Correctional Services South Africa

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Shaik, back behind bars, cuts a sad figure

February 16 2007
Dressed in an orange prison uniform, convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik cut a sad figure as he was escorted out of St Augustine's Hospital to continue serving his sentence behind bars.

But instead of going back to serve the rest of his 15-year term in the far-flung Qalakabusha jail, Shaik will remain close to his family.

“We have chosen Durban Westville Correctional Centre because of its proximity to St Augustine hospital where Shaik was admitted and treated by his private doctors which is also close to his doctors and family,” Correctional Services minister Ngconde Balfour said on Thursday.

Shaik will reportedly be placed in a general ward in the prison's hospital section.

Balfour said: “I wish to reassure all South Africans that no offender will be treated preferentially, but in terms of the provisions of the Correctional Services Act and our regulations which ensure access to private medical treatment at an offender's own expense.”

The head of parliament's correctional services portfolio committee Dennis Bloem said he could only comment on the matter once he had examined the medical reports related to Shaik's case.

Shaik has been in hospital for close to 100 days and has reportedly rung up a bill of more than R600 000 during his stay.

Last week Correctional Services minister Ngconde Balfour sent a specialist to conduct a medical examination on Shaik to determine if he was really ill or if he was faking an illness to remain in the private hospital.

This was after he reviewed the reports submitted by two private medical practitioners who diagnosed Shaik and that of a third doctor who was sent by the department.

A nurse at St Augustine's hospital, who spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity, said a convoy of correctional services officers accompanied Shaik as they drove off with him just before 4pm.

“He was wearing an orange uniform and he was surrounded by family members, correctional services officers and hospital security as he was led out the hospital,” she said.

“He was not assisted in any way and slowly walked out the hospital to the prison cars waiting to accompany him.”

The nurse also said that Shaik left the hospital through the doctor's car park where a prison vehicle was waiting for him.

“He caused quite a spectacle as he was leaving and patients were stopping to see what was going on and before he jumped into the van he shook hands with all his family members,” she said.

She said even though hospital personnel were initially angry that he had been kept at the hospital for so long, they were all sad to see him go.

It is believed that Shaik was visited by correctional services officials on Wednesday, presumably to inform him that he was going to be moved back to a prison facility.

Discovery Health has also started investigations into the validity of Shaik's medical aid claims. Recent media reports stated that the medical aid had not declined any of the claims as yet.

This will only be decided pending the outcome of the investigation. The investigation is being independently conducted.

Shortly after the announcement Shaik's brother, Mo, told the SABC that his brother's blood pressure was very high and that he was concerned about his health.

Mo Shaik said on Thursday that his brother's transfer to the prison had been done in consultation with the Shaik family and that they had been “forewarned”.

“Our doctors were of course not happy on the matter”.

He said there was no opposition to the minister's decision and “we all thought we would need a co-operative agreement”.

Mo said that doctors from Discovery Health and prison doctors had confirmed the findings of the family doctors that Shaik suffers from persistent high blood pressure that may be genetic and is drug resistant.

While in hospital Shaik was reportedly treated for high blood pressure and a mild stroke.

An angiogram was also conducted to check for blocked arteries and a maxillo-facial surgery is said to have been done to remove abscesses from his gums.

Shaik was convicted of fraud and corruption by Judge Hilary Squires in July 2005. In November last year the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld judgement and Shaik was sent to prison on November 9. He was then transferred to Qalakabusha Prison in Empangeni where he spent a few days before being rushed to the Durban hospital.

Meanwhile, Shaik's woes continue as the Transport Department is expected to make an announcement on its agreement with one of his subsidiaries, Prodiba, which was contracted to make credit card drivers licences for government since 1989.

In the first phase of the deal Prodiba was paid R260-million, but the Public Finance Management Act forbids government departments from doing business with convicted criminals.

DA wants Yengeni's parole conditions made public

February 16, 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is to formally request Ngconde Balfour, the correctional services minister, to make Tony Yengeni, the former ANC Chief Whip's file and parole conditions available to the public.

Yengeni was released from Malmesbury Prison last month after serving only 20 weeks of his four-year sentence. James Selfe, the DA spokesperson on correctional services, says Yengeni has only reported once to the Educare Centre where he is supposed to do community service. Selfe says if the minister refuses to release the file, he will consider using the Promotion of Access to Information Act to compel the department to comply with the DA's request.

Yengeni was convicted of fraud in 2004 after serving four months of his four-year sentence. His prison stint was marked by allegations that he received preferential treatment.

Extra watch on Boeremag men

15/02/2007
Increased security measures have been taken at C-Max Prison to prevent the Boeremag treason trial accused from escaping, the Pretoria High Court was told on Thursday.

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour earlier this week applied for two previous court orders - dealing with the incarceration and consultation arrangements of 12 of the 22 Boeremag accused - to be set aside.

The correctional services department expressed concern that the objectives of a document found in possession of re-captured Boeremag escapees Rudi Gouws and Herman van Rooyen would be carried out if the two were held with the others in the same section at C-Max.

The document - which may not be published - apparently contained a detailed escape plan.

Three of the treason trialists already have been moved out of the "Boeremag section" of the jail at their own request.

Checkmate situation

Judge Eben Jordaan said he was not prepared to hear the application at this stage, after objections that he could be "contaminated" by information in the "secret" document, which has not been admitted yet as evidence in the criminal trial.

