S.Africa: Liberals & Liberals: DA demands proactive measures to address prison smuggling networks
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DA demands proactive measures to address prison smuggling networks
28 March 2025
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Security and Justice to request an urgent joint engagement with the Ministers of Police and Correctional Services. The joint engagement seeks clarity on joint anti-smuggling strategies within their Departments in order to proactively address the scourge of crime involving gangsterism and drugs in the Western Cape and, in particular, on the Cape Flats.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes confirmation from Minister Pieter Groenewald that disciplinary action has been taken against Pollsmoor prison warden Bruce van Rensburg, who allowed an inmate to film a TikTok video using a cell phone – an item strictly prohibited in correctional centres. The video depicts the warden extorting a c-voucher (correctional services currency) in exchange for not confiscating the phone. The official has been suspended, and a criminal case opened with the SAPS.
While this response is noted, the DA maintains that reactive steps are not enough. We demand to know what proactive measures are in place to prevent smuggling and corruption in our prisons. Cell phones and other illicit goods are rampant, enabling gang operations and extortion schemes from within prison walls.
More alarming is growing evidence of SAPS involvement in smuggling syndicates. Two police officers were recently arrested — one for possession of cocaine, and another for smuggling drugs into the George Court for detainees. This confirms the DA’s concerns that corruption is not isolated but systemic.
The DA reiterates its call for expanded virtual court hearings to reduce detainee movement — a key channel for contraband entering prisons.
We have written to the Chairperson of the Select Committee on Security and Justice to request a joint engagement with the Ministers of Police and Correctional Services. We seek clarity on anti-smuggling strategies and reaffirm our position that the gang and drug wars plaguing Western Cape communities are inextricably linked to what happens behind prison walls.
It is time for coordinated, transparent, and accountable action.
Issued by Nicholas Gotsell, DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice, 28 March 2025
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