Rights activist Miles Bhudu says the government needs to contribute towards the burial of three inmates who died after clashes with wardens at St Albans Prison in Port Elizabeth.
The Department of Correctional Services has launched an investigation into the bloodbath on Monday that also left 13 warders injured, six critically.
Bhudu, president of the SA Prisoners’ Organisation for Human Rights (Sapohr), said Deputy Minister Thabang Makwetla and his commissioner Zach Modise needed to ensure the families of the deceased were assisted.
“They must take full responsibility and help those families with burying their loved ones whether they (families) can afford it or not,” he told Daily News.
The prison, which is on lockdown, has placed a ban on visits until further notice. He said Sapohr had little information about the prisoners who had died.’’
Makwetla and Modise visited injured officials at a hospital yesterday.
Makwetla’s spokesman Ntime Skosana said stringent security measures had been put in place at other prisons. “Every year we have Operation Vala, which ensures security is heightened at all our prisons during this time of the year. The St Albans case was an isolated incident which only affected a small part of the prison. But stability has been restored,” Skosana said.
It is believed the brawl was started when 33 inmates attacked officials with sharp objects.
Inmates told authorities they were unhappy because they wanted to be moved closer to their loved ones.