Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the re-arrest of one of the two convicted offenders who recently went unaccounted for while meant to be in custody at Pollsmoor Correctional Centre. While this is a necessary step, it underscores the urgent need for immediate accountability within the correctional services system.
Initially, three individuals – all convicted of either murder, rape or robbery – were unlawfully released from custody after being remanded to Pollsmoor by the High Court on an unrelated matter involving the assault on youth care worker. One of them, Xolani du Preez, was subsequently re-apprehended and returned to Pollsmoor following his arrest for robbery in April. With the second one, Mikyle Mentoor, having been re-apprehended, the third – a convicted rapist – is still at large.
It was only after the DA conducted an unannounced oversight visit to Pollsmoor two weeks ago that it was revealed that two offenders – Mentoor and another – were unaccounted for, despite Minister Pieter Groenewald having informed Parliament a day prior that all three were in custody.
The DA has written to the Minister of Justice to request urgent clarification on administrative discrepancies in the handling of the assault case involving the individuals. These discrepancies appear to have prevented the justice system from identifying them as sentenced prisoners who should never have been released. The DA is also engaging the Magistrates’ Commission and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to determine how these fundamental failures were allowed to occur.
Despite Mentoor’s arrest, the South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed to the DA that they were never formally informed by the Department of Correctional Services that these inmates were missing.
That Mentoor was apprehended by SAPS without any alert from Correctional Services highlights the alarming breakdown in communication within the criminal justice system. The DA’s sustained public pressure, unannounced oversight visit and persistent parliamentary questioning brought critical information to light and created the opportunity for the arrest. It was indeed a concerned community member who alerted a whistleblower, who in turn informed SAPS of Mentoor’s whereabouts.
Minister Groenewald has still not responded to the DA’s letter asking how this was allowed to happen, or why he misled Parliament on 12 May by claiming that all three offenders were in custody when two of them were not.
It is unacceptable that while Correctional Services claims to be “investigating”, two weeks have passed without any urgency or transparency.
Regards
Nicholas Gotsell MP
DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice