A senior official at a Durban prison has been suspended following allegations of an affair with a prisoner.
The scandal comes after two Department of Correctional Services employees were dismissed this month, following a viral video of an official and inmate having sex.
The official is stationed at the Durban Westville Female Correctional Centre, according to a report by the Sunday Tribune.
The official and prisoner were reportedly caught in the act at the beginning of the month in a conference room at the correctional centre. The woman is reportedly serving a 20-year sentence for murder.
The suspension of the member, who cannot be named, comes at a time when a female prison warden, who was filmed in a sex romp with a male prisoner at Ncome Correctional Facility, was fired last week.
Potentially ‘damaging’ allegations
Provincial department spokesperson Thulani Mdluli told News24 that an investigation is under way.
He said:
We have received these disgusting allegations and the internal departmental investigation is under way. The official in question is currently put on suspension pending the outcome of the investigation.
Mdluli added that the departmental code of conduct “is against any improper, disgraceful or unacceptable” actions by an official on duty.
“These allegations have the potential of damaging the image of the Department of Correctional Services, which can never be tolerated. If these allegations implicate any official, serious disciplinary actions will be taken against that official,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Department of Correctional Services dismissed two officials from Ncome Correctional Facility in KwaZulu-Natal following a sexual video involving a correctional official and an inmate that flooded social media in March.
The inmate involved was reclassified into maximum category and moved to another facility.
