Port Elizabeth - Fourteen men who escaped from the Fort Beaufort Correctional Centre have been re-arrested, the Eastern Cape correctional services department said on Sunday.
On Christmas morning, 15 men broke through the roof of a prison cell housing 22 people, said the department's regional commissioner Nkosinathi Breakfast.
“Fifteen men escaped from that cell, which was only noticed at 3.50am on Christmas Day. The other seven stayed behind,” Breakfast said.
Four of the inmates were arrested almost immediately, with three more being recaptured later that day. Some of them were handed over by their parents on Saturday.
“Two fathers from Qanda Location in Middledrift and Balfour brought their sons back, demonstrating the ideal scenario.”
Breakfast said the department and police were working on leads on the whereabouts of the remaining escapee, Sive Mtunyelwa from Alice.
“Mtunyelwa is due to appear in court on 5 January 2015 for robbery and rape charges. (He must) hand himself over to the police or at the nearest correctional centre, as his ill-gotten freedom will not last.”
The Fort Beaufort Correctional Centre houses 296 inmates, most of whom are awaiting trial prisoners.
Sapa