Nearly 200 former G4S employees say they were abandoned by DCS after the state takeover of Mangaung Correctional Centre.
Mangaung Correctional Centre. Picture: Gallo Images/Volksblad/Mlungisi Louw
The EFF (EFF) has accused the Department of Correctional Services of defying a Labour Court order to reinstate hundreds of former G4S employees at the Mangaung Correctional Centre, warning that the continued failure to comply leaves workers “in limbo” and violates their rights.
EFF MP Sam Matlatse has written to the Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, following Judge Tapiwa Gandidze’s ruling on 17 August 2026, which dismissed the department’s appeal against an earlier judgment.
G4S employees
Nearly 200 former G4S employees say they were abandoned by DCS after the state takeover of Mangaung Correctional Centre, leaving them without salaries, retrenchment letters or any certainty about their future.
The Mangaung Correctional Services Centre is the prison where the notorious Facebook rapist Thabo Bester escaped from.
On 1 July, DCS officially assumed full control of the Mangaung Correctional Centre, which has since been renamed Grootvlei Maximum Correctional Centre.
Instead of a blanket absorption of all former G4S staff, the department conducted a public recruitment process in which hundreds of former employees applied for positions.
Labour Court ruling
On 30 April this year, the Labour Court ruled that DCS’ takeover of the Mangaung Correctional Centre constituted a transfer under section 197 of the Labour Relations Act.
The affected G4S employees were therefore due to transfer to DCS on 1 July.
DCS subsequently brought an urgent application to suspend the order, but it was dismissed on 18 June.
The Labour Court officially refused the DCS and the minister leave to appeal a judgment declaring the state’s takeover of the facility a transfer of business as a going concern.
‘No success’
Judge Gandidze ruled that the state had no reasonable prospects of success, confirming that G4S employees will automatically transfer to the DCS under section 197 of the Labour Relations Act.
The court further noted that the state’s attempt to explain its late filing was “not candid,” ultimately refusing condonation for its delay.
That judgment compelled the department to automatically absorb former G4S employees on terms “not less favourable” than those they held before the termination of the G4S contract.
Economic hardship
Matlatse said the department’s inaction has left workers and their families facing severe socio‑economic hardship.
“To this date, the department has failed to put into action this order of the Labour Court, leaving hundreds of employees in limbo, and violating their rights,” he wrote.
Matlatse said EFF members serving on the Correctional Services Portfolio Committee, Nontando Nolutshungu and Carl Niehaus, have repeatedly raised the plight of the workers, citing their inability to honour debts and the financial strain caused by unemployment.
‘Clarity’
The letter demands clarity on whether the department intends to reinstate the workers, when such reinstatement will occur, or what legal grounds it will rely on to refuse compliance with the court order.
Matlatse stressed that the matter is urgent, affecting not only the livelihoods of the employees but also their families.
“Your urgent reply to this letter is therefore of critical importance. We are looking forward to your very expedited reply,” he concluded.
The Citizen has reached out to DCS for comment on the letter.
