Long-term inmates died in riot

The three inmates who died as a result of a fatal riot between prisoners and warders at St Albans Prison earlier this week were serving lengthy prison terms for crimes ranging from murder to robbery.

One of them was the notorious Sacramento Trail mugger, who terrorised hikers for months on the popular scenic walk between 2009 and 2010.

The prison was still on lockdown yesterday, with no unscheduled visitors allowed access.

Security has been beefed up, with additional security and emergency response personnel put on standby in case another riot breaks out.

The dead prisoners have been identified as Bonisile Khayingo, 42, of Walmer Township, Mziyanda Mata, 24, of Zwide, and Luzuko Ncokazi, 22, of Uitenhage.

They were all serving their sentences in the maximum security wing of St Albans.

Khayingo, who was convicted in 2011, had been serving 15 years for a robbery spree between 2009 and 2010 in which he attacked and robbed several people along the Sacramento Trail in Schoenmakerskop.

In several of the attacks, he ambushed people walking on the trail and pelted them with rocks.

In another incident, he stabbed a doctor with a screwdriver.

Eastern Cape Correctional Services commissioner Nkosinathi Breakfast said Mata had been convicted of robbery last year.

Ncokazi, who was convicted in 2013 of murder, was serving an eight-year sentence.

Breakfast said the joint probe by his department and police into the St Albans attack was still under way.

“We are constantly assessing the situation and hope, by later this week, to lift the lockdown when everything stabilises and returns to normal,” he said.

“We do not want to disadvantage well-behaved offenders and want to lift this access restriction for visitors as soon as possible.

“Once we have done our assessment, the centre will be opened.”

Breakfast said he hoped the prison would be back to normal for visitors by the weekend.

Asked about security at the prison, he said additional Correctional Services staff and the emergency response team (ERT) had been brought in and placed on standby.

Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said the task team assigned to the probe had been interviewing prisoners and warders since the attack.

“At this stage, the motive for the incident remains unclear,” she said.

On Tuesday, Correctional Services Deputy Minister Thabang Makwetla said some of the inmates had taken over part of the maximum security wing of the prison during their rampage on Monday.

During the attack on the warders, which started in the food hall in the late morning, another group of inmates forced their way into the administration building and locked themselves inside.

They used teargas to keep the staff and ERT officials at bay.

Some of the records housed in the building were destroyed.

Thirteen warders were wounded – some of them stabbed with home-made knives – and 19 prisoners were injured, besides the three fatalities.

Provincial health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said six inmates were still in hospital and security had been stepped up around them.