Durban – The notorious prisoner Russell Ngubo, has been moved to the Super Max Ebongweni Prison in Kokstad after he assaulted a pregnant warder last week.
Ngubo was moved from the medium security Sevontein prison in Elandskop, outside Pietermaritzburg, last Tuesday night.
There had been numerous allegations that he had assaulted prison officials in the past. He was moved from the Westville prison to Sevontein following similar allegations.
KwaZulu-Natal correctional services commissioner Mnikelwa Nxele confirmed this when discussing the case of Sevontein.
He said it was the second time Ngubo had been accused of assaulting a prison official at the centre, the first incident being around 2012.
A source at the prison said Ngubo had been transferred at about 10pm on Tuesday. Another source in Kokstad confirmed that he arrived at around 2am the next morning.
“On January 24, the warders camped outside the gate at Sevontein Prison and said they would not work until Ngubo had been moved. By 5pm they were still outside and at about 10pm he was transferred out of the prison,” he said.
Another source, who also cannot be named as he is not allowed to speak to the media, said there had been a sense of relief once the prisoner had been moved.
“There is a sense of relief but there are fears that he might return because he told some of the guards he is coming back. Ngubo has served his sentence and he will soon be eligible for parole,” he said.
The source said Ngubo’s transfer was largely credited to the current area commissioner.
“The area commissioner is a deployee from Gauteng, and therefore he is not aware of the politics in the province and he just followed regulations.”
Ngubo is a former head of the Pietermaritzburg New Prison and is considered to have political clout which, it is alleged, he abuses, as he acts with impunity within the prison walls and shows little respect for prison officials.
He was arrested in 2005 for the murder of IFP induna Ernest Nzimande in a politically motivated attack in September 1998. Ngubo was an ANC councillor at the time.
Correctional Services spokesperson Thulani Mdluli said the female warder who had been assaulted had opened a case at the Taylors Halt Police station.
He said Ngubo’s alleged previous assault was investigated according to internal procedures, and the outcomes suggested that he be kept at Sevontein Correctional Centre.
“Our disciplinary policy details that every assault incident must be investigated and a particular inmate may be transferred to another facility in order not to compromise investigation and safety, depending on the nature of the case."
“The same process has been applied in Ngubo being transferred to another correctional centre pending investigation. He is placed at the hospital inside the centre owing to chronic illness, with other inmates having similar conditions. His location is stipulated by internal policies of that centre to ensure security is not compromise, owing to its structural arrangements,” he said.