A parliamentary portfolio committee on justice and correctional services briefing on Thabo Bester’s escape has been postponed indefinitely to allow summons to be issued to G4S.
G4S, the operator of the Mangaung Correctional Centre from which Bester escaped in May 2022, failed to attend the briefing as requested.
Instead, the company sent its lawyers to attend the briefing on its behalf.
In a letter to the committee, G4S stated its inability to attend and suggested that it be officially summoned, preferably after the Easter weekend.
Bulelani Magwanishe, chairperson of the committee, told committee members that G4S had cited “confidentiality obligations” as the reason for its absence.
Magwanishe made it clear that G4S had been invited to attend the meeting, but chose chose not to be present.
Among those who attended were Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola, officials from his department, and MPs.
Glynnis Breytenbach, a member of the DA, expressed her displeasure and suggested that the company’s failure to attend points to a possibility that it has something to hide.
“It’s very clear that they have something to hide. If they had nothing to hide, they would have been here,” said Breytenbach.
“And the absolute contempt with which they have operated leaves me so outraged that I have a lot of trouble containing it.”
She added that it would be nonsensical to proceed with the meeting without G4S, as it would render the entire process meaningless.
“It makes very little sense to me, and it makes almost a mockery of this procedure to proceed with this inquiry that we started on without G4S being present.
“It is comparable to calling the accused lost in a criminal case and giving him all the opportunity to hear the evidence against him so that he can fabricate answers and defences before he has to give evidence.”
Janho Engelbrecht, another DA MP, also stressed the importance of G4S’s presence for the credibility of the process.
“It is incredibly important for the legitimacy of this process that G4S, the main role player, appears first and answers questions from my colleagues,” sand Engelbrecht.
Lamola agreed that the meeting would be unproductive without the participation of G4S, noting that he had an important meeting scheduled for Tuesday but opted to attend the committee meeting due to the urgency of the issue at hand.
Lamola expressed disappointment that the meeting would not be proceeding, but assured the chair of the committee that he will avail himself for the next meeting.
Magwanishe then resolved that G4S will be summoned on a day that will be determined by parliament, noting that the next meeting will be binding to everyone.
The committee now plans to ask National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to summon G4S.
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