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Search on for C-Max 'Houdini'
20/11/2006 08:14 - (SA)
Johannesburg - A search around the clock was continuing on Monday for an awaiting trial prisoner who became the first inmate to beat the high-security C-Max prison in Pretoria.
"We haven't slept at all for nearly two days and are still searching for him," said police spokesperson Captain Arnold Boonsthra on Monday morning.
Annanias Mathe, 29, a Mozambican national, escaped from the country's most secure prison on Saturday night, a first-time feat since the institution was built 36 years ago.
It is believed that the "Houdini" stripped and covered his entire body with petroleum jelly to climb out of a window measuring 20cm x 60cm.
Boonsthra said Mathe appeared to have uncuffed himself, climbed through several small windows after breaking them and forced himself out onto the roof of the prison.
Correctional Services' Bheki Manzini said, on the Pretoria News website, the escape was carried out with military precision.
Not Mathe's first escape
Mathe apparently broke two steel bars from his bed which he wedged on either side of the window to help him slide his shoulders through.
He apparently took another steel pipe from his bed and made a hook. He then tied his clothes and bed linen to it and used that to slide out of the cell down the firewall.
Halfway down, Mathe used some of the grime he had collected on his way down the wall to write a note to prison officials saying: "Fuck you".
Boonsthra could not confirm reports that Mathe may have colluded with prison officials during his escape. "I can't divulge anything at this stage. Police are busy with investigations," he said.
This was not Mathe's first escape from custody.
Manzini said: "In April 2005 he escaped while in police custody. At the time he was housed next to the staff office to monitor him closely."
It initially took a task team nine months to arrest Mathe.
Boonsthra urged anyone with useful information to call Captain Fires Jansen van Vuuren on 082 822 8174 or Inspector Selepe on 082 225 2230.
"Members of the public should contact police and not try to arrest him on their own because he is dangerous," said Boonsthra.
- SAPA
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