Two prisoners escaped from Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre – the second prisoner escape in South Africa in recent days – by digging a hole through the wall of their cell.
Thabo Zacharia Muyambo, who was serving a life sentence for 21 charges including rape, robbery and kidnapping – and Johannes Chauke, jailed for 20 years for housebreaking offences, escaped on 8 December. In the Eastern Cape, Luzuko Sabatha and Lonwabo Ngqokwana – both serving sentences for kidnapping, assault, rape and stock theft – escaped from a prison in Makhanda on 12 December.
Inmates at Kgosi Mampuru II told The Sowetan that Muyambo and Chauke had dug a hole through the wall of their cell in the A Section of the prison. A hammer was found in the cell and it is believed that the escapees used a sharp object taken from the prison’s workshop to dig the hole.
Correctional Services spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo said the authorities were ‘hot on their heels’ of the Pretoria escapees, and that ‘the department has also initiated an internal investigation into this incident’. He urged the public to contact the nearest police station should they encounter the prisoners. In the Eastern Cape, a manhunt has been launched to find Sabatha and Ngqokwana.
[Picture: Ichigo121212 from Pixabay]