Mangaung Ruling | Court sets aside prison takeover

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has set aside the government's decision to take over Mangaung Correctional Centre, ruling that the Department of Correctional Services had no legal basis to assume control of the facility ten months after the escape of rapist and murderer Thabo Bester in May 2022.

The court further ordered that the Minister and the National Commissioner of Correctional Services repay at least R1.7 million to the private company that operates the maximum-security prison, finding that the intervention was unlawful.

For more on the judgment and its implications, we speak to Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo.

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