‘Wasn’t me’ — Correctional Services accused of shifting blame for criminal trio’s early prison release

The DA’S Nicholas Gotsell says the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) must come clean.

The DCS says it is not in the wrong.

Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald also says the DCS is not to blame and that questions should be posed to the Western Cape Department of Social Development.

The Social Development MEC in the province, Jaco Londt, has weighed in, saying Groenewald is “trying to take the heat off of his department by making unfounded accusations”.

And the Justice Ministry says the DCS is best placed to handle the saga.

The South African Police Service (SAPS), meanwhile, is investigating.

At the centre of this circle of finger-pointing is the early release of three convicts because of an apparent paperwork bungle.

Criminal crux

Last month, Daily Maverick reported on this saga involving murderers Mikyle Mentoor and Xolani du Preez, and rapist Me-Kayle Timmie, of Cape Town.

They had been convicted of separate crimes and sentenced. Because of their ages, they were initially detained in Cape Town’s Horizon Child and Youth Care Centre.

Read more: Paperwork problems and misinformation — how Cape Town murder and rape convicts ‘vanished’ from jail

They faced assault allegations while there, and a Western Cape High Court order, dated 31 July 2024, saw to it that they were transferred to Pollsmoor Prison.

After appearing in a Cape Town court, presumably for the assault matter, they were released instead of being returned to Pollsmoor, where they were serving their sentences.

Police investigation

DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo previously told Daily Maverick that the July 2024 high court order clarifying their sentencing status was sent only to the Horizon Centre.

Without this paperwork, the DCS apparently did not know that Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie were sentenced convicts.

Read more: Cape Town killer detained again after early jail release due to paperwork fiasco

Nxumalo said, “DCS acted within the legal framework at every stage of these individuals’ detention.

“Their initial admission, court movements and management were all conducted according to due process and in accordance with the documentation provided at the time.”

As of this week, Mentoor and Du Preez were back in custody, while Timmie was yet to be rearrested.

Western Cape police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk said the matter was under investigation.

“SAPS [in the Cape Town suburb of Mfuleni] is in communication with the Department of Correctional Services regarding the matter,” he said.

On Tuesday, 3 June, Justice and Constitutional Development spokesperson Terrence Manase told Daily Maverick: “After careful consideration, we believe that the Department of Correctional Services is the most appropriate authority to handle this matter.”

The DCS, based on what Nxumalo has said, believes it is in the clear.

Push for answers

This saga started developing about two months ago.

Gotsell got wind of the matter after Du Preez was rearrested in April on suspicion of robbery.

Questions about why Du Preez was not in prison at the time, as he had not yet served his sentence for murder, sparked queries about what had happened to his fellow youth centre detainees, Mentoor and Timmie.

Last month, Gotsell asked Groenewald’s office where the trio were, and the response was that they were in Pollsmoor.

Gotsell went to Pollsmoor and established that they were not there. (The DCS provided Daily Maverick with the release dates of Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie — each date was before Groenewald’s office responded to Gotsell, also suggesting that the three were not in Pollsmoor.)

He referenced this “false information” in subsequent media releases about the saga.



On Tuesday, 3 June, Groenewald addressed the issue in Parliament during a security and justice committee meeting. He confirmed his office had told Gotsell that Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie were in Pollsmoor.

Groenewald said he had received the information from officials.

‘I never lied’

He was emphatic that he had not lied. “If I am accused of lying … it means that that person has correct information … and deliberately gives false information…

“Now let me put it straight, I never lied,” said Groenewald. He planned to meet prison officials to discuss the matter.

A few days earlier, on Friday, 30 May, Groenewald issued a statement effectively clearing the DCS of responsibility for the release from Pollsmoor of Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie.

Read more: Jailhouse rot – SA prisons plagued by a cellphones, cash, drugs, knives and alcohol smuggling hub

The statement referenced Gotsell, but not by name, saying he had “inaccurately” described Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie as missing from the DCS.

The statement said the SAPS transported remand detainees (those awaiting completion of the matters against them, as was thought to be the case with Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie) to the courts.

The statement added that after Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie were taken separately from Pollsmoor to court, the DCS had not received court orders for their continued detention.

Read more: Calls for urgent overhaul of parole system following disturbing crimes against children

“Without these legal documents, DCS could not lawfully detain individuals beyond their scheduled court appearances,” said Groenewald.

“The investigation also found that the court order dated 31 July 2024, which would have clarified their sentencing status, was sent to Horizon Child and Youth Centre and not DCS.

“DCS acted within the legal framework at every stage of these individuals’ detention. Their initial admission, court movements and management were all conducted according to due process and in accordance with the documentation provided at the time,” said Groenewald.

This word-for-word matched a statement Nxumalo previously sent to Daily Maverick.

The Horizon Centre, said Groenewald, fell under the Western Cape’s provincial Department of Social Development.

His statement added: “[Groenewald] emphasises that MEC Jaco Londt should also appear to account for the role of the provincial Department of Social Development and the ramifications of their omissions.”

‘Misleading’

Londt hit back, telling Daily Maverick that Groenewald’s reference to him was “misleading”. He said his department had made no “omissions”.

Londt provided further details about the 31 July 2024 court order that resulted in Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie being transferred from the Horizon centre to Pollsmoor.

It had been argued that the trio posed a “great risk” to those at the Horizon centre, including staff and children, as illustrated by the assault that occurred there.

“The high court order remained active, even when the awaiting-trial matter related to the three individuals concluded in the magistrates’ court,” said Londt. “This means they were to continue being detained at Pollsmoor, due to the continued risk they posed to the children and staff at Horizon.”

‘Unfounded accusations’

A second part of the court order was set down for October to determine where the three (that is, if Timmie is located) would continue serving their sentences.

Londt said: “It is unfortunate that the national minister is trying to take the heat off of his department by making unfounded accusations. Our department had nothing to do with the alleged ‘disappearances’ of the offenders.”

Read more: Murder of ‘stabbed, bitten’ Cape Town inmate probed, Mangaung jail killing ‘cover-up’ exposed

Londt said there had “clearly” been a lapse between the DCS and the magistrates’ court where the three had appeared and from where they were released.

“Instead of pointing fingers at the wrong people, Minister Groenewald should instead be focused on finding the problem and resolving it to avoid a situation where dangerous individuals can roam the streets,” he said.

‘Cover up’ and ‘consequences’

Gotsell also reacted to Groenewald’s 30 May statement: “It is clear the minister is being misled by officials desperate to cover a shocking administrative failure that endangered public safety,” he said.

“The minister’s attempt to shift blame to the Western Cape Department of Social Development is misleading. That department has no role in custodial decisions, warrants or the implementation of court orders. Those responsibilities fall squarely on Correctional Services and the courts.”

Gotsell said Groenewald’s office had earlier in May told him that Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie were detained in Pollsmoor at a time when they had already been released.

Read more: Crammed Cape Town prison ‘needs urgent assessment’ after inmate’s murder, four suspensions

“That false assurance is now the lie the minister is trying to cover up,” he said.

This is the issue that Groenewald addressed in Parliament on Tuesday, when, he said: “If I was given the wrong information, then there will be severe consequences.”

So, while the DCS has said it acted by the book in terms of the release of Mentoor, Du Preez and Timmie, the SAPS is in contact with the department as it tries to get to the bottom of the issue.

The Justice Ministry says the DCS is most suited to dealing with the matter.

And while Groenewald says the DCS acted within the law in terms of the sentenced trio’s release, he has not ruled out that officials may have fed him inaccurate information. DM