He referred the application to Judge Hans Fabricius, who refused to make an order and referred the matter back to Judge Jordaan.

Counsel for the minister, Jaco Roux, said this left the department in an unenviable checkmate situation, because there was no ruling to appeal and Judge Jordaan did not want to hear the application - or even read through it - at this stage.

Correctional services had no choice other than to shelve the application, until the document on which it wanted to rely was before the court.

This situation also worried the department, which could not choose when and if the State decided to use the document.

Wearing leg-irons in court

Roux said extra security measures had been put in place, meanwhile, but this was only a short-term solution, as they placed enormous strain on correctional services.

Gouws and Van Rooyen - both farmers in the Bela-Bela district - have appeared in court in leg-irons since their escape from the cells at Pretoria High Court during a lunch break in May last year.

They escaped despite the presence of numerous armed members of the National Intervention Unit.

Correctional Services defends parole system

15 February 2007 11:44
The Department of Correctional Services has taken out a R27 500 newspaper advert in which it defends itself against claims that it has given certain prisoners preferential treatment.

"Do not shout from the sidelines, submit evidence of wrongdoing to the minister, the inspecting judge and the Parole Review Board for corrective action," the advert states.

The department has faced criticism recently over its handling of the incarceration of fraud convicts Tony Yengeni and Schabir Shaik.

They are not mentioned by name in the more than quarter-page advertisement carried on page 11 of the Star newspaper on Thursday.

"Recent allegations of preferential treatment of some offenders are probably due to being uninformed or motivated by other factors," the department notes in the advert headed "Correctional Supervision & Parole System".

“In 2006 alone, 4 696 people were sentenced to serve one sixth [of their sentences] in custody … 3 518 of these offenders were placed under correctional supervision without any big fanfare."

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour had repeatedly assured South Africans the department was committed to implementing court decisions "without fear or favour".

Explaining sentencing procedures, the department wrote that prisoners could receive anything from supervised community service, to brief custody before placement in communities under supervision, or jail terms.

They could also receive a "half a sentence" before those thought "deserving" were considered for release on parole.

The releases were decided by 52 independent correctional supervision and parole boards. Their decisions were based on case management committees's recommendations made after a mandatory portion of sentences had been served.

Those sentenced to community service or those placed on parole were conditionally released and monitored until their sentences expired.

"Objections to decisions ... can be lodged with the Parole Review Board that has at least three Supreme Court judges."

The department claimed in the advertisement that a "recent wave of reporting and commentary" had shown the department's challenges over public awareness and understanding of its core mandate and system.

On overcrowding it wrote that 33 prisoners a day were moved between prisons to address the problem, with 11 900 inmates shifted last year.

The department could not immediately be reached for comment. - Sapa

Boeremag duo not likely to escape again

February 14 2007

There was nothing to suggest that correctional services had any real fears that an escape plan allegedly hatched by former Boeremag escapees Herman van Rooyen and Rudi Gouws would actually be carried out if they were held in the same section of the C-Max prison, a High Court Judge said on Wednesday.

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour this week launched an urgent application to set aside two previous court rulings about the joint incarceration of 12 of the 22 Boeremag accused in the same section of C-Max, as well as their rights to consult with each other and their legal representatives.

Three of the accused have already been moved to another section voluntarily, but Van Rooyen and Gouws turned to trial Judge Eben Jordaan for help after they were kept in chains in separate cells in a different section following their re-arrest.

They still appeared in court in leg irons, but rejoined the other accused in the closed "Boeremag section" at C-Max on Sunday after Jordaan last week said that his order about where they should be held remained valid.

Correctional Services claimed a document found in possession of Van Rooyen and Gouws during their latest arrest contained information of such a nature that there was a very real possibility that the objectives of the document would be executed if all of the accused were kept together and allowed to "roam free" in that section of the jail.

The court earlier heard that the document - which remains secret - contained new coup plans to overthrow the ANC government, as well as a detailed escape plan, sketch plans and a description of the "weak points" of Correctional Services.

The prosecution objected to the application being heard by trial Jordaan, as the document had not yet been placed before the court and might "contaminate" the judge, but Judge Hans Fabricius said many documents, which were eventually disregarded, served before courts every day.

He said he could not at this stage find that Correctional Services' fears were real and was of the opinion that he would violate the accused's rights if he set aside previous court orders.

He refused to make an order and referred the matter back to Judge Jordaan for adjudication. - Sapa

Report on Mathe's escape delayed

January 30 2007
Curious South Africans wanting to know how one of the country's most dangerous criminals managed to escape from the security tight C-Max prison will have to wait at least another month.

This comes after the postponement of a briefing by Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour to parliament's portfolio committee on correctional services about Annanais Mathe's escape. The briefing was set for the end of this month but has now been postponed to February 20th to allow investigators to compile their report.

The report according to correctional services portfolio committee chairperson Dennis Bloem, is also expected to shed light on the alleged involvement of eight correctional services officials in aiding Mathe's escape.

The first prisoner to escape from C-Max in its 36-year history
The eight were suspended shortly after Mathe was recaptured in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg towards the end of last year as he tried to flee in a stolen car.

Both the portfolio committee and the select committee on correctional services visited the C-Max last Thursday and according to Bloem, it was still a big mystery how Mathe found his way out of the prison.

