Female correctional officer raped, killed inside prison

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services has appealed to authorities to leave no stone unturned in finding the perpetrator responsible for the death of a female correctional officer at the Leeuwkop Correctional Centre in Johannesburg.

Committee Chairperson Bulelani Magwanishe said according to reports the officer was found dead on Wednesday night (August 11) at the facility.

“It is suspected that the officer, whose lifeless body was found where she had been booked to work at the COVID-19 isolation ward, might have been strangled and raped. A blood-stained towel was found within the same vicinity, indicating that the perpetrator of such a vile crime had ample time to try to clean up the evidence,” Magwanishe said.

Magwanishe appealed to the authorities to find the perpetrator and deal with them harshly in terms of the law.

“I will request the Department of Correctional Services for a full report on this matter from the centre management of Leeuwkop,” Magwanishe said.

The chairperson expressed his sincere condolences to the deceased’s family, friends and the DCS family for their loss. 

Meanwhile, the Police and Prison Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) has also expressed its shock on the murder, especially by fellow correctional officers who failed to save their colleague’s life.

Union spokesperson Richard Mamabolo says heads must now roll at the department.

Mamabolo says her body was only found after the husband of the deceased officer had begun searching for her.

“It is widely established that the officer reported for duty on Tuesday at 7am, and was only discovered after 9pm when her husband made inquiries into her whereabouts.”

The union has called for the immediate suspension of a string of top officials at the prison.