A late-night surprise raid at the Johannesburg Prison, famously known as "Sun City," exposed the nice life prisoners have behind bars. Various contraband and unwanted goods were uncovered at the prison during the Correctional Services clean-up operation.

CLEAN UP 

The operation was led by the National Correctional Services Commissioner, Makgothi Thobakgale, prison wardens and the police. Contraband such as cellphones, WiFi routers, PlayStation consoles and dagga are some of the things that were seized during the raid. "We are here as part of the clean-up operation that we have been engaged in for the past three months at different correctional facilities. These are correctional facilities that we have identified based on the information that we have been able to ascertain. We are actually, doing a search for contraband. Objects that are not allowed in the correctional facility, especially in the cells," he added.

Thobakgale added that there are offenders that have television sets in their cells, but they could not produce permits for them to have those sets. "Large amounts of marijuana, cigarettes and smoking materials were also found during the raid.There are offenders who also have cords, and these cords are used to transport contraband through the cells." He said those found with illegal items would be criminally charged in conjunction with the Correctional Services Act. "Firstly, we start with unit managers. In every unit, there is a unit manager who now needs to account for what we found here. The second thing is to tighten security, especially around the movements to court, movements to hospitals and even movements inside the centre," Thobakgale said.

PROBLEMATIC WARDENS

Meanwhile in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, two prison warders were arrested for attempting to smuggle dagga and a cellphone with accessories inside a prison. The two were caught during a surprise search as they reported for duty at 6.55am yesterday. "The South African Police Service processed the two officials, who are now facing criminal charges. Additionally, the Department of Correctional Services will initiate disciplinary proceedings in line with its policies and legal procedures," said correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo.