Lamola: 37 000 smuggled phones have been confiscated in prisons

Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said more than 37 000 cellphones were confiscated in prisons throughout the country in the 2022/23 financial year.

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Smuggled phones confiscated in prisons

Only 24 prison officials were subjected to disciplinary proceedings for their role in smuggling in the cellphones during the same period.

According to IOL, this was revealed by Minister Ronald Lamola in responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Mathapelo Siwisa.

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Initially, the EFF member of parliament wrote to Lamola, noting the high number of inmates who have access to cell-phones inside prisons.

She then enquired about the total number of cellphones confiscated in the 2022/23 financial year, and measures in place to ensure that access to cellphones does not happen again.

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She also wanted to know about the total number of prison warders implicated in such cases, and the actions taken against those prison warders.

Minister Lamola responded in writing stating that a total of 37 243 cellphones were confiscated in prisons in the last financial year.

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The number of confiscated cellphones in prisons by provinces:

• Gauteng had the highest number of cellphones confiscated at 10 238
• KwaZulu-Natal 7 628
•  Western Cape 6 161
• Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West region 5 167
• Eastern Cape 4 501
• The Free State and Northern Cape region 3 548

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The minister also said a total of 24 prisons officials were found to have been involved in smuggling the cellphones into the facilities.

Eight officials have been dismissed after undergoing disciplinary hearings, with one of the officials appealing the sanction.

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