from centres, such as breaching fences.

Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) provincial spokesperson Patrick Raolane said: “The lives of our members and that of the community nearby our prisons matter. Our fear is for witnesses in cases still going on trial; the majority of escapees are awaiting trial prisoners. How do you explain 20 members guarding 451 inmates? People must trust us when a person is arrested and sent back behind bars. There must be no chance for them to escape. Heads must roll for this.”

Raolane said challenges in Malmesbury prison included lack of resources, ailing infrastructure, overcrowding, under-staffing and corruption.

However the South African Sentenced & Awaiting Trial Prisoners Organisation (Sasapo) said the Malmesbury issue was not as a result of a lack of security measures but corrupt officials who received sanction and did not get dismissed.

“DCS has been rotten since inception and people have held top positions for a long time with not much change. Malmesbury is an example of the corruption taking place in prisons where officials are aiding escapes and smuggling illegal substances in exchange for large amounts of money. The prison has been beefed up with security numerous times but the escapes still occur.”