CAPE TOWN - KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi did not mince his words as he called out correctional facilities as being breeding grounds for crime and gangs.
He said those arrested walk in ignorance of the reality, only to be ‘coached into numbers’ and become hardened criminals while in prison.
Mkhwanazi was speaking in Parliament on Wednesday during a summit aimed at addressing gang-related violence.
The summit brought together victims of gang-related violence, civil society organisations, community-based organisations and individuals working daily to combat gang violence.
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Mkwanazi also raised concerns about officials found to be on the wrong side of the law.
He referenced the recent arrest of a prison warden at a roadblock at Goodwood Prison who was allegedly busted with cellphones, 60 libido tablets, drugs valued at approximately R65,000 and other items in his vehicle.
Mkhwanazi said such incidents raise questions about whether or not correctional facilities are doing what the government intends them to do.
“The breeding ground is in prison. We arrest them, we send them to prison, and they become hard gangs, and they come out with new strategies, and the cycle continues again.”
Mkhwanazi urged the Portfolio Committee on Police to look into the entire criminal justice system, from law enforcement to correctional services, as well as the judicial authority.
“We have to look at the individuals that are employed there, whether they are not members of the gangs themselves. Because you can be in a gang as a police officer, gang as a lawyer, gang as a prosecutor, and gang as a magistrate or a judge… So nobody is immune. In the criminal way, they say everyone has a price."