Image by Jody Davis from Pixabay
Image by Jody Davis from Pixabay
A member of the notorious 28’s gang who was an inmate at Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison has died after an altercation with a warder over the weekend.
Following a search of cells in the B2 block in which weapons and contraband were found, the inmate pounced on a warder, stabbing him in the neck and head before suffering a fatal head injury.
Pollsmoor inmate dies
It is understood that the incident took place as warders were escorting the inmates back to their cells. The inmate in question seized the opportunity to draw a weapon and inflict two stab wounds on the warder before being disarmed by other warders who piled onto him.
Western Cape Correctional Services Commissioner, Delekile Klaas, confirmed that the investigations into the incident will focus on it’s gang-related elements. He suggested that there may have been a “ritual” element to the attempted killing of the warder.
“This incident is gang-related because the offender who stabbed the official is a senior member of the 28s gang and this could be part of a gang ritual that was taking place,” Klaas said.
Three separate investigations underway
Pollsmoor is inhabited by some of the country’s most hardened gang members, and the 28s have more members than any other group. The 28s apparently work in the prison kitchen or in agriculture, where they are alleged to find opportunities to smuggle drugs into the prison.
Three separate investigations have been launched, with an internal investigation supplemented by those conducted by the Judicial Inspectorate of Correctional Services, as well as the South African Police Service (SAPS).
