Authorities at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein have been held up in talks with inmates who had taken three wardens hostage. The incident happened at the prison's high security section, where a group of inmates also set fire to about 10 cells.

The inmates are demanding to be transferred to prisons close to their hometowns. Officials have confirmed that the prison employees are unharmed. 

In a similar incident earlier this year, inmates at the same prison went on the rampage and set fire to prison cells.