The head of the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services (JICS), retired Judge Edwin Cameron, believes the G4S security company has suffered a total breakdown in operational and oversight functions at the Mangaung Correctional Facility.
Cameron appeared before Parliament’s portfolio committee on justice and correctional services last week on the activities leading up to and after convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester’s escape from the Mangaung Correctional Centre last May.
Cameron says, “I asked the hands-on people, and there were three top Mangaung prison officials with us.. Was Bester a powerful guy inside the prison? They immediately said yes, they believed that he and Dr Magudumana were making a huge amount of money during lockdown, something like R20 million. So, it is a puzzle…”
“I said to Parliament that there must have been a total breakdown in all of the operational functions and line management and executive oversight of G4S, which is a terrible indictment of this whole company, not just locally but internationally,” Cameron added.
Below is the full interview with Judge Edwin Cameron on SAFM’s Sunrise programme:
[ON AIR] Last week, the Inspecting Judge of Correctional Services – Judge Edwin Cameron said that the Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola had been told of the Thabo Bester escape in October. He joins @StephenGrootes on #ThaboBester #SAfmSunrise #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/ioK87lEVO7
— SAfmRadio (@SAfmRadio) April 17, 2023
Last week, Cameron told Parliament’s Correctional Services Committee that he leaked the information to the investigative journalists of GroundUp.
COPE spokesperson Dennis Bloem says, “It is a total shame and a disgrace that the Inspecting Judge of Prisons, retired Judge Edwin Cameron had to turn to the media to leak the scandal of Thabo Bester out of desperation and determination for the Public to know of the so-called Prison Escape of Thabo Bester from the Mangaung Maximum Security Prisons…”
“Judge Cameron officially informed Minister Ronald Lamola about the Bester scandal immediately after the incident, but the Minister turned a blind eye and ignored Judge Cameron. Both the Minister and the Deputy knew about this scandal, that’s why we are calling on them to immediately resign…”
G4S appears before the oversight committee on Justice and Correctional Services
Additional reporting by Mercedes Besent
