National Commissioner of Correctional Services Samuel Thobakgale could find himself behind bars for ignoring a court order to set free former Northern Cape ANC provincial chairperson John Block.
This is contained in an order by the Kimberley High Court which was issued on Friday demanding that Thobakgale must explain himself on why he ignored an order of the court.
The same court ruled and ordered on September 15 that Block must be released to go home within 21 days from that date.
At the time, the court had overturned the Upington Correctional Supervision and Parole Board’s decision to deny former ANC strongman parole and declared the action illegal and unconstitutional.
Block had applied for parole under the 2020 Covid-19 dispensation but the powers that be in correctional services sent him packing without rational reasons, according to the court.
In the latest judgment fingering Thobakgale for potential imprisonment, members of the Upington Correctional Supervision and Parole Board have also been given 30 days to show cause why they should not be found in contempt of court.
“A rule nisi is granted that the National Commissioner for Correctional Services, the members of the Upington Correctional Supervision and Parole Board who were members of the at 15 September, the head of correctional services in Upington and the regional commissioner: Northern Cape and Free State are ordered to show cause, within 30 days of this order, why they should not be imprisoned for a period of 30 days, for contempt of court,” reads the ruling.
Arrest from jail
The court further ordered correctional services administration head honchos should take all necessary steps to comply with the September 15 judgement ordering Block’s release no later than November 10.
Block was convicted of fraud, corruption and money laundering in 2015 and sentenced to a 15-year jail term. However, after years of exploring legal ways to avoid going to jail, Block finally started serving his sentence from 2018 at Upington prison.
In May this year, Block was arrested in jail and charged for R51-million tender fraud. The money was awarded to a company that did not meet the requirements, the state alleges.
The matter emanates from the arrest of a Northern Cape businessman over a R290-millon tender to build a mental health hospital. The tender had ballooned to R420-million when the project was declared complete.
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