Rooigrond prison escape may have involved inside help, commissioner says
Correctional Services Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale says preliminary evidence suggests Edward Madiba may have received help to escape Rooigrond prison.
Preliminary findings suggest that escaped Rooigrond prisoner Edward Madiba may have received help from inside the correctional centre, National Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale says.
Madiba escaped from the maximum-security facility near Mahikeng in North West on Monday. It was his second escape from the centre.
Thobakgale told SABC News that damage to the cell door and burglar bars appeared to indicate that equipment had been used from outside the cell. He said the preliminary assessment led him to believe Madiba had not acted alone.
The commissioner has appointed an independent team from his office to investigate. He said officials from Rooigrond and the Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West regional structure would not take part, and that the investigators would report directly to him.
The inside-help theory is an initial assessment, not a completed finding. The investigation has not yet identified or charged any correctional official in connection with the escape.
Madiba was serving a 20-year sentence for robbery, possession of a firearm and ammunition, kidnapping and a parole violation. Authorities continued searching for him on Tuesday.
Correctional Services has not announced when the internal investigation will be completed. Any evidence of criminal conduct can be referred to police for a separate criminal investigation.