Convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester. Picture: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Cape Town - In a session at Parliament on Tuesday, the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services reviewed the Department of Correctional Services’s (DCS) action plan stemming from the Public Protector’s report into the infamous escape of Thabo Bester from the Mangaung Correctional Centre.
The meeting coincided with the escape of inmate Yanga Wayithi from Pollsmoor Correctional Centre this week, and highlighted the urgent need for effective measures to prevent future breaches.
The strategic plan has since received criticism in that it did not present any action in order to prevent escapes.
According to documents shared with the Cape Argus, the trend of escapes of remand detentions were significantly high when compared to sentenced offenders.
It further looks at the anti-corruption policies, identifying the abuse of power, bribery, conflict of interest, embezzlement, extortion, favouritism, gratification, insider trading and nepotism, and the objectives in preventing it.
It also delves into the Fraud Prevention Policy, in that internal audits and inspectorate components were important assets and that reporting of this crime would be accepted from anonymous sources while whistle-blowers had to be protected.
Kabelo Kgobisa-Ngcaba MP and DA Deputy Spokesperson on Correctional Service, said they intended on writing to the Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, to demand a detailed explanation of the immediate measures his department will take to prevent future Bester-style escapes and to address the glaring gaps in prison security and anti-corruption efforts.
Kgobisa-Ngcaba said this follows the unsatisfactory presentation by the department to the Portfolio Committee.
“In an ironic twist, the department’s failure to implement real action was highlighted just as it was presenting to the Portfolio Committee - by an escape from Pollsmoor Correctional Centre.
“Yanga Wayithi, a 35-year-old inmate serving a sentence for theft and trespassing, managed to escape the facility while the Committee was sitting.
“This incident clearly demonstrates the urgency for tangible measures to prevent such escapes in the future,” Kgobisa-Ngcaba said.
“In September 2024, the Public Protector Published the report on its investigation into allegations of improper conduct by functionaries of the Department of Correctional Service relating to the escape of Mr Thabo Bester from Mangaung Correctional Centre and allegation of undue delay and/or omission by the former Deputy Minister of Correctional Services to intervene regarding the incident.”
They added that the documents presented to the Portfolio Committee failed to indicate any decisive action to prevent future escapes or to strengthen anti-corruption procedures within the Department of Correctional Services.
Rather, the department appears to have treated the development of these documents as a tick box exercise with vague commitments accompanied by no details, no budget and no timeliness.
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