Pretoria - The Department of Justice and Correctional Services said allegations that Calomis de Klerk, an offender at Zonderwater Correctional Facility in Cullinan died due to overcrowding were untrue.
The deceased, 32, was serving 22 years for murder and attempted murder.
An inmate who was in the same cell as the deceased told the Pretoria News that the offender died around 5am on November 15 after he suffered breathing problems when officials who responded to the call refused to open his cell for medical intervention.
“He could have died due to the heatwave as the communal cells are overcrowded where the space accommodates 10 inmates but there are 35 instead and poor ventilation among other related dirt that comes with overcrowding.”
However, department spokesperson Mocheta Monama said the cause of death is currently unknown and investigations were underway.
“Offender de Klerk was accommodated in a communal cell with an approved accommodation of 36 inmates.
"At the time of the incident, the cell had 31 inmates in it. Of the 31 inmates, each has their own bed. Allegations that the offender died due to overcrowding are untrue.”
“A postmortem has been conducted by relevant authorities and we await the outcome. The cause of death is currently unknown to the department.”
“Investigations by both the Correctional Services and the SAPS are currently underway,” he said.
Monama said they acknowledged the challenges of overcrowding in the Gauteng region.
“Zonderwater Correctional Facility is now at 150% capacity. We are in the process of moving offenders to other regions to reduce the levels of overcrowding and we continue to implement and come up with more strategies to manage the situation across the region,” he told the Pretoria News.