Bloem said Balfour's appearance before the committee was postponed after the committee felt it would be pointless for him to come without the report. Mathe, who faces numerous counts of armed robbery, theft and rape, became the first prisoner to escape from C-Max in its 36-year history.

This was one of the reasons the public dismissed the initial explanations that Mathe had smeared himself with vaseline for him to slip through the prison windows.

His escape prompted a massive manhunt as authorities feared he might flee to his country of origin, Mozambique. The police were also concerned at his ability to play hide and seek with the law after it took police about nine months to recapture him after his first escape from prison in 2005.

Balfour's spokesperson Luphumzo Kebeni said Balfour was assured that the compilation of the report would be complete before his scheduled appearance before the committee next month.

Parliament to do own inspection on Mathe escape

January 23, 2007

The Parliamentary committee on correctional services will do its own inspection on the escape route of Ananias Mathe, dubbed South Africa's most dangerous criminal and escapee, from C-Max Prison in Pretoria.

The inspection comes ahead of a scheduled briefing to Parliament next week by Ngconde Balfour, the minister of correctional services.

Balfour is to give a detailed report on how Mathe escaped from what is supposed to be the most secured correctional services facility.

Dennis Bloem, the committee chairperson, said instead of just waiting for Balfour to come and deliver the report to Parliament, the committee intends to go and look out for the loopholes itself, so as to be on par with the report when Balfour briefs them.

The committee will also do a follow-up inspection on the death of two guards who were gunned down two years ago.

It will also have to decide whether it is necessary to summon the Malmesbury Prison Area Commissioner to come and explain whether it is true that Tony Yengeni, a convicted fraudster, received preferential treatment before his release into correctional supervision.

The call to summon the commissioner was made by James Selfe, the Democratic Alliance committee member on correctional services.

This is not just an ordinary case

26/01/2007

Security was tight at Johannesburg magistrate's court where South Africa's "Houdini" Annanias Mathe made a brief appearance on Friday.

Nine policemen armed with R4 rifles escorted the limping Mathe inside the court.

His case was postponed to March 30 for further investigation. He faces at least 50 charges including murder, attempted murder, hijacking, rape and armed robbery.

The Mozambican is believed to be connected to a criminal syndicate operating between South Africa and Mozambique.

State prosecutor Vivian Hawkins requested that the case be postponed for further investigation.

She told Magistrate Canna Coetzee that as the accused had escaped, the case became more complex and bigger, as a result more cases were being investigated.

Coetzee granted the postponement and told Mathe to apply for legal aid.

Relaxed, smiling

An attorney who introduced himself as Moosa told the court that he had been approached by the Legal Aid Board to represent Mathe. Mathe accepted Moosa as his attorney.

In the dock, the shackled Mathe was in the company of a policeman who kept a close eye on him.

Mathe looked relaxed and even smiled when he spoke to the investigating officer Captain Arnold Boonstra before the proceedings began.

The case attracted a lot of attention as court staff, including some cleaners who were dressed in green uniforms, took time off and attended the proceedings at court 16.

Some staff were heard gloating to the their colleagues that a high profile case was in their courtroom.

"This is not just an ordinary case," one interpreter told his colleague.

Mathe made headlines in November last year when he escaped from the Pretoria C-Max prison, the country's most secure prison.

At the time, he was thought to have stripped and covered his entire body with petroleum jelly to climb out of a window measuring 20cm x 60cm.

He was re-arrested in December.

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour will on Tuesday brief Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Correctional service and the National Council of Provinces Select Committee on Security and Constitutional affairs on an investigation into Mathe's escape, and recommendations for improving security.

Yengeni is (still) getting special treatment

January 26 2007

A storm is brewing in prisons over claims that Tony Yengeni continues to enjoy preferential treatment, even after his release under correctional supervision.

Warders say the convicted fraudster has been given "phase four" status for his correctional supervision instead of phase one or two status, which are usually prescribed for his type of offence.

A senior warder described Yengeni's placing as "out of the ordinary".

According to prison sources, the head of the Cape Town Community Corrections Centre (Commcor), deputy director M Ngalonkulu, also instructed officers at the centre that only he and a senior correctional officer assigned to Yengeni would be allowed to visit him as part of a monitoring process that checks whether former prisoners are honouring their restrictions.

Approached for comment, Ngalonkulu said: "I have no authority to speak to you."

When told about allegations about the instruction, he said: "Where did you hear that? That's news to me."

A third allegation is that after Yengeni's release from Malmesbury prison on January 16, warders from the Cape Town Commcor office were suddenly summoned to attend a meeting at Pollsmoor prison in Tokai the next day.

Sources allege that while the Commcor officials were away, Yengeni arrived at the Cape Town offices to report to Ngalonkulu and another senior correctional services officer whose identity is known to the Cape Argus. Ngalonkulu also denied this.

The Cape Argus contacted Luphumzo Kebeni, spokesperson for Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour, to ask him about the allegations, but he ended the call abruptly.

A phase four convict out on parole or correctional supervision would have fewer restrictions on his or her movements compared to those on phase one, two and three.

More than a week after his release, Yengeni, who is known to have visited the Cape Town Commcor office on Monday and Wednesday to see Ngalonkulu, has not yet been assigned a venue at which to perform his 16 hours of monthly community service.

Prison clerk held over stolen car parts

A Pollsmoor prison clerk was arrested on charges of dealing in stolen car parts and running an illegal business from government premises, the Correctional Services Ministry said on Tuesday.

