Pretoria -
The Department of Correctional Services has admitted there are serious problems at Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru prison.
Gauteng regional commissioner Zacharia Modise said on Wednesday: “There are three types of people who get into the facility daily: prisoners going to court, officials and visitors.
“And these are the people who bring in contraband. Our job is to ensure that these things don’t get into the prison. If we do not do that, we have failed.
“The contraband is getting out of hand, and we have to stop it. We have to comply with the laws of the prison that say everyone must be thoroughly searched when they enter or leave.”
Modise said the smuggling of contraband such as cellphones and alcohol into prisons was common, but worse at Kgosi Mampuru.
The prison came under the spotlight in the past month after a video emerged of Christoff Becker and Frikkie du Preez, the so-called Waterkloof Two, having a party in their cell a month before they were paroled.
They were rearrested and their parole was revoked for a year.
Last week, Chris Hani’s murderers, Clive Derby-Lewis and Janusz Walus, were stabbed with a sharpened spoon by a gang leader in what appeared to be a racist attack.
Khalil Subjee, a leader of the 26 prison gang, allegedly stabbed the two after they reportedly called Nelson Mandela a “monkey”. The “26 general” also said he was unhappy with the preferential treatment that white and rich prisoners allegedly received.
Speaking to The Star’s sister newspaper, the Pretoria News, this week, Subjee, who claims to control all the inland prisons, said that if the Waterkloof Two were moved to single cells he would ensure they were attacked.
He also warned Oscar Pistorius, currently on trial for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, that his wealth would not buy him a lavish lifestyle in prison.
Modise said Subjee, 47, had been moved to another section.
“We doubt that the person you spoke to is him. He has been moved, and the section he is in does not have a phone box.
“The other thing is that officials have problems, and may use this situation to take out their frustrations.”
He said Becker and Du Preez would not be given extra security.
A report on the Derby-Lewis and Walus attack and the Waterkloof Two incident was expected to be completed by Friday.
“We are checking if the report was racially motivated. The guy claims they were against him, because of Mandela. We have to check if this was true.
“Derby-Lewis and Walus have been in Kgosi Mampuru for 20 years. We need to find out what happened. If we don’t do that, it will be a mistake,” Modise said. - The Star