This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers.
Correctional Services Minister, Sibusiso Ndebele, says there's been a decrease in the number of prison breaks in the past 10 years.
The Ministry compiled a set of statistics in the wake of the escape of 11 prisoners from Barkly East prison in the Eastern Cape in which warder, Mzukisi Dusubana, was fatally wounded.
All eleven are back behind bars.
Correctional Services spokesperson, Logan Maistry, says over the past 10 years, the highest number of prisoners to escape from South African jails occurred in the 2002/2003 financial year, when 281 prisoners escaped and the smallest number was in the past financial year when 41 prisoners escaped.
"An escape from our custody constitutes a security breach of the highest order. Not only does this mean that our alertness or systems were insufficient, but it also constitutes an immediate threat to society because an inmate on the run needs to sustain himself and, therefore, it is likely that it will cause him to commit another crime in the process"
"It is against this background that DCS is continuously assessing, and reassessing, its security strategies and plans and has put in place security infrastructure to assist in adequately securing correctional centres, securing offenders who are working outside the walls of correctional centres, those who are in transit or attending court hearings as well as those guarded in public hospitals. Information received on planned escapes assists the department to put in place preventative measures.
DCS, therefore, urges officials, inmates, service providers and members of the public to provide us with information on planned escapes that they may be aware of. Information can be passed on to managers of correctional centres, but may also be reported to the department's anti-corruption hotline number 0800 701 701 or the police," said the Minister.