Ministry spokesman Luphumzo Kebeni said the man was arrested with another suspect who is not a Correctional Services employee but was allegedly illegally staying with him at the clerk’s departmental residence in Pollsmoor in Cape Town.

“The second suspect is an ex-offender who has previous criminal convictions. The arrested official was subletting his departmental residential unit to the second suspect.”

Kebeni said the clerk was due to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court.

Minister Ngconde Balfour said the security vetting of all staff by the National Intelligence Agency would be speeded up.

He said the department’s residential policy would be overhauled, with staff given three years in department residences after which they would have to find their own accommodation.

An audit is to be carried out to find those illegally occupying department premises, illegally running businesses from them or subletting.

Those involved in illegal activities could face dismissal, said Balfour.

C-Max Houdini to appear in court

January 16 2007 at 07:26AM

Annanias Mathe, who escaped from the high-security C-Max Prison in Pretoria last year, will appear in the Pretoria magistrate's court on Tuesday, SABC news reported.

He is to face a charge relating to his escape in November.

Mathe, who has been described as the country's most notorious prisoner, is facing more than 50 other charges, including rape, robbery, attempted murder and hijacking.

He is believed to be connected to a criminal syndicate operating between South Africa and Mozambique.

Exactly how he escaped from C-Max has not been revealed by prison authorities.

Some reports said Mathe apparently broke two steel bars from his bed which he wedged on either side of the window to help him slide his shoulders through.

He apparently took another steel pipe from his bed and made a hook. He then tied his clothes and bed linen to it and used that to slide out of the cell down a firewall.

In December, Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour said several prison officials suspected of helping Mathe were on suspension pending an outcome of an investigation.

Death row inmates given second chance

Eight prisoners who have been behind bars for 20 years - some of whom spent time on death row in the 1980s - are going to be freed later in January.

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour confirmed on Thursday that the eight former death row and life sentence prisoners would be released on parole and correctional supervision placement as they have served the minimum of 20 years. However, he declined to release their names.

Three prisoners were from Thohoyandou in Limpopo, two from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, two from Witbank and Middelburg in Mpumalanga, and one from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal.

He did not have the information at hand as to how many of the eight had had their death sentences commuted to life in jail after the death penalty was abolished in the late 1980s.

Balfour said the prisoners were now undergoing a one-month pre-release programme aimed at orientating them to life outside. "This is a programme aimed at integrating them to real social life.

"Once on parole with their families, they would get the shock of their lives as the world has changed. Some have never seen nor touched cellphones."

"The pre-release program-me includes anger management, behaviour and discipline. These are very important for them as prison life might have hugely affected their lives and way of thinking.

"Officials are now orientating them to know they will be in a world where there will be no bells calling them to four o'clock suppers, no orange uniforms and other prison stuff."

Balfour urged communities not to vent their anger on prisoners who had been released on parole as they were undergoing a very important social integration process.

"They have gone through the justice programme, served their time in jail and now it's their second chance for them lead a full and normal life."

Balfour recently had to address a crowd at a Hermanus township who refused to let two parolees return home.

"I was very happy when the people and the parolees ex-pressed themselves publicly. We left the place happy at seeing both parties having forgiven each other.

"I understand the reasons to be angry towards parolees, hence I beg people to be calm and accept them again …

"Please give them a second chance," Balfour said.

Yengeni's VIP crowd

When Tony Yengeni drives away from Malmesbury Prison on Monday he will have pleasant memories of the many friends who visited him during his four months behind bars.

Yengeni is expected to leave the prison under correctional supervision on Monday.

It seems a rather large number of prison regulations were thrown overboard for the African National Congress's former chief whip.

Besides the visit by his wife, Lumka, on Christmas Day with a basket of goodies for him, Yengeni was also able to see luminaries such as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane.

Top-echelon visitors

Politicians who visited included Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, the Western Cape ministers of roads and public works Marius Fransman, and of social development Kholeka Mqulwana and ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha.

The acting inspecting judge of prisons, Judge Nathan Erasmus, and human rights advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza SC also called in at the jail.

Yengeni was sentenced to four years in prison for fraud, but, in terms of a presidential pardon in May 2005, he got 20 months off.

He was sentenced in terms of article 276 1(i) of the Criminal Procedure Act, which meant that, after serving a sixth of his remaining jail term, he could be considered for release under correctional supervision.

Welcome party planned

For various reasons, his time inside was reduced to just four months.

His jail term began with a triumphant march to Pollsmoor Prison on August 24 last year, accompanied by senior politicians.

Skwatsha says the ANC plans to welcome him when he is released and at his parents' Guguletu home.

But the visits Yengeni received in Malmesbury Prison are said to have flouted a number of prison rules.

Die Burger reported earlier that Yengeni, who was apparently regarded as a "political" prisoner by some correctional service officials, had 17 visitors - including his wife - on Christmas Day.

Despite protestations by the department of correctional services that Yengeni was not given preferential treatment, his family visits did not meet the department's specifications for his category of prisoner.

Other anomalies about his stay

According to the specifications for an A-category prisoner in a medium-security jail - like Yengeni - he should have received no more than two visitors at a time.

The department also claimed that its policy allowed Yengeni's wife to take food to him, as she apparently did on a regular basis.

But, in fact, the rules state that she could buy food for him only from the prison tuckshop.

