KZN warders beat prisoner to death
2013-03-07 12:03
Durban - Eight warders at a KwaZulu-Natal prison are being
investigated for allegedly beating an inmate to death following a knifing in a
mess hall.
IOL reported on Thursday that the inmate is believed to have
stabbed two other inmates during breakfast at Durban Westville's Medium A
Prison.
The Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services revealed
the incident during a briefing to Parliament's correctional services oversight
committee on Wednesday.
Inspectorate chief executive Adam Carelse told the committee
that the incident was being investigated, but conflicting reports of the
incident had been received.
"Eight members .. restricted that inmate and they …
assaulted him, and I think tortured him, to the extent that he later died,"
he said.
"We did go into his medical history. He did not die of
anything else but being tortured, being beaten, being assaulted by eight
members of correctional services."
Shocked members of the parliamentary committee reportedly
said the officials must be suspended and charged, and that something needed to
be done to stem the tide of violence.
The correctional services department confirmed on Wednesday
that the warders had been suspended, and that the inmate's death was being
investigated.
The incident comes days after police allegedly beat a
Daveyton minibus taxi driver to death after dragging him behind a police
vehicle, and less than two months after an inmate died at the hands of warders
at Groenpunt Prison in the Free State.
