The department of correctional services (DCS) has decided to let the contract with G4S, the private company managing Mangaung Prison where convicted murderer and rapist Thabo Bester escaped, run its natural course.
The contract is set to end in June 2026.
On Tuesday, correctional services minister Pieter Groenewald clarified that the litigation has not yet stopped but said they would not be pursuing further legal action as it would be costly.
We did not continue with the litigation because it is going to take a lot of money.
— Pieter Groenewald, department of correctional services minister
Groenewald and his team were briefing the portfolio committee on correctional services on its readiness to take over the prison when the contract ends.
“The litigation was started in 2023 after the Thabo Bester incident. In my view, we did not continue with that because it is going to take a lot of money. I think the best option for DCS as well as the taxpayer is that the contract runs out and it has a natural death,” Groenawald told the portfolio committee on Tuesday.
He said the department was committed to ensuring a smooth transition and takeover of the Mangaung prison.
Bester escaped from the prison after setting his cell on fire and staging his death, with the help of his partner, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, and several other people who are now his co-accused.
He was arrested alongside Magudumana in Tanzania in April 2023.
Bloemfontein Correctional Contracts (BCC) – a holding company in a public-private partnership with the DCS to run the Mangaung prison – had previously argued that the cancellation was procedurally flawed and invalid.
At the time, director John Mokoena accused then minister Ronald Lamola of bowing down to public pressure when he decided to send them a notice of termination of the contract which has been running since 2000.
BCC had been challenging the termination notice in the high court in Pretoria.
In September, the portfolio called for the contract to be terminated with immediate effect.
Committee chairperson Kgomotso Anthea Ramolobeng said the public-private partnership between the DCS and G4S should be terminated, as the latter is “acting as a law unto [itself]”.
This was after the committee heard that G4S only provided a report in early September on the unnatural death of an inmate that occurred in March.
On Tuesday, MPs questioned whether DCS officials would be ready to take over the prison.
ANC MP Mzwanele Sokopo said the relationship between G4S and DCS was not sound. He said he doubted whether there would be a smooth takeover for DCS.
“In order for DCS to have a smooth takeover, there must have been cooperation with the ones that they are taking over from.”
He said this was not a takeover of a church or a building but a facility with a high security risk.
Deputy minister Leonah Ntshalintshali said, “Winning and finalising that matter [litigation] is not a nearby issue.”
She said there were clauses and steps to follow as the contract approaches its end.
Addressing concerns from some MPs that officials taking over the facility were unfamiliar with the surroundings, Ntshalintshali said the officials were experienced department staff who had previously operated in maximum-security prisons.
She added that they were also undergoing training and familiarisation with the Mangaung facility.
Sowetan
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