Security body calls for termination of G4S contract with correctional services
The Association of Private Security Owners of South Africa (Tapsosa) has called for the contract between the Correctional Services Department and security company G4S to be terminated with immediate effect.
The association was on Thursday briefing the public on the role played by the security company in the elaborate escape of convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester from prison.
It’s understood Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola will announce this week whether the contract his department entered into with G4S will be cancelled.
G4S came under fire after Bester escaped from the Mangaung Correctional Centre in a ruse that involved his cell going up in flames.
Thabo Bester’s escape from the privately run prison, which is managed by G4S, raised concerns about the state of public-private correctional facilities in South Africa.
Members of the Association of Private Security Owners of South Africa seemingly battled to agree on whether or not security company G4S should take accountability for Bester’s sophisticated escape.
Some members were opposed to calls for the government to cancel its contract with G4S, saying that it will only overburden the correctional services system.
However, Tapsosa president Jones Maphalaphathwa said the British multinational security company failed on its mandate.
“This company that has been contracted has not taken responsibility. If it was a local company to be involved in such a case you would imagine what would happen by now.”
Tapsosa said there’s a glaring omission from the company that more employees at the Mangaung Correctional Centre appeared to have known about Bester’s prison break.
-EWN
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