Pollsmoor prison security breaches: Commissioner outlines inmate escape incidents

National Commissioner of Correctional Services Makghoti Thobakgale said security and administrative controls were being tightened up after three inmates escaped from Pollsmoor prison.

Remand inmate John Mpelo was able to slip out of custody due to failures in verifying warrants. 

His escape was followed by Inganathi “Thembalethu” Daba who used another inmate's identity to walk free. 

Meanwhile Jordan Adams took advantage of the department’s outdated record management to assume a false identity and was shown the door. 

All three were re-arrested.

In a media briefing on Monday at the prison, Thobakgale said: “In recent months, Pollsmoor has experienced a series of serious security breaches that exposed weaknesses in the management of warrants, court appearances, and inmate identification processes.

“These incidents cannot be taken lightly, as they have the potential to undermine public confidence in the correctional system and compromise the broader criminal justice value chain.”

As one of South Africa’s big five correctional facilities, which has earned an infamous reputation, Thobakgale said things will have to change immediately to institute corrective measures, restore stability, and strengthen management practices at the facility. 

DA MP Nicholas Gotsell said the party welcomed the intervention, but questioned whether this was too little, too late.

Gotsell said: “Just weeks ago, a woman only discovered her husband had died nearly a week after the fact when she first visited Pollsmoor. She was turned away, and only on her return the next day was she finally told he had died. They did not know upon her first visit that her husband was hospitalised the previous week or that he was dead.”

He added that the saga of three convicted rapists and murderers, namely Xolani du Preez, Mikyle Mentoor and Me-Kayle Timmie who were “lost” because of correctional services not tracking and categorising inmates properly exacerbates the fact that there is no communal system between DCS, SAPS and the Department of Justice.

Gotsell said: "These are not glitches; they are systemic failures. The only solution is an integrated criminal justice system that uses ID numbers and biometrics across the board, ensuring we know exactly who enters and exits our prisons.”

Cape Times