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"IT is a disgrace that a member of the public, and a family member, needed to inform the prison services that somebody in their care had died."

Allyson Vine, aunt of murder suspect Grant Harris, says this is what she said to a Pollsmoor Prison official when she phoned the institution on Monday, 4 February to enquire about her nephew's death. The official didn't know what she was talking about.

Vine was told that the facts would be checked, after which she would be informed of what is going on, but never heard from the official again.

Harris had already died on Saturday, allegedly due to an overdose of tablets after he was admitted to Victoria Hospital the previous night.

Vine says she was only informed of her nephew's death when his guardian, Glen Harris, received a call of commiseration.

Harris (23) was being held at Pollsmoor Prison, charged with the double murder of his parents, Deborah (56) and Garth Harris (53), at their Diep River house in July last year. During the shooting, Grant turned the gun on himself and sustained a gunshot wound to the head, but survived.

During the ensuing court case, it was reported that Harris had planned to commit suicide, and wanted to save his parents the pain after he had witnessed their devastation when their other son died in a car accident.

According to Vine, Harris suffered from severe depression and could be described as suicidal. He was supposedly under 24-hour suicide watch in a maximum security hospital ward at Pollsmoor at the time of his death.

She said that even though Deborah was her sister, she could not turn her back on Grant, and now has many questions about his death.

"If he was kept under 24-hour watch, how could he save enough pills to commit suicide?"

Vine was told by hospital staff that when Harris was admitted, they did not inform the family as prison officials told them he had none, or they were overseas at the time - this after she left her contact number with at least four departments. Vine says she has requested a full investigation into the matter.

A funeral for Harris was held on Wednesday last week at the Plumstead Methodist Church. About 100 people attended the service that was conducted by Reverend James Gribble. Vine says the message from John 8:7 was especially meaningful: "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone."

"I would not wish him back under the circumstances, but we do not know how it felt for someone in his shoes," she says.

"When he woke up after the shooting he could not even remembered what happened - he was very shocked," she said.

* People's Post experienced the similar problems when asking for information from the Department of Correctional Services.

The paper received a tip-off on Friday, 1 February that Harris was in a critical condition after an overdose of medication.

After repeated enquiries to the Western Cape Department of Correctional Services spokesperson, Mark Solomons, it could not be established what condition Harris was in, or if he was dead or alive.

Queries sent to Victoria Hospital also went unanswered.

Now, a week later, there are still no answers from the prison. On Friday last week People's Post lodged a complaint with the Department of Correctional Service's chief director of communication, Manelisi Wolela, who noted the complaint with concern, and agreed to look into the matter, but at the time of going to press, no explanation had been received.

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