Inmates have no right to coordinate crime from behind bars
28 September 2025
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says that prisoners do not have the right to unfettered communication beyond prison walls, especially when they are coordinating crime from behind bars. The Mayor was responding to the South African Prisoner Organisation for Human Rights’ opposition to the City’s calls for signal-blocking and communication interception strategies to be piloted at Pollsmoor prison.
‘Prisoners simply do not have the right to communicate freely beyond the prison walls. We have real examples of the police and prosecutors doing good work to get gangsters put away, only for them to continue to run their criminal gangs from inside prison. That makes a mockery of the criminal justice system. To suggest that these prisoners have an entrenched right to do as they please while behind bars is simply ludicrous.
‘Inmates should be able to communicate with family and legal representatives, using the prison’s fixed line telephones. Even then, these calls are often monitored to ensure no crime is being committed.
‘We know for a fact that underworld figures inside Pollsmoor are pulling strings on the outside, including extortion threats and disruptions of City infrastructure projects.
‘That is why a concerted effort is needed to block these communications from causing harm to communities. That includes raids to remove illicit cellphones, technology to pinpoint illegal cellphone use and intercept communications, and yes, where necessary signal-blocking if that’s what it takes to protect residents on the outside from criminal threats. Inmates must know if they try to coordinate crime, they will be caught and prosecuted with ease thanks to the correct technology being in place,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.
The Mayor wrote to Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald this month to call for the piloting of signal-blocking and other measures at Pollsmoor. The City has received various reports that crime and extortion activity is being coordinated by phone from within the prison. On a recent roads project inspection in Bishop Lavis, the Mayor was also informed that the contractor had left the site due to extortion threats made by phonecall from an inmate in Pollsmoor.
Mayor Hill-Lewis has offered the City’s support in various ways, including:
• Intelligence-sharing to identify patterns of criminal activity emanating from Pollsmoor
• Technical and logistical support to install signal blocking technology
• Raising public awareness to support these efforts
‘Besides dealing with the use of cellphones, we further urge the Department of Correctional Facilities to consider lifestyle audits of wardens and staff. Information provided to the City illustrates that corruption and extortion is rife, allowing criminal elements to continue their crimes unabated. The reality is that prohibited devices such as phones are brought into facilities either by staff themselves, or by not searching inmates properly. This kind of corruption fuels the criminal economy inside prisons and undermines justice. Along with stronger enforcement around parolees, the urgent rollout of lifestyle audits for wardens can make a significant difference in cleaning up the system and restoring integrity,’ said Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security.
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
