The discovery of contraband smuggled into prison during a raid at the Johannesburg Prison on Wednesday points to a growing concern over corruption in such facilities.
It’s disturbing to most of us to learn that prisoners had access to plasma TVs, PlayStation, WiFi routers, drugs and alcohol where security ought to be top priority.
It’s not clear how these prohibited items were smuggled into the facility and allowed to be used by prisoners, but their discovery ought to have embarrassed the officials tasked with its management.
That we don’t know what will happen to those responsible for ensuring there are no security breaches is deeply troubling. The truth, however, is that security in some correctional centres has been found to be wanting, often at a huge risk to the public.
Take the Thabo Bester escape saga for example. Bester was a convicted rapist who was allowed to walk out of prison by corrupt prison officials so he could continue committing more crimes outside.
Even before his escape from prison, as we have come to learn, he had been receiving preferential treatment that ensured he did not live life like a prisoner. To date, the people who have been charged for Bester's escape saga do not include those tasked with the responsibility of ensuring no security breaches happened under their watch.
More recently, a prisoner named Bornface Banks bragged in a video posted on social media about his soft life in prison at the Goodwood Correctional Centre in Cape Town, where he was being held on kidnapping allegations. While the department has said it was incensed by the video as cellphones are prohibited in prison, we are yet to hear what consequences the people in charge of the facility will face.
Lack of transparency is part of the problem here that leads to impunity for those who are putting the security of the state at risk. The mandate of correctional centres is to place offenders in a secure and safe environment for rehabilitation.
It’s quite evident from what was found during the raids conducted at the "Sun City" prison that a breach of security was allowed to happen under someone’s watch.
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