Cape Town - A prisoner has shocked the nation after posting a video bragging about the good life in prison.
Bornface Banks, who uses the account Bonnybanks Kayz on TikTok, has recorded several videos inside the Goodwood Correctional Centre, talking about how he is “fine in prison”.
In one video, he talks about how he has been on remand for two years. He said he was charged with murder, kidnapping, extortion and robbery.
The Zimbabwean-born inmate said he knows cellphones are not allowed in prison, but he is a “criminal anyway”.
On Sunday, he showed fellow inmates wearing yellow clothing playing a board game. In the clip shot in June, Banks said: “Hello haters, hello haters, you put us in prison and you think we are suffering. No, my brother, we are doing extremely fine. Look at how happy we are. And this morning we had breakfast and in the afternoon we had lunch and we had supper. We are doing extremely fine, we are not even suffering at all. We are happy.
“We are not even paying rent, we are not buying electricity, nothing my brother. We don’t even cook, they give us food for free. We are not the same, my brother, no we are not. We don’t need toiletries, we get them for free. And the education is going to be free in prison. We are not suffering. If you think we are suffering, no my brother, we are not, you are wrong.”
Department of Corrections Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said they were appalled by the video. “He is a Zimbabwean national remanded at Goodwood Correctional Centre for kidnapping allegations. A searching exercise was conducted and the used cellphone was confiscated.
“The remand detainee will be taken through disciplinary processes. Mobile phones are defined as a contraband in correctional centres, hence illegal access and usage is a punishable offence. DCS is deeply incensed by this behaviour and there shall be strong action and consequences,” he said.
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said: “Part of what we have been striving for as a union is to ensure inmates do not idle around within our correctional facilities, and the fact that some might brag about living a soft life is demonstrative of the many challenges that still need to be addressed – issues like overcrowding and understaffing, gangsters and the availability of illicit items.
“The core mandate of the DCS is rehabilitation, and our facilities can’t be seen as hotels.
“We are hopeful that the new minister, working closely with the national commissioner, will improve conditions for advancing this core mandate.”
Pieter Groenewald, the new Minister of Correctional Services revealed this week that “the cost of incarceration in South Africa to the department is R400 per day”.
Cape Argus