By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
National commissioner for correctional services Makgothi Samuel Thobakgale has appointed a temporary manager at the Mangaung Correctional Centre after the “embarrassing” Thabo Bester debacle.
During a briefing at Grootvlei Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein on Thursday morning, Thobakgale said an investigation into the “embarrassing incident” found that the director of the prison had “lost effective control of the facility”.
Thobakgale appointed Patrick Ali Mashabathakga as temporary manager of the prison, saying he would take over the functions of the director with immediate effect.
He said an additional three staff members – the director of contract management based at the department’s head office and the controller and deputy controller at the prison – were served with suspension notices.
A departmental investigation unit was investigating their conduct, Thobakgale added.
Thobakgale said the department was also taking legal advice on its contract with private security company G4S. He said while the department had decided not to renew the contract several months ago, it was “exploring other remedies available”.
During the briefing, Thobakgale hinted at tensions between the department and G4S, which managed the prison. He claimed the company had not been forthcoming during the investigation into Bester’s escape and had yet to “concede” that an escape had taken place, instead insisting that Bester had died in his cell.
Thobakgale said the investigation had found that a vehicle, without the required gate pass, had been allowed into the facility. It was presumed that this vehicle was carrying the body that was later found burnt beyond recognition in Bester’s cell. He said this indicated that the prison’s security system had been compromised “beyond any reasonable doubt”.
“We have set up a track and tracing team that is working very hard to look for Thabo Bester and we continue to appeal to those who have information or leads to come forward,” Thobakgale said. “We remain confident that we shall arrest the fugitive and bring him to justice.”
This is not the first time that G4S has had control of the facility taken away. In 2013, DCS placed MCC under administration after the prison encountered weeks of unrest during which a guard was taken hostage by prisoners who were protesting abusive treatment by officials.
G4S Global, based in London, owns a large part of G4S Correction Services (Bloemfontein), which manages MCC, among a number of other G4S subsidiaries in South Africa. In 2021, G4S Global was bought by Allied Universal, a US-based security services company.
According to a report by DCS to Parliament on 13 October 2022:
• The number of escapes in South African prisons decreased from 117 in the 2020/21 financial year to 22 in the 2021/22 financial year, the lowest recorded in 27 years.
• As at 31 March 2022, the inmate population was made up of 96,079 sentenced offenders, 47,020 remand detainees, 123 state patients and 1 mental health care user.