Just weeks after sentenced prisoner and fugitive, Thabo Bester, was captured and rearrested, activists raised the alarm about the fence of Pollsmoor Prison which had been damaged and had gaping holes in it for at least two weeks.
Whistleblower and crime fighter, Zona Morton, raised the alarm nearly two weeks ago after she was informed about the damaged fence.
She immediately contacted the police, RC Klaas, the Western Cape regional commissioner for the Department of Correctional Services, Delekile Klaas, and Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola.
“When a member of the Crime Report and Support Group alerted me to the hole in the fence, I was shocked that this was happening on our doorstep,” she said.
She said the officials told her it would be attended to immediately.
“When I received photographs the following afternoon that it was still not fixed, I repeated the urgency. As a crime fighter and whistleblower, I take the interest of the community at large very seriously.
“With the Thabo Bester saga, it has become clear to us as a civil society that our rights are not taken seriously.”
Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Candice Van Reenen confirmed that the damaged fence, which is located along the M3 Freeway at the centre’s agricultural area, maintenance section and staff accommodation was repaired earlier this week, after the Weekend Argus inquired about it.
She said the community shouldn’t panic because they placed the custody of offenders as a top priority.
“The Department of Correctional Services has a responsibility to ensure the safe custody of offenders, as well as that of its personnel and external visitors at its premises,” she said.
“It is for this reason that every possible measure has been made to ensure that its facilities are safe and secure and Pollsmoor Correctional Centre is no exception.
“The department has since reinforced the fence and also instituted the trimming and removal of tree branches on the perimeter of the affected area.
“Community members can be assured that there is no threat and that the fence is intact. Additionally, regular monitoring along the perimeter is being conducted by security personnel as part of the daily security routine.”
Justine Gericke, of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS), also confirmed that they had been notified.
Another activist, Ashura Easton, who has rallied for the fence to be fixed has called for regular perimeter checks. She said they had been worried about the safety of citizens: Just to think that a possible break-out could happen has kept me at wits’ end.
“Many do not realise the trauma members of the public go through during the crime, opening the case, proceedings of the case and many other things and then to see that the perpetrator is possibly open for options to get out.
“The trauma is more than enough to deal with and to see pictures of a fence that is broken has livid me to an extent that I kept thinking of a possible next Thabo Bester scenario.
“Many fail to want to understand what we must endure on a daily basis where crime is concerned.
“We cannot afford to have perimeter fences not being checked and fixed timeously.”