The top executive of the private company that operates the Mangaung prison from which convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester escaped in May last year was grilled by MPs Wednesday and faced accusations that the prison’s systems were deficient.
The regional commercial director of G4S, Cobus Groenewoud, had to defend himself against a barrage of questions by members of parliament’s justice and correctional services committee.
Two prison officials, head of the prison Joseph Monyante and head of audit and risk Gert Beyleveld, also appeared before the committee together with Groenewoud.
They appeared before the committee under a summons after their failure to appear last week on the grounds that they could only present a full picture of the circumstances surrounding Bester’s escape if summonsed to do so. The Correctional Services Act prohibits G4S as a contractor from disclosing any information relating to correctional centres unless obliged by law.
Bester, a convicted serial rapist, made his escape from the prison dressed as a warder. A dead body was smuggled into his prison cell and burnt beyond recognition. However it was discovered the body was not his.
He lived a lavish lifestyle with his partner, Nandipha Magudumana, who is alleged to have helped his escape. The couple fled SA after their cover was blown, but were arrested in Tanzania last Friday.
Plans are afoot to bring the couple and a Mozambican national alleged to have helped them run from the law back to SA for trial.
G4S’s contract to run the prison on behalf of the department of correctional services has been forced into the spotlight since Bester’s escape, but Groenewoud pointed out that apart from Bester’s escape, there have only been two other escapes from Mangaung since 2003 out of 515 escapes from SA prisons in the last decade. The correctional centre was secure, he said.
‘It’s harsh to say that we did nothing’
MPs were not impressed with the answers given, with ANC MP Anthea Ramolobeng saying that the G4S report was a “whitewash”.
DA justice spokesperson Glynnis Breytenbach agreed, saying that the prison representatives refused to accept responsibility for the systemic failures at the prison, including the failure to conduct lifestyle audits on employees who were in contact with convicted criminals, some of whom were known for corruption.
ANC MP Xola Nqola accused the G4S representatives of “dishonesty” and of deliberately misleading parliament.
Bester made his escape from the prison dressed as a warder. A dead body was smuggled into his prison cell and burnt beyond recognition.
The MPs also asked why the CCTV system conveniently failed in the area around Bester’s cell over the period of the escape; why Bester was allowed to have a computer and cellphone in his cell; why he was moved to cell 35, which was near an emergency exit; and how an unauthorised vehicle was allowed to enter the prison without being checked, among other questions.
Groenewoud insisted that action had been taken against those who had failed to follow standard operating procedures and policy. Three staff members had been suspended and dismissed, two of whom operated the control centre. The on-site supervisor on night shift who was arrested last week was also dismissed.
“It’s harsh to say that we did nothing,” he said. “We investigated those under our control.” He said the incident had been handled according to G4S’s contractual requirements.
Action had been taken against seven others who had failed to check a TV cabinet that entered the prison just before Bester’s escape (with a suspected dead body inside); had failed to monitor this failure; had helped move the box into the workroom and failed to check Bester’s belongings when he was moved into the segregated cell at his request on the grounds that his life was in danger.
Groenewoud told MPs that G4S only became aware of Bester’s escape on February 2 when it received a report from the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) and received a confirmation through DNA analysis and the autopsy report that the body in the cell was not that of Bester. SAPS opened an investigation into the escape on January 14, but Groenewoud said that the Mangaung Correctional Centre was not informed about this.
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