Spokesperson Sam Makhele told OFM News that this incident occurred Friday around 15:30, when two female officials found themselves held hostage by the inmate in a prison cell.

According to the information from the police, the sentenced prisoner, who was busy with cleaning duties, forced both officials in the office where he locked himself with them.

After the prison authorities realised that the wardens were held hostage, they then called on various teams, including the police, to manage the situation.

“A police hostage negotiator was dispatched to the scene and negotiated the release of the officials for almost three hours, after which the prisoner surrendered. When the response teams comprising of Correctional service officials and Tactical Response Team (TRT) entered the office they discovered a body of the 35-year-old warder full of blood due stab wounds sustained while held hostage. Her 33-year-old colleague was still alive and treated for shock as she appeared to be traumatised,” Makhele said.

The spokesperson also told OFM News that the survivor explained to police that she was raped by the inmate, which also now will form part of ongoing police investigations.

Meanwhile, the prisoner has been rearrested and taken into police custody. He will be charged with murder, rape and other charges might be added based on the outcomes of interviews with the survived warder and the results of post mortem.

Makhele said the details of the deceased warder and her fellow colleague will only be made known after their families were formerly notified.

The prison facility, which lies on the border between the Free State and the Eastern Cape, has made headlines in the past when OFM News reported in 2017 that one inmate died at the hands of another after a scuffle between the two broke out in a cell.

The regional spokesperson for the department, Puleng Mokhoane, at the time, said both offenders involved in the fight were mentally ill and were receiving treatment at the time. The autopsy report showed that the deceased inmate’s cause of death was strangulation.

OFM News