Lamola was addressing men and women of the department during a service held at the Goedemoed Correctional Facility Centre in the Free State to honour Stuurman and all other women on Friday 30 August 2019.

He adds that a maximum sentence should be introduced against the perpetrator who also raped Stuurman's colleague during the heinous crime in March 2019.

Lamola says the passing of Stuurman now calls on all officials to now, more than ever before, prioritise conditions of employment of female officials who face enormous challenges at centres across the country and in society.

Religious leaders currently performing a cleansing ceremony inside a room where the slain Nomsa Stuurman was brutally murdered by an inmate who also raped a colleague. VIDEOGRAPHER: Lucky Nkuyane

He says the department owes it to Stuurman to realise the safety of female officials in correctional facilities.

He further adds the department will up their efforts against violence toward women and deal decisively with perpetrators of such violence in memory of Stuurman.

She was allegedly stabbed in the neck with a pair of scissors and it is further alleged that her colleague was raped by this inmate, who has since been sent to one of South Africa' maximum prisons in Ebongweni Correctional Centre in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal.  

Stuurman's colleague who was raped by the inmate was released after hours of negotiations with the prisoner after the ordeal. The woman is said to be on special leave.

OFM News