The Department of Correctional Services continues to crack down on prisons. Last night, they conducted a raid at the notorious Westville Correctional Centre in Durban, KwaZulu Natal. This comes a week after a raid at the infamous Johannesburg Prison, known as Sun City. More than 200 correctional officials invaded Westville Prison together with the police, where illegal items including cellphones, drugs and money were confiscated.

FAMILIES ARE CULPRITS

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) national commissioner, Makgothi Thobakgale, said that some inmates go to court for appearances in the morning and return in the afternoon with cellphones and other contraband. "We search them, but many of these contraband items are hidden inside their bodies, so you need high-tech equipment to identify them. Thobakgale said they are also seeing an increase in families and friends of inmates smuggling items during visits. "Inmates receive visits from family members and friends who also bring contraband. They are not only bringing in cellphones but also drugs. They are essentially committing crimes, so we open cases against them, and they join the inmate population," Thobakgale added. He emphasised that the correctional services officials are also part of the problem, as they sometimes smuggle items for inmates. "Almost on a weekly basis, we catch and discipline them. We are working to clean the system from different angles." he said.

CELLPHONES TO BE DISABLED INSIDE PRISONS

According to Thobakgale, the department is exploring technology-centred solutions to disable smuggled cellphones inside the prisons. "These raids happen at intervals. As we are searching here, there are searches in other regions. In some instances, we invite the media so we can send a message to people out there that we continue to do this work," the commissioner said.