WATCH | Prisons department to intensify ‘surprise searches’

Pieter Groenewald

Johannesburg – South African police raided Johannesburg’s main prison overnight, seizing contraband items including knives and smart phones, an official said on Thursday, amid warnings of a new crackdown on prisoners.

The surprise search late Wednesday came days after authorities raided a Cape Town prison shown in a viral TikTok video posted by an inmate who boasted of good conditions there.

The raid at the Johannesburg Prison also recovered marijuana, PlayStations, flat-screen televisions, designer perfumes, WiFi routers, manicure nail kits and screw drivers, a statement said.

Inmates “should not be allowed to have luxury items inside the facilities,” correctional services portfolio chairperson, Kgomotso Ramolobeng, said in the statement.

Videos from local media showed a large number of law enforcement officers with dogs searching prisoners lined up in corridors or with their hands up against a wall.

The prisons department will intensify “surprise, spot and unannounced” searches, a spokesman said in news reports.

The TikTok video bragging about conditions in jail enraged South Africans, who are angry about the cost of living and soaring crime rates.

It showed a man in a yellow overall speaking to the camera and saying: “You put us in prison and think we are suffering. No, my brother, we are doing extremely fine look how happy we are.”

“We are not even paying rent, we are not buying electricity,” he said, adding meals and education were free.

The video, which has had around 4.1 million views, prompted police to raid the prison where they seized cellphones and other contraband.

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Source: AFP

Picture: X/@BafanaSurprise

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