Johannesburg - Another of the seven Groenpunt prison inmates who escaped last week has been re-arrested leaving one last inmate still on the run, the Correctional Services Department said on Tuesday.
Spokesman Logan Maistry said Petros Kgatliso Mabela was apprehended in Vosloorus on Monday night. He was serving 24 years in the Vereeniging prison for robbery at the time of his escape.
Maistry said Phillip Tivane, who was serving 35 years for rape, was the only offender still at large.
Seven prisoners escaped from the facility on Thursday. One of them, Majafe Celso Romao was re-arrested the same day, just hours after the incident, on his way to Sasolburg, Maistry said.
Four others, Zandile Elvis Nkhabu, Teko Mphuthi, Kwazi Nkosi Ndlovu and Tfhediso Benjamin Mokoena, were arrested last week in Deneysville, Free State.
The seven were in jail for various crimes including burglary, rape, robbery and attempted murder.
It was not clear how the group escaped.
“The investigation into how the seven inmates managed to break out of the prison continue. We will make the findings of that investigation available once it had been completed,” Maistry said on Monday.
Acting National Commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services Zachariya Modise, visited the Groenpunt Correctional Centre on Monday.
“The fact that only one inmate is still on the run, following the escape of seven inmates from the Groenpunt Correctional Centre last Thursday, bears testimony of the fact that these swift arrests were only made possible through the sheer determination, and perseverance, of our Correctional Officials, the South African Police Service and other law enforcement agencies,” Modise said.
“These officials have been working around the clock since the escape, in the early hours of last Thursday morning, and for this they must be praised. We are certain that they will not rest until the last offender is back behind bars. We are, again, appealing to members of the public not to approach this inmate should they encounter him, but to report to the nearest police station.”
He said the investigation into this matter was also progressing well and called on anybody with information that would assist in the probe to come forward.
“'We will make sure that the culprits responsible for this escape, be it inmates, officials or any other person, face the consequences of their actions. South Africa’s 243 correctional centres, which houses approximately 160 000 inmates, are safe and secure. During the last financial year (1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015), the percentage of escapes from correctional centres stood at 0.031%,” Modise said.
ANA