HELL IN A CELL

TWO bandiete are dead following a stabbing attack at the Pollsmoor Correctional Facility on Wednesday.

According to Daily Voice sources, it is alleged that the deceased were members of the 26s gang.

The insider said that two wardens were sitting in the office and were ambushed by the bandiete, who stabbed them.

Other wardens intervened, which resulted in the deaths of the inmates.

Four wardens are currently receiving medical attention following the attack.

According to another well-placed source, the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS) are investigating the attack, with the source adding that the “injuries [to the wardens] are bad”.

Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo confirmed the incident, saying: “The incident involved a stabbing attack directed at officials, prompting the use of force in an attempt to restore order. 

“Calm has since been restored at the facility, and the injured have been transported to hospital for medical treatment.”

As per standard procedure, the South African Police Service (SAPS) was called to the scene and DCS will conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

National Commissioner of Correctional Services Makgothi Samuel Thobakgale strongly condemned the attack.

Thobakgale said: “Attacks of this nature are unwarranted and deeply saddening, especially when lives are lost.”

DA MP and Parliamentary Select Committee member on Security and Justice Nicholas Gotsell said that the incident exposes the brutal reality that correctional facilities have become command centres for the country’s gang and drug economy.b

The party has called on the minister of correctional services to urgently account for the breakdown of control, stating that prisons must rehabilitate offenders, not manufacture criminals.

Meanwhile, three awaiting prisoners aged 22, 25 and 34 escaped from lawful custody on 27 October at the Strand Magistrate’s Court.

This comes just a week after six bandiete escaped from the holding cells at Wynberg Regional Court.

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed: “The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation. A team of detectives and crime prevention members are assembled to follow up all information in a bid to re-arrest them...”

According to a Daily Voice source, one of the bandiete has since been rearrested after cops launched a manhunt.