Dear Editor
Following a question-session in the NCOP yesterday, the DA has written to the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Security and Justice to urgently summon all role-players, including Correctional Services officials and the Minister, to ensure accountability and prevent further failures.
This action comes in response to deeply troubling revelations that point to the systemic collapse within the Department of Correctional Services – most notably, the disappearance of two convicted offenders and the reoffending of Xolani Du Preez while he was supposed to be serving an 11-year sentence.
During the NCOP session, the DA put it to Minister Pieter Groenewald that, by his own admission, it is his duty to ensure the safety of South Africans, yet a convicted murderer, Du Preez, was able to rob a Table View resident while supposedly in the custody of Pollsmoor Correctional Facility.
The Minister’s justification, namely that administrative bungles are inevitable in a system managing 160 000 prisoners, appears to deflect blame onto the broader Department failures under Minister Groenewald.
However, there can be no tolerance for such bungles when public safety is at stake. Three men, one a rapist and two murderers, have now disappeared from detention under the Minister’s watch.
In stating that he was unaware of the Du Preez incident and had been misled by the Department when questioned about the three inmates’ whereabouts on Monday, the Minister has effectively confirmed the deep rot within senior management at Correctional Services.
While Du Preez was eventually returned to Pollsmoor after his outing on 22 April, those responsible for managing the facility failed to report the breach. Even worse, despite this clear warning sign, they failed to notice that two more dangerous criminals were missing.
These contradictions raise serious concerns that senior officials at Pollsmoor, and possibly beyond, may be withholding information from the Minister, or that the Department’s internal systems have deteriorated to the point where basic inmate management has entirely collapsed.
While the DA welcomes the Minister’s undertaking that “heads will roll,” internal investigations alone are not sufficient. Active and transparent Parliamentary oversight is now required
Regards
Nicholas Gotsell MP
DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice