Two fires in two weeks at Krugersdorp Prison

A second fire was started by prisoners at the Krugersdorp Prison on Friday 28 October.

It is believed that prisoners in the J-Max section of the prison started setting their highly flammable mattresses alight early that morning. The prison guards allegedly had to extinguish the flames twice before they decided to remove the mattresses from the prisoners’ cells.

The guards moved all the mattresses out of the cells and into one of the corners. The prison is designed in a ‘L’ shape with two cells at one end and five at the other end. The mattresses were allegedly moved into the shorter end of the section.

It is believed the prisoners then continued setting fire to the mattresses by allegedly using a roll of toilet paper as a makeshift fuse that ran from one of the cells to the pile of mattresses.

Apparently a fire then broke out and the guards had to move the prisoners from their smoke-filled prison cells to a safe area. These details were not supplied by the prison itself and have yet to be confirmed.

The fire was extinguished by guards, eight of them being injured in the process. They were later transported to a hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

Twelve of the 61 prisoners incarcerated in the unit also suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to external public hospitals for treatment. Two of the prisoners, one suffering from epilepsy and the other suffering from asthma, received more extensive treatment and remained in hospital.

The previous case of arson happened exactly one week ago, on Friday, 21 October. In the first arson incident, the communal section of the prison was gutted by a fire. Six guards were injured in this incident and four inmates suffered smoke inhalation injuries. They were all released from hospital on the same day.

Zack Modise, the National Correctional Centre Commissioner assured the public in an earlier statement that Correctional Services is committed to doing everything possible to keep its prisoners safe and secure, and to ensure a humane period of incarceration.

“The non-negotiable fundamentals for successful implementation of all other interventions include the devotion of Correctional Services officials to correcting offending behavior and rehabilitating the prisoners,” Modise said.

However, Modise also stated that no grievance or amount of anger could ever justify the destruction of State property worth thousands or millions of rand, while also putting lives of other offenders, service providers and correctional officials at risk.

“This is a clear act of hooliganism, which will never be tolerated by this department.”

Three perpetrators have been identified and face criminal charges. Internal disciplinary steps and criminal proceedings will be instituted against perpetrators which could result in, among others, downgrading of privileges, and additional jail sentences for defacing or damaging State property.

“Security has since been stepped up in the facility,” said Manelisi Wolela, a spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services. “An emergency support team has also been deployed to monitor the situation.”

The prison has not yet established who started the latest fire, but has launched an internal investigation and opened a case of arson at the Krugersdorp Police Station. “The arson incident has been reported to the police for criminal investigation and possible prosecution,” Wolela said.

Raynolf Ndema, Acting Regional Commissioner of Gauteng, visited the prison and said everything was back to normal after the incident.

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