Pretoria - Correctional Services National Commissioner Zacharia Modise has welcomed the drop in prison escapes at South Africa’s 243 correctional centres.
The Department of Correctional Services’ 2014/15 report shows prison escapes dropped to 0.031%, with 99.97% of the country’s 159 563 inmates remaining safely behind bars.
Forty-nine escapes were reported in the reporting period compared with 60 in 2013/14.
Modise has pledged to improve public safety.
“The efficiency and effectiveness of the Department of Correctional Services’s safe and secure custody programme at the country’s 243 correctional centres has reached unprecedented levels of 99.97%.
“… The majority [of the escapees] were rearrested and are back behind bars. This represents a continued decline from as high as 1 244 escapes per year in 1995. We commend the majority of our correctional officials for this achievement,” said Modise.
Since its inception in 2002, the Ebongweni state-of-the-art correctional facility in Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal has not had a single escape. This high risk maximum facility is managed on closed maximum principles and currently has approximately 1 067 offenders in the maximum security classification from all over the country.
Following any escape, an investigation is immediately conducted and appropriate action is taken against any official or offender found guilty of an offence.
The action taken is dependent on the nature and severity of the offence.
Modise warned members of the public any person who assists an inmate in escaping or attempting to escape is guilty of an offence and can be fined and/or jailed for a period not exceeding 10 years.
“No person may, without lawful authority, supply, convey or cause to be supplied or conveyed to any inmate or hide or place for his or her use any document, intoxicating liquor, dagga, drug, opiate, money or any other article.
“We also want to extend our gratitude to communities that have upped their cooperation with law enforcement agencies to improve our re-arrest of escapees. We call upon you to provide no sanctuary for fugitives from justice in any corner of our country.
“We will also not hesitate to take action against any correctional official found guilty of related unlawful acts or omissions. We are calling upon citizens to do their part in this regard as corrections is a societal responsibility,” Modise said. - SAnews.gov.za
