At least two prisoners escaped from the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Friday morning, police said.
Spokesperson Kay Makhubele said: "Only two prisoners that were due to appear in court have escaped".
The prisoners face murder charges and are considered dangerous.
Earlier, the court was evacuated while police conducted a search. It was thought the prisoners were hiding out somewhere in the court premises.
The police said they were continuing to search for the escaped prisoners and a probe had been launched to find out how they managed to escape from the court.
- African News Agency (ANA); Edited by Moses Mudzwiti