Inmates’ mother concerned for health of her sons
The mother of two inmates incarcerated at the Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria says she’s deeply concerned about the health of her sons amid the outbreak of coronavirus.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, says the family last visited the pair almost three weeks ago.
The 28 and 35-year-olds were convicted of murder in 2017.
She says prison visits have been off-limits since the start of the national 21-day lockdown.
The mother claims they only learnt that they would not be able to see the boys after the lockdown begun.
“We normally see them once a week, on a Saturday for an hour and we can buy them their stuff like their soap and toothpaste for hygiene.
“Then on the news they said we couldn’t see then anymore and now my kids don’t have anything there. I believe there’s no sanitiser also and it’s very concerning for me.”
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She is afraid the two are fast running out of supplies.
“Now they’ve got nothing and I don’t know what to do.”
Last month government announced several measures to contain the spread of the virus at correctional service centres.
These included the ban of inmates receiving cash and other niceties physically from their family members.
The two inmates share a cell with 12 others, which anonymous says is a big concern.
“I don’t know if they tested.
“I’m very scared, if one of them here tests positive then it can be very dangerous for my kids as well, so that’s a very big concern for me.”
Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola launched a massive screening campaign for coronavirus in the Department of Correctional Services in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
This comes after an East London prison warden tested positive for Covid-19.