Some other anomalies of his stay in prison were:
* her visits lasted up to three hours, instead of the specified maximum 45 minutes, five times a month;
* she was spared the embarrassment of being frisked, like all other visitors; and
* Yengeni was allowed out at 07:00 for a jog on the prison sports field, before other prisoners were up and about.

James Selfe of the Democratic Alliance said on Thursday he had sent questions to the minister of correctional services about the way prison rules apparently had been flouted.

"It is crystal clear that Yengeni was the ANC's favourite prison inmate," he said.

ANC MP and chairperson of the correctional services portfolio committee Dennis Bloem said earlier that any irregularities would be investigated.

Lukas Muntingh of the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative said that whether or not the allegations were true it was dangerous to create the perception that certain prisoners got special treatment.

"It not only affects the way the public sees the prison system, it also has the potential to create conflict inside our prisons.

Subject to conditions

"The department should do everything in its power to prevent such a perception from snowballing," he said.

Although Yengeni is due for release on Saturday, the parole board decided in October last year that he would be released on Monday, January 15.

Once he is out, Yengeni still will be subject to certain conditions imposed in terms of the correctional service laws, such as no abuse of alcohol nor long-distance travel without permission.

Release of former death row inmates outrageous

The proposed release of 62 former death row prison inmates is outrageous, Sybil Seaton, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) spokesperson, said today. It was earlier reported that eight prisoners who were formerly on death row will be freed this month.

The prisoners are part of a group of 62, who have served their mandatory 20 year prison term. They were given an alternative life term imprisonment after the death penalty was abolished in 1995.

Today Seaton said she was dismayed and concerned at the news. "This is absolutely outrageous. The IFP feels that it is petty criminals, especially juveniles, who should be considered for release not people who are in prison serving life sentences for serious crimes," she said.

This came shortly after Ngconde Balfour, the correctional services minister, announced last year he was considering early parole for 300 lifers in an attempt to curb overcrowding in prisons. "The 300 prisoners will hardly make a dent in the overcrowding crisis South Africa is currently facing," Seaton said.

"There's clearly a serious management problem here. As crime spirals out of control in our country, we need more prisons but the department of correctional services is failing in this important task. Last year, they neglected to use the allocated money that was given to them to build new prisons, which is totally unacceptable," Seaton said.

Seaton suggested that if Balfour and his colleagues "are so desperate to ease the overcrowding problem", they should start by knocking on the door of Brigitte Mabandla, the justice minister, who in the past three years had done nothing to review the cases of 384 IFP political prisoners who had applied for Presidential Pardons.

"If she could start on that any time soon, maybe minister Balfour might have a few more prisoners he can set free in 2007," Seaton said.

Shaik medical parole absurd

Calls for convicted Durban businessman Schabir Shaik to be released on medical grounds were labelled on Monday as "baseless, absurd, silly, nonsensical and somehow opportunistic".

The organisation that is against Shaik's release on these grounds is the South African Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights (Sapohr).

Sapohr president Golden Miles Bhudu comments come after reports that former Sapohr KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Derrick Mdluli would be approaching Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour "to discuss pardoning Shaik from his sentence because of his ill health".

The Daily News in Durban reported that Mdluli would be meeting with Shaik on Monday. Mdluli could not be reached for comment.

Mdluli made the statements in his capacity as KwaZulu-Natal chairperson of a little-known organisation, the Justice for Prisoners and Detainees Organisation for Human Rights.

Bhudu said he questioned the organisation's authenticity.

Bhudu said: "We were aware all along about his close relationship with Mr Schabir Shaik, long before his conviction and imprisonment."

Shaik was admitted to St Augustine's renal transplant unit on November 24 last year under the alias "Mr Jones".

Shaik has spent, effectively, only two days behind bars.

Shaik was reported to have had a mild stroke shortly after being admitted to St Augustine's Hospital in Durban.

The Sunday Tribune reported last weekend that Shaik had undergone facial surgery.

Mo Shaik, Schabir Shaik's brother, said: "We are aware that he (Mdluli) had applied to get permission (to visit Schabir Schaik)."

However, he was not prepared on Monday to comment on Mdluli's statements to the media.

"We want to keep our mouths shut," he said.

Correctional services spokesperson Luphumzo Kebeni said no organisation could approach the department for a medical parole.

He said Shaik or his family would have to approach the department directly and "not through a third party".

He also referred to the relevant section of the correctional services legislation which said that an inmate could be considered for medical parole only if a person is "in the final phase" of a terminal illness in order that that prisoner may die a "dignified death".

Showdown at Pretoria Central

Pandemonium looms at Pretoria Central Prison as inmates have threatened to burn it down in protest against the proposed relocation of prisoners.

In the letter, he gives in detail the action prisoners plan to take to thwart the shuffle (believed to begin today) of the medium A units and maximum security prisoners in G-Section (medium B).

A main group of offenders, working prisoners, have indicated they will bring a class action application to the Pretoria High Court on the following basis:
* The procedures of fair administrative justice were not followed;
* They work in the workshops or maintenance teams and live in single cell accommodation.
* The move means they have to be relocated to group cells, which cater for about 26 prisoners with “only one toilet that does not work, two showers and two basins”.
* They won’t get proper rest because of constant movement and noise in group cells.
* There is never warm water available in G-Section.
* As working inmates their visits will be compromised if they move to D-Section or G-Section because the intercom is not working.
* A-Section is not as secure as G-Section or D-Section. Medium category and working prisoners are going to be forced into maximum security units.
* It seems maximum prisoners will be receiving more consideration and benefits than the medium category and working offenders.

The working inmates said they would refuse to continue working under these conditions.

The maximum offenders are also not amused at the possibility of moving into a single-cell environment. They have simply threatened to incinerate the jail.

The Citizen visited the prison and spoke to two inmates, on condition of anonymity. They painted a chilling picture.

“Ngconde Balfour (Correctional Services Minister) usually refers to this place as a ‘centre of excellence’ but it is a centre of oppression,” said one inmate.

He said they were living in appalling conditions and given unsatisfactory food – half-cooked chicken and stale apples.

The other inmate said corruption was rife. “The guy now in charge of security here was involved in the disappearance of R90 000 but the incident was swept under the carpet,” he said. He alleged the money vanished from the prison’s tuck shop.

The two prisoners also said a certain black warder was racist toward whites. “There are many complaints about the woman (warder) but no action ever seems to be taken,” they said.

During the visit, four white visitors could be overheard complaining about the same warder. The two inmates said the problem was prison management, which, they said, was plagued by division and jostling for position.

When asked for comment, the Pretoria Central Prison director Bhuti Mchunu referred all our inquiries to the acting area commissioner Sibusiso Madlazi. According to Madlazi, if relocation were to take place, there would be “a valid reason for it”. But he declined to make further comments claiming The Citizen had conducted “unauthorised” interviews with the inmates.

Yengeni to be freed despite parole breach

Former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni did contravene his weekend parole conditions, but will still be allowed to go home on Monday, January 15.

Yengeni was reported to have been drinking during a weekend when he was allowed to go home to prepare for his imminent release. He also arrived back at prison late.

This was while he was serving time for defrauding Parliament in the multi-million-rand arms deal saga.

In November last year Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour announced an investigation into Yengeni’s conduct, saying the detainee’s visitation and telephone privileges would be suspended for two weeks.

Balfour described this as “remedial and interim measures” to allow a departmental investigation to take place.

Balfour’s office had said it “deplored the breach of parole conditions by any offender”, and would propose “a strong measure be introduced to assist authorities in their decision to sanction and correct the misconduct and violation of parole conditions”.

Political parties and the SA Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights condemned what they saw as preferential treatment for Yengeni.

At the time of his early release he will have served under five months

Clerk ran business from jail

A Pollsmoor Prison clerk was arrested on charges of dealing in stolen car parts and running an illegal business from government premises, said the correctional services ministry on Tuesday.

Ministry spokesperson Luphumzo Kebeni said the man was arrested with another suspect who is not a correctional services employee, but was allegedly staying illegally at the clerk's departmental residence in Pollsmoor near Cape Town.

"The second suspect is an ex-offender who has previous criminal convictions.

"The arrested official was subletting his departmental residential unit to the second suspect."

Kebeni said the clerk was due to appear in Wynberg magistrate's court.

Audit of departmental premises

Prisons Minister Ngconde Balfour said the security vetting of all staff by the national intelligence agency would be speeded up.

He said the department's residential policy would be overhauled, with staff given three years in departmental housing after which they would have to find their own accommodation.

An audit is to be carried out to find those illegally occupying department premises, illegally running businesses from them or subletting.

Those involved in illegal activities could face dismissal, said Balfour.

Roaring trade in jails

AN assortment of knives, dagga, television sets, DVD players and cash was confiscated from cells in various Eastern Cape prisons during a crackdown by Correctional Services officials.

The department said the prohibited items had been smuggled into cells by prison guards who were bribed by inmates.

Inmates at the Mdantsane prison were found in possession of pornographic material, television sets, DVD players and music systems.

Correctional services department spokesman Zukisa Nduneni said raids had been carried out in Grahamstown, Fort Beaufort, King William’s Town, Stutterheim, Ngcobo, Dordrecht and Lady Frere last Thursday and Friday.

The operation formed part of Operation Vala, a festive season security plan launched by Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour.

“The purpose of the operation is to ensure that security breaches by corrupt officials colluding with offenders are rooted out, especially during the festive season, which is usually a period with heightened prison-escape threats,” Nduneni said.

An official was found at Ngcobo prison who reported very late for work and was drunk.

Some inmates at Sada prison were found in possession of guards’ uniforms and shoes. The shoes were used for smuggling dagga and other drugs into cells. Clothing believed to be used by inmates to escape unnoticed was also found in cells at the prison.

“Unlawful relations between correctional officials and offenders are pursued for the personal benefits of both,” Nduneni said.

Officials found to be in contravention of departmental policies faced disciplinary hearings and dismissal, she said.

Litany of questions at end of a bad year for prisons

IT HAS not been a good year for SA’s prisons. The correctional services department and its minister, Ngconde Balfour, have lurched from crisis to crisis in what must be the most “annus horribilis” on record.

Remember Judge Thabani Jali and his commission of inquiry into corruption, and other criminal activities, in the prisons service? In the more than three years of his inquiry he went from prison to prison taking evidence and compiled a report thousands of pages long. Small wonder the good judge left the bench for the private sector. Few things could have been more depressing than investigating our prisons.

The litany of abuses takes thousands of pages to record. They range from massive fraud in the medical aid claims department to the smuggling of firearms and drugs. Not to mention the trading of youthful members of the prison community as sex objects, and warders assisting inmates to escape.

One of the biggest problems found was that almost the entire senior structure of the department was in the pocket of the Police and Civil Rights Union (Popcru). Jali recorded that Popcru planned who would get which jobs from within the department and recommended that steps be taken to put distance between senior staff and the union — such as establishing a separate bargaining council.

When the department reported to Parliament on progress made with Jali’s recommendations, it made available a summary of Jali’s executive summary. Curious that. The 180-page report of Jali became 60 pages from the department. Jali immediately complained that some key recommendations had been omitted. Sustained public pressure led to the department making the entire report available on its website. After all, public money funded the probe into a vital cog of the criminal justice system, which is designed to keep the public safe.

Did the department think that the MPs were idiots and could not read 180 pages, or was there another motive?

In recent months there have also been suggestions that high-profile prisoners with African National Congress (ANC) connections get preferential treatment in prison. Despite Balfour’s vigorous assertions that there is only one rule for prisoners, it remains a fact that both Tony Yengeni and Schabir Shaik followed in the footsteps of Allan Boesak and were transferred to apparently safer prisons on the day they reported to prison.

Now the minister is studying a report from the area commissioner and the parole board on whether or not Yengeni broke his parole conditions during a weekend pass. He has had it for almost a week. There were press pictures of Yengeni drinking — a violation — and press reports that he left his home after he was supposed to have been back at Malmesbury prison, apparently another. What’s to study?

Then, of course, there have been the serious allegations that a company with ANC connections virtually wrote the tender specifications for an IT contract worth R237m. How nice if we could all write the tender specifications for top government contracts, because we could exclude the competition.

Sondolo IT won the tender. Beeld and Die Burger reported that Titus Mafolo, President Mbeki’s political adviser; Ronnie Mamoepa, spokesman for the foreign affairs department; Gavin Watson, CEO of Bosasa, who reportedly is also a longstanding acquaintance of correctional services commissioner Linda Mti; and Seth Phalatse, the former chairman of the Strategic Fuel Fund, are connected to Sondolo IT. To my knowledge there has been no response to these allegations despite calls for a formal investigation.

Then consider the incident that has caused serious red faces at prisons. Ananias Mathe, a seriously bad guy facing multiple murder, rape and burglary charges, managed to escape from Pretoria’s C-Max prison. Not only is the prison deemed to be country’s most secure, but Mathe was housed in the special section reserved for those prisoners deemed to be escape risks. He could not have done it on his own. He has been recaptured, but how did he escape in the first place?

How does Balfour and the department respond? By spending more than R650000 of our money to take a double-page spread in the Sunday Times to say what a good job is being done and what improvements have occurred under Mti. If the message had been what was being done about, among other things, Yengeni, the Sondolo tender, and Mathe, the media would have published it for free. I know the media stand accused of never telling the good news stories, but this is ridiculous.

South Africa's most-wanted caught

South Africa's most-wanted criminal has been captured two weeks after escaping from a top security jail near Pretoria.

Ananias Mathe, 29, from Mozambique, was detained last December on more than 50 charges, including murder and rape.

He stabbed a security guard in the eye with a screwdriver after being cornered in a house. He was then shot three times in the leg and captured.

Police describe him as "the ultimate criminal" and launched a huge manhunt for him when he escaped.

At one point during the hunt, the police shot and wounded a clergyman by mistake after a member of the public identified him as the escaped prisoner.

National police spokeswoman Sally de Beer said Ananias Mathe stole a car fitted with a tracking device, and the security company that had installed it followed with the help of a helicopter.

He abandoned the vehicle near a squatter camp north of Johannesburg in the East Rand.

He was found in a house and captured by security guards after a struggle.

Ananias Mathe is the first prisoner to escape from the C-max prison since it opened 36 years ago.

He reportedly escaped by covering his body in Vaseline and squeezing through his tiny cell window which measured just 20cm by 60cm (8in by 2ft).

Mr Mathe, who is said to have had extensive military training dating in Mozambique, first escaped from custody in April 2005.

Shortly after being returned to the prison, a minister said he would leave again for an urgent operation.

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour said he would be taken to a hospital for an operation to fix the shattered bone in his leg which was wounded during his arrest.

In charge of R9bn - with matric

The man who has managed the R9bn budget of South Africa's prisons for the last two years, has nothing more than a matric qualification.

Beeld and Die Burger reported on Friday that Patrick Gillingham, who as the financial head of the department of correctional services (DCS) runs the finances of Africa's biggest prison department, has no tertiary qualifications.

Gillingham's post was advertised nationwide last Sunday, and the DCS has confirmed that Minister Ngconde Balfour has now appointed him chief deputy commissioner: corrections.

The move has resulted in other staff changes. Tebogo Motseki, who is in the post at present, becomes the head of central services and Jenny Schreiner moves from the latter position to become chief deputy commissioner: management services.

Informed sources said Balfour had "started to feel the heat", and that was why he moved Gillingham.

A Beeld investigative team earlier named Gillingham as the DCS person who was regularly seen on the premises of the Bosasa group of companies in Krugersdorp.

Various companies in the Bosasa group, including Sondolo IT and Phezulu Fencing, tendered for and won multi-million rand contracts from DCS in the past two years.

Beeld and Die Burger revealed on Thursday that various high profile South Africans, such as President Thabo Mbeki's political adviser, Titus Mafolo, were shareholders of Sondolo IT.

James Selfe, the DA's spokesperson on correctional services, said on Thursday he would have expected someone better qualified to run a multi-million rand budget.

The DCS budget is comparable to the market value of major companies, such as the insurers Mutual and Federal, or Sanlam.

"I don't know what courses he completed in the public service that could qualify him for this job.

"The department (DCS) has received five qualified audits in a row. That says how unsuitable Gillingham is for the post," Selfe said.

The DCS refused to respond to Beeld's queries about Gillingham's qualifications.

The advertisement, which appeared in various Sunday newspapers, said it was essential that Gillingham's successor should have a B. Comm in accounting.

Gillingham is known to have been a confidant of Linda Mti, the former national chief jailer, who left the service on Thursday.

Beeld and Die Burger disclosed the ties between Mti and Bosasa this year, such as the security tender of R237m for an access system at the country's jails, which was awarded to Sonolo IT, after the Bosasa group wrote much of the tender specifications for DCS.

Mti is being investigated by the Public Service Commission, while the Cobra's special unit is investigating the DCS's Bosasa tender process.

Mti's acting successor will be announced by Balfour on Friday.

The DA asked again how much had to be uncovered before Balfour would appoint a commission of inquiry into the way tenders from the Bosasa group were treated.

"The minister must show the nation that he is serious about fighting corruption in his department, by appointing a commission of inquiry to investigate these underhand transactions," Selfe said.

DCS spokesperson Manelisi Wolela said Gillingam's move was part of Balfour's efforts to take "service delivery to a higher level".

Balfour must look into tenders

The DA has called on Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour to institute a commission of inquiry to investigate claims linking high-profile South Africans, including President Thabo Mbeki’s political adviser, to tender irregularities within the department.

This follows a Beeld report which named high-profile individuals owning shares in Sondolo IT, which is part of the Bosasa group of companies that wrote large parts of a multi-million rand security tender subsequently awarded to them by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) for R237 million.

They include: political adviser to Mbeki and former ANC MP and chairman of the controversial Native Club, Titus Mafolo; Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa, CEO of Bosasa and long-standing acquaintance of outgoing prisons chief Linda Mti, Gavin Watson, and former chairman of the Strategic Fuel Fund Seth Phalatse, who resigned after allegations of corruption.
Phalatse’s wife Lorato is head of Mbeki’s office.

Sondolo IT, since its registration on February 10, 2005, has been awarded tenders of almost R500m by the DCS, Beeld reported.

DA spokesman on Correctional Services James Selfe asked: “How much needs to be revealed before Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour institutes a serious investigation into the allegedly irregular and underhanded tender arrangement between his department and Sondolo IT?"
Selfe called on Balfour “to show the nation he is serious about fighting corruption”.

Mathe kept cards close to his chest

Annanias Mathe, the high profile escapee from C-Max prison, would not easily have shared escape details with other prisoners.

According to criminologist Anna van Hooven, whoever helped Mathe, though, could still help other prisoners to repeat the feat if correctional authorities did not prevent them from doing so.
Van Hooven said yesterday that it would seem that Mathe had a psychopathic nature “and these people are generally very selfishly oriented and egocentric.”

She said Mathe would therefore not easily share his knowledge or contacts with other prisoners as he was only focused on himself.

Mathe’s breakout has sparked a media frenzy and he is still on the run, more than a week afterwards.

Minister for Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour has said there is no way Mathe could have escaped without “some degree of collusion” with prison officials.

Van Hooven said it certainly was an “embarrassment” for correctional authorities for him to have escaped from a maximum security facility.

The police also have some egg on their face, in her opinion, after they twice arrested people who turned out not to be Mathe. One of these was a church pastor, who was allegedly shot in the leg by a plain-clothes policeman.

Last week a special task team, consisting of police, prisons and national intelligence officers, was set up to look for Mathe.

They will also investigate whether anyone at C-Max can be held criminally responsible for his escape.

The easy way out

Fifteen awaiting trial prisoners who escaped from the Komatipoort Prison on Saturday are being sought by police, Mpumalanga police said.

"When police came to the cells the next day, they found only five of 20 prisoners inside," Superintendent Mtsholi Bhembe said on Monday.

The fifteen men used a cutting tool to cut through the bars of the cell window.

It is unknown how they managed to obtain a tool strong enough to cut through the bars.

"It is difficult to say how they got their hands on it, people visiting sometimes smuggle things in but we don't know for sure how they got the tool," said Bhembe.

The charges the escapees were facing ranged from murder to the theft of firewood.

"They were facing a number of charges including armed robbery, murder, dealing in dagga, housebreaking and theft of firewood," he said.

The men are still at large but police were "positive" they will be found.

"We appeal to the community to come forward if they have any information on any of the men but we are positive that they will be arrested."

Annanias Mathe, 29, a "dangerous" detainee awaiting trial, escaped from Pretoria's C-Max prison also on Saturday night.

Mathe appeared to have mysteriously uncuffed himself, climbed through several small windows after breaking them, and forced himself out onto the roof of the prison.

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour said on Monday a task team would be set up to investigate management at Pretoria's C-Max prison.

"Nobody can ever just take off handcuffs and saw his way through anything and nobody takes notice of that. So, there must be some investigation that's done and people charged for that," he told the SABC.