Whilst the Department of Correctional Services is bound by the White Paper on Corrections in South Africa to operate all correctional centres, it has adopted a lackadaisical hands-off attitude towards the two private prisons, only getting involved during crisis time, writes Simphiwe Xako
The extraordinary movie-style prison break of the “Facebook rapist”, Thabo Bester, has shone the light on loopholes and corruption within the department of correctional services (DCS), which enable multitudes of convicted and awaiting trial prisoners to escape from jail.
This is how authorities last week described Toney Kamhuka, a fugitive from justice, who escaped from Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, in Soweto, after 9pm on October 20.