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Some of the contraband that was found during an unannounced raid at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein on 28 November 2024.
Inmates who were found with contrabands during an unannounced raid at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein are going to be criminally charged. That’s according to Correctional Services National Commissioner, Makgothi Thobakgale.
The operation was meant to root out contraband at the facility.
Cash, dagga, USB cables, cellphones, chargers, cigarettes and tobacco are some of the contraband that was discovered during the raid.
Thobakgale says they’re running a cashless centre, so inmates aren’t supposed to have money. He indicates that those who were found with the items will be disciplined.
“The items that we found today reflect that there are security issues because we’re not supposed to find these items in a correctional setting, but it’s in the nature of correctional facilities throughout the world that there would be those blind spots. We’re going to investigate the root causes and continue to improve our security systems. We have cellphones here, and we’ve got money – offenders are not supposed to have cash, we run a cashless society. There are cards that we issue to them where we load whatever amount they have. We have some dagga here which shows that there is a circulation of such. It’s a small amount but for us, this is not supposed to be there at all.”
The search operation follows the launch of Operation Vala earlier in the day which happened at the neighbouring Grootvlei Correctional Centre.
The operation also intends to prevent escapes.
Operation Vala is a festive campaign to prevent contraband smuggling during the busy Christmas period, with increased numbers of visitations for inmates.
Thobakgale believes the operation has previously proved to have been a success in keeping inmates occupied during the festive season.
Inmates who were found with contraband will be included in their criminal record which could affect the consideration of parole.
Thobakgale says he’s satisfied that they’ve taken action and are cleaning up correctional facilities.
