Jermaine Prim, an inmate at the Johannesburg Correctional Centre, continues to captivate the public psych. Hot on the heals of a letter he wrote from prison dropping bombshells that suggested a link between controversial businessman Vusimuzi Cat Matlala and the country’s number one citizen, Prim has followed up with an exclusive telephonic interview with eNCA journalist Heidi Giokos.
The television interview got Sports, Arts and Culture Minister and Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie hot under the collar after Prim made damning allegations that the minister has been dabbling in the drug underworld and that the minister has smuggled phones into prison for his use.
‘Dirty politics at play’
In a statement released by the PA on Sunday, McKenzie dismissed Prim’s claims as a dirty campaign aimed at tarnishing his name. “This is dirty politics at play. With the tremendous success of our party, and my work as a minister, we fully expected these kinds of campaigns ahead of a very important election,” McKenzie was quoted in the party’s statement.
Asked how he met Mckenzie, Prim told eNCA that his association with the minister had started when they met through a mutual friend around 2012. He said the relationship progressed to working together in PA’s by-election campaigns. “He then asked if I could please run a social media campaign and get people ground to help PA win in Riverlea,” Prim said in the television interview.
‘Prim has no credibility’
The PA’s statement poured cold water on Prim’s account, charging that nothing worth noting can come from a man of Prim’s disrepute.
“Prim is a convicted criminal currently serving a prison sentence for fraud, scams and theft. His credibility is not a matter of debate – it is absent. This individual has a proven history of deception, impersonation and manipulation. Among his laundry list of cases is a charge of impersonating the head of the National Prosecuting Authority himself.” the statement read.
Minister cries victim
The party claimed that McKenzie was in fact a victim of Prim’s scamming tricks. “Prim himself reached out to president McKenzie in 2020, from prison, as part of his broader pattern. At first, president McKenzie had no knowledge that he was communicating with a convicted inmate. He was deliberately misled into believing he was engaging with an ordinary member of the public who was presenting himself as someone willing to volunteer time, assist with marketing efforts and contribute to the growth of the Patriotic Alliance,” the statement read.
The eNCA interview sparked a controversy over how a telephonic interaction was facilitated with a prison inmate. The PA’s statement itself questioned the circumstances around the interview. “As for the eNCA interview, the circumstances under which it was conducted are extremely alarming. By his own account, Prim was able to initiate direct contact with a journalist from within a correctional facility. It raises questions about how such access was obtained; whether it was authorised, and whether correctional regulations have been breached.
Department to probe ‘breach’
The Department of Correctional Services an investigation had been launched into the facilitation of the interview. “The Department of Correctional Services strongly condemns the telephonic interview conducted between eNCA and offender Jermaine Prim at the Johannesburg Correctional Centre. A full-scale investigation has been instituted to determine how this incident occurred,” the department said in a statement on Sunday.
“This engagement, conducted without the approval of the national commissioner, represents a clear violation of established standard of operating procedures. Media houses are required to formally apply for permission to interview offenders, a process which ensures that security, legal processes and victims’ rights are not compromised. No such application was received or approved.”
