Staff integrity failures far more often drive prison escapes than physical security breaches, as corruption, negligence, fatigue, inadequate training, and informal rule-breaking by staff are prevalent in the majority of successful escapes, even in high-security or super-maximum facilities, an expert says.

This is as the country saw multiple escapes of inmates from prisons, en route to court, and inside the police holding cells, as prisoners exploited the systems to grant themselves freedom.

Professor Nirmala Gopal, a senior criminology lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), said that physical weaknesses, such as ageing infrastructure, blind spots, or faulty locks, usually become relevant only after human controls fail. 

In 2025, South Africa saw fewer inmate escapes from prisons across the country.

“The academic consensus is that prison security is fundamentally an organisational and ethical issue. Although walls, technology, and design reduce opportunity, it is staff professionalism and integrity that ultimately determine whether escapes occur,” she stated.

Gopal added that the issue of prison overcrowding presents a significant challenge to correctional facilities, fundamentally altering the dynamics of security and inmate management. 

“While traditional security measures, such as high walls and fortified perimeters, may deter some escape attempts, research indicates that these physical barriers are insufficient to compensate for the vulnerabilities arising from overcrowding,” she said.

Gopal added that an evidence-based approach to escape prevention would reorient security from walls to people and systems. 

“The literature supports: reducing overcrowding through population management and alternatives to detention; strengthening staff integrity via recruitment standards, continuous training, rotation of duties, and robust anti-corruption mechanisms. It also supports improving staff-to-inmate ratios and addressing fatigue and burnout; intelligence-led inmate profiling that dynamically reassesses risk based on behaviour, not notoriety alone; and integrating physical security as a supporting layer, not the core solution,” she stated.

Research shows that prisons with strong professional cultures, procedural legitimacy, and accountable management experience fewer escapes even without extreme fortification. In short, the evidence suggests that sustainable escape prevention lies in organisational health and ethical control, with infrastructure serving as reinforcement rather than the primary defence, Gopal said.

Among the incidents are the six suspects who escaped through a hole in the wall at Lydenburg police station in Mpumalanga in December 2025. One suspect, Clayton Flank, was later rearrested.

In November 2025, Jakob September, a life-term prisoner for rape and murder, escaped while performing work duties at the animal grazing area within the prison grounds of Helderstroom Correctional Facility, in the Western Cape. He was rearrested.

In February 2025, Yanga Wayithi, an inmate serving time for theft, escaped by exploiting CCTV blind spots and working within the Pollsmoor facility in the Western Cape. He was rearrested.

Inmate John Mpelo slipped out due to a warrant verification failure, and Jordan Adams used a false identity in September 2025 at Pollsmoor Prison. They were recaptured.

In October 2025, at Strand Magistrate’s Court, three remand prisoners vanished from locked cells with no sign of forced entry, suggesting ‘systemic rot’ within the South African Police Service (SAPS).

In August 2025, seven awaiting-trial prisoners escaped from a police van along the N11 in the Model Kloof area near Ladysmith while being transported back to Ladysmith Prison from the Dundee Magistrate’s Court, in KwaZulu-Natal. Six of them were facing charges for a violent armed robbery committed in April, and one was facing a rape charge.

An inmate, Dumisani Mthethwa, who was serving a 15-year sentence for aggravated robbery, escaped at Waterval Correctional Centre in August 2025 while assigned to a work team in the prison garden. He was later recaptured by the SAPS and moved to a higher-security facility.

National Commissioner of Correctional Services Makgothi Thobakgale, while addressing the media after three inmates escaped from Pollsmoor Prison, stated that security and administrative controls were being tightened up.

In December 2025, Nicholas Gotsell, DA NCOP member on Security and Justice, expressed concern after a detainee escaped from police custody in the Western Cape in just over a month.

“This is no longer a policing failure; it’s a collapse. In the past few weeks alone, detainees have escaped from Wynberg, Strand, Bellville, Sea Point, and now Robertson. These are all established precincts with longstanding infrastructure and procedures, yet criminals continue to walk out of custody with ease,” Gotsell stated. 

The Department of Correctional Services has previously stated that escapes that happen in courts, en route to court, and in the police holding cells are a responsibility of the SAPS. The department is responsible for escapes that happen in prisons.

A request for comment was sent to the SAPS national spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, and her comments will be added once received.

gcwalisile.khanyile@inl.co.za

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