Hill-Lewis wants cellphone signal jamming at Pollsmoor Prison

Minister of Correctional Services, Dr Pieter Groenewald has earmarked five facilities for a pilot project announced last year aimed at cellphone signal-blocking technology including Pollsmoor Prison which is set to be implemented by the end of the year, as Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis calls for its use.

In a statement released on Friday, Hill-Lewis said he had written to Groenewald, informing him that extortion and other crimes were being coordinated from within the prison.

"The City has received various reports that crime and extortion activity is being coordinated by phone from within Pollsmoor," Hill-Lewis said.

"On a recent roads project inspection in Bishop Lavis, I was informed that the contractor had left the site due to extortion threats made by phonecall from an underworld figure inside Pollsmoor.

"This shows we must do more than just jail criminals, we have to prevent their ability to coordinate crime from within prisons.

"I have written to [Groenewald] to offer the City’s full support to pilot sophisticated signal-blocking tech at Pollsmoor.

"We have to flip the switch on cellphones in prisons, and we welcome the minister’s public commitments to cracking down on this."

Hill-Lewis said besides technology to jam signals and intercept communications from underworld figures inside prisons, Groenewald has publicly committed to intensify raids on illegal contraband including illicit cellphones in correctional facilities.

He said Groenewald also offered intelligence-sharing to identify patterns of criminal activity, technical and logistical support for installation, and initiatives to raise public awareness in support of the effort.

The Mother City's safety and security political head, JP Smith said city officers regularly encountered incidents of parolees committing repeat offenses.

"It is also common for arrested suspects to return to the streets due to the broken criminal justice system’s inability to secure convictions.

"We continue to call for reforms to the early parole system, and for criminal investigative powers to be devolved to our municipal officers to help the police gain more convictions by building prosecution-ready case dockets, especially for gang, gun, drug and extortion-related crime."

Euné Wessels, Media Liaison Officer for the office of Minister Groenewald Minister of Correctional Services said in response to that five facilities have already been earmarked since last year.

"Last year, the Minister announced the launch of a pilot project aimed at procuring sophisticated signal jamming technology to curb the use of cell phones within facilities," she explained.

"Five facilities have been identified for the pilot project, including Pollsmoor Correctional Centre.

"The Minister has set the expectation that this project be fully implemented by the end of this year.

"In the interim, targeted search operations are being carried out to detect and remove these devices. The Minister further emphasises the importance of close cooperation with the South African Police Service.

"Whenever intelligence is received from SAPS regarding the use of cellphones to facilitate further criminal activity, the Department acts without delay to hold those identified individuals accountable.

"The Minister therefore encourages members of the community to come forward with any information they may have about cellphone use in correctional facilities." 

Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel.

Cape Argus