Special team called in after warder killed, says St Albans boss

THE head of St Albans Maximum Security Prison at the time of an alleged mass assault on inmates in July 2005 yesterday told the Port Elizabeth High Court how he had dispatched an emergency services team after a warder was stabbed and killed by a prisoner.

Chaos erupted after the warder, Babini Nqakula, cousin of former safety and security minister Charles Nqakula, was stabbed in the prison’s dining hall on July 15 2005.

The inmates claim they were tortured, strip-searched, shocked and brutally assaulted for one week following the incident in what is alleged to have been a revenge attack by warders.

But Clifton Mshunqane, who has since retired from his position as head of St Albans Maximum, said he was not present during the searches following Nqakula’s death.

-Lee-Anne Butler