IN PICTURES: How Rooigrond Prison inmates used bed linen to escape

Pictures showing how four inmates from the Rooigrond prison made the rounds on social media on Wednesday morning.

The pictures reveal that the prisoners used linen to escape through a window and climb down the walls before using more linen to climb over the prison fence.

The photos show how the prisoners tied the bed linen to the beds in their cell, and how the window was forced open. There was also a photo of the window covering lying on the ground beneath the cell.

Another photo shows how the prisoners used the linen to climb over the prison fence.

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo would not confirm whether the pictures showed how the inmates escaped from Rooigrond Prison.  

“We have only issued photos of the escapees,” he told The Citizen.

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), in a statement on Tuesday, claimed that only one prison official was on duty when the escape took place.

Nxumalo, however, denied this, saying there were 11 officials on duty in that specific section where the prison break took place.

“Officials are expected to render services as prescribed in the standard operating procedures,” the spokesperson said.

ALSO READ: Rapist, murderer, two others escape from Rooigrond prison

Six prisoners escape custody after armed men ambush police van

This follows an incident in January of a police truck transporting prisoners to Vosloorus Magistrate’s Court in Ekurhuleni was ambushed by three armed men with assault rifles.

It was alleged that the men ambushed the police vehicle at the corner of Barry Marais and Rondebult while it was en route to Vosloorus.

However, the men were re-arrested.

Eastern Cape

In an unrelated incident in Whittlesea it was reported that six dangerous prisoners had escaped from Sada Correctional facility.

It was alleged the escapees were dangerous, facing serious charges including murder, robbery, housebreaking and pointing of a firearm

The sources alleged the prisoners pointed the firearm at an unknown number of guards and forced them into a reception room before fleeing the centre.

It was alleged that one of the escapees was a notorious cash heist kingpin and a former East London cash-in-transit guard.

He was arrested together with his brother and an accomplice for allegedly robbing a cash van in Whittlesea in 2018.

The criminals worked for a leading cash security services company in East London and were on “sick leave” on the day they robbed a Fidelity cash van.

ALSO READ: 6 Eastern Cape prison escapees still at large, public warned not to approach