Managers and lower ranking
officials are among 13 people facing possible suspension as the
Correctional Services department was on Monday left red-faced by images
that surfaced on social media showing scantily clad women in lingerie
entertaining prisoners.
"The intention was never to have
strippers in the facility‚" Acting National Correctional Services
Commissioner James Smalberger told a news briefing.
"That is unacceptable and we cannot tolerate that at all.
"I want to give assurance that‚
based on our briefing and our visit to the place where this happened‚ is
that there is no taxpayer money involved in this ‘entertainment’‚" he
said.
The department took the matter
seriously after the images surfaced at the weekend and immediately
opened an investigation into the circumstances.
"Thirteen of our officials will be contemplated for suspension if they were found to have flouted departmental rules‚" he said.
"We will hear on Friday what the status of the investigation is."
Gauteng correctional services
spokesman Ofentse Morwane earlier told TimesLIVE that dancers were
brought to Johannesburg Medium-B prison to “rehabilitate” inmates last
Wednesday as part of Youth Month celebrations. But to the surprise of
prison authorities - and the delight of inmates - the women arrived
wearing outfits that left little to the imagination.
“At Johannesburg Prison there was an internal event organised for inmates to celebrate Youth Month‚” said Morwane.
“When the dancers arrived‚ we saw that they were wearing lingerie. They had some sort of strip show for the offenders.”
In a related news,
We are not strippers. That is the
emphatic message from Busi Mahlangu‚ one of the scantily clad dancers
who were photographed performing at Johannesburg Medium-B prison.
The Sowetan quoted her on Tuesday as saying: “We are professional street dancers and we had gone there on invitation.”
Correctional services managers
and lower-ranking officials are among 13 people facing possible
suspension after photographs of the event‚ held as part of Youth Month
celebrations‚ went viral on social media.
Acting National Correctional
Services Commissioner James Smalberger described scenes depicted in the
photographs as “unacceptable”.
Mahlangu told the Sowetan the
performance was put on by three women and three men. “We are shocked
that we are now being called strippers.”
Cassius Tlhotlhalemaje‚ a male
performer in the group who is also a choreographer‚ said the routine
took nine minutes. Prisoners and officials gave them a guard of honour
when they were about to leave.
timeslive.co.za
