Last week the officer searched a prisoner and found live ammunition in his trousers’ back pocket.
The ammunition was taken away from the prison and investigation will follow to see where he got the ammunition from.
The Correctional Service Act 111 of 1998 and the B-Order Chapter 4 Section 1.0 state that all visitors must be searched properly by means of metal detectors and a manual body search before being allowed into the prison.
Furthermore it states that before offenders are allowed to leave the section for a visit, they must be properly identified and searched. Offenders must again be searched before they are allowed to enter the visiting area.
Section 3.1 of the order continues to stipulate that ‘Before the visitors can leave the visiting area and correctional facility they must again be positively identified against an official identification document. Visitors must be searched before leaving the prison. Offenders must first be positively identified, counted and leave the visiting area before visitors can be allowed to leave the visiting area. Before offenders are allowed back into their sections they must be thoroughly searched.’
Smuggling contraband, cell phones and money into a correctional centre by visitors does happen on a regular basis. More than 54 000 cell phones were confiscated in prisons in South Africa during the past three years.
The Department of Correctional Services is considering the use of electronic scanners to assist warders to notice when cell phones are smuggled into a Correctional Centre.
“Officials will continue to search visitors when entering a Correctional Centre for the safety of offenders and officials. But I also emphasized that searching should be conducted in a humane manner and visitors will be treated with respect. No member of the community should feel threatened when visiting a relative or someone behind bars,” said Ms Sharon Kunene Area Commissioner and Acting Regional Commissioner.
