Crime
Western Cape prison crisis laid bare after escapes and deadly violence
A system cracking under strain
For years, whispers about instability inside Western Cape prisons have circulated quietly among staff, families, and rights groups. This week, those whispers turned into something far more concrete. A set of official investigations has laid out, in stark detail, how serious failures inside correctional centres led to inmate escapes, violent attacks on officials, and multiple deaths during 2025.
What emerges is not a story of one bad decision or a single negligent official. It is a picture of a system struggling with leadership gaps, weak controls, and the constant pressure of gangsterism and overcrowding.
Oudtshoorn: warning signs ignored
The first investigation focused on Oudtshoorn Correctional Centre, where tensions had already been building. After inmates resisted a contraband search in early August 2025, the environment inside the facility became volatile. The following day, a coordinated attack unfolded. Four correctional officials were stabbed, and inmate Simphiwe Celise later died during a physical confrontation with staff.
Investigators found that management failed to anticipate retaliation despite clear warning signs. Risk assessments were inadequate, command structures faltered, and the use of force did not always comply with official rules. Disciplinary steps are now set to follow for officials, managers, medical staff, and offenders involved.
Criminologists say this was not an unpredictable explosion of violence but a preventable breakdown that reflected deeper leadership failures.
Pollsmoor escape: not a paperwork mistake
The second investigation centred on Pollsmoor Remand Detention Facility and the release of inmate Thembalethu Inganathi Daba in September 2025. Early assumptions pointed to an administrative blunder. The investigation tells a far more troubling story.
Daba impersonated another inmate due to appear in court, bypassed identification checks, misrepresented himself before a magistrate, and walked out on warning. The escape went unnoticed until a routine roll call later that day. He was only re-arrested nearly two weeks later.
Officials confirmed this was a deliberate escape enabled by operational failures. Weak supervision, missing court lists, poor management oversight, and ineffective biometric controls all played a role. Criminal and disciplinary cases are now underway, alongside efforts to close the gaps that made the escape possible.
Deadly violence returns to Pollsmoor
A third investigation returned to Pollsmoor after an incident in October 2025 that left two officials stabbed and three remand detainees dead. The trigger was an unauthorised departure of officials from their posts, creating a security breach. The deceased inmates initiated the attack, and officials acted in self-defence. However, investigators found that some responding officers later used force outside prescribed limits.
The report highlighted failures in gang management, inmate supervision, and risk planning. In response, authorities are moving ahead with disciplinary action and corrective steps, including reclassifying inmates, tightening labour controls, and strengthening gang oversight.
Experts point to systemic collapse
Professor Nirmala Gopal from the University of KwaZulu-Natal described the findings as evidence of systemic weakness rather than isolated misconduct. In her view, known behavioural risks were left unmanaged, supervision failed at critical moments, and discipline collapsed when it mattered most.
She also supported the decision to handle criminal and disciplinary cases outside the Western Cape, calling it an admission that internal controls had failed. With high levels of violence and entrenched gangsterism, she argued that external oversight is necessary to restore credibility and safety inside correctional centres.
Extraordinary steps for an extraordinary crisis
Correctional Services National Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale confirmed that disciplinary action will extend to senior managers and that systemic weaknesses will be addressed. He has recommended that investigations and prosecutions be managed independently from the province, citing instability and organised criminal activity within facilities.
For many South Africans, these revelations confirm long-held concerns that prisons are not just overcrowded but dangerously under-governed. The challenge now is whether decisive action can reverse years of erosion before more lives are lost.
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Source: IOL
Featured Image: Cape Town ETC
