DA demands urgent probe into missing inmates at Pollsmoor Correctional Centre

The DA wants answers from Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald regarding the possible disappearance of two dangerous inmates at Pollsmoor Correctional Centre. 

The party said the two convicted offenders, Me-Kayle Timmie and Mikyle Mentoor, should be detained at the correctional facility until at least October 2025. 

The party said this was according to a high court order. 

The duo are serving sentences for rape and murder, respectively.

On Tuesday, the opposition party also wrote to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu to confirm whether his department has been informed of the possible disappearance of the inmates. 

The DA’s National Council of Provinces member on security and justice, Nicholas Gotsell, said it has been almost a week since the party’s oversight visit to Pollsmoor revealed officials could not account for either individual. 

Gotsell said despite this, the party did not receive any response from its letter sent on May 14. 

Groenewald's spokesperson, Eune Oelofsen, said an investigation is under way to ascertain the correct facts. 

“The minister is still awaiting the outcome of this investigation and will comment once it is received,” said Oelofsen.

However, Gotsell said: “One would think this investigation would have been concluded within 24 hours and the police alerted immediately.” 

Mchunu's spokesperson, Kamogelo Mogotsi, said the letter has been received by the office of the minister but has not yet been presented to him.

In the letter, Gotsell said he was informed that Timmie was released by the officials of the Drakenstein Correctional Centre in February. 

“This is in contravention of the court order on July 2024. Mikyle Mentoor could also not be accounted for. In fact, the date of birth of Mikyle Mentoor on their system did correlate with his date of birth in the court order,” read the letter. 

The two were arrested for various crimes with Xolani du Preez, who has since been re-arrested for robbery in Table View in April.

Initially, they were held at the Horizon Child and Youth Care Centre due to their ages and were transferred to Pollsmoor Juvenile Centre in July last year, after violently assaulting a staff member.

Gotsell said Du Preez's re-arrest raised the question of how he was committing further crimes while he was supposed to be serving an 11-year sentence, which includes two years and 245 days in a youth care facility, and eight years in prison.

He said he then wrote to Groenewald requesting urgent confirmation of their whereabouts, and the minister responded that all three were detained at Pollsmoor Remand Detention Centre.

Gotsell said during an oversight visit, he established that Timmie was transferred to Drakenstein and released in February. He said Mentoor was released to court in December 2024 and has not been re-booked into Pollsmoor. Du Preez was only re-booked into Medium A on April 22, days after the Table View robbery, which confirmed he was indeed on the streets at the time.

"That incident and Du Preez’s return to Pollsmoor should have triggered immediate concern within the department and prompted a review of the whereabouts of all three individuals,” said Gotsell.

Cape